Questions and answers

What parents ask about obacht most often.

Is obacht ready to use?

Not yet. obacht is in early development: the first family is now using it on real phones, a PC and a TV, and there is no release yet. What works where shows how far each feature is on each kind of device.

Which devices does it work on?

Android phones and tablets, Windows PCs and Google TV run the obacht app. Consoles, smart TVs and other devices can be limited through obacht's DNS filter (websites and online services) or a UniFi router (internet off at bedtime or when time is up). Steam playtime can count too. iPhones, iPads and Linux PCs are planned. Every feature on every device: What works where.

Does obacht read my child's messages or watch what they do?

No. You see which app was used for how long and when it was opened (and you can turn that off per child), when the screen was on and how often the phone was unlocked. obacht never records what happens inside apps: no messages, no search terms, no screenshots, no keystrokes. Visited websites and where the phone is stay off until you turn them on for a child, and then they are kept for at most 30 days. Website history, location.

Can my child see what I see?

Yes. obacht is always visible on the child's device, and your child sees there everything you can see: time left, the rules, and which of their data you can look at. On request they get their own login, to see their rules and propose changes.

Does it work without internet?

Yes. The same rule engine runs on the server and on every device, so a phone or PC keeps its limits offline and reports the time used once it is back online. Devices using the DNS filter need the connection, as the filter runs on the server.

Can my child get around it or uninstall it?

That depends on the device. A phone set up as a managed family device can't remove obacht, change its clock or start in safe mode. On other Android phones obacht makes removing it hard and tells you when its protection is switched off, but Android doesn't let a regular app prevent it completely. On Windows, the child needs a standard account (you keep the administrator), and then can't stop obacht. Everything Google, Apple and others don't let obacht do is listed in the platform limitations.

Can my child ask for more time?

Yes. They ask on their phone or PC, with a reason if they like, and you answer from your phone. You can also give time without being asked, or pause every device at once.

Why not Google Family Link or Apple Screen Time?

They are free and work well on their own platform. obacht keeps one set of rules across platforms: 45 minutes of games a day means 45 minutes on the phone, the PC and Steam together. It needs no Google or Apple account for your child, it is open source, and you can run it on your own server.

What about iPhones and iPads?

Planned, but on hold: Apple only lets apps limit screen time through its own Screen Time interface, with a paid developer programme and Apple's approval. What that will and won't allow is in the platform limitations.

What does it cost?

Running obacht yourself is free. The hosted service will have one family plan with every feature, monthly or yearly; the price is announced before it opens. You can try it for a month, and nothing renews by itself.

Where is my family's data?

If you run obacht yourself, on your server and nowhere else. Hosted, your family gets its own obacht with its own database, shared with no other family. We see only what we need to run it (your plan, whether it is healthy, how much space it uses), and we look inside only when you allow it for support, for a limited time and logged.

Can I connect my own tools?

Yes. Everything the parent app does goes through obacht's documented API, so your own scripts can too, with API tokens. There is an integration for Home Assistant, and you can sign in through your own login provider (OpenID Connect).

Is obacht open source?

Yes. The code is licensed under the AGPL-3.0, the documentation under CC BY 4.0, and both are on GitHub.