Safety & Parent Responsibility

1. A tool, not a supervisor

SteadyBounds is software from Vantaryn Labs LLC (“Vantaryn Labs,” “we,” “us”). It helps a parent or guardian set limits, schedules, and app and website rules on a child’s iPhone or iPad, respond to requests for more time, offer learning activities and chores that can earn time, and stay in touch as a family.

It does not watch your child, and it cannot keep your child safe on its own. It is not a babysitter, a monitoring service, a content filter that catches everything, a tracking device or an emergency service. It does not give medical, psychological, developmental or educational advice. You decide the rules, and you remain responsible for supervising your child.

2. How Screen Time rules are applied

• Apple enforces the rules. SteadyBounds uses Apple’s Screen Time frameworks. Your child’s iPhone or iPad applies restrictions through Apple’s system, and iOS or iPadOS decides when restrictions take effect, when usage is measured, and when notifications are delivered.
• Apple’s permission is required. Your child needs their own child Apple Account in your Apple Family Sharing group. On your child’s device, a parent or guardian approves Apple’s Screen Time permission for SteadyBounds.
• Pending means not yet applied. When you change a rule, approve a request or give extra time, the change is sent to your child’s device. Until that device confirms it has applied the change, the parent app shows it as pending, and the earlier rules may still be in effect. Check each device’s status in the parent app.
• Supported systems. Parent and child devices need iOS or iPadOS 17.4 or later.
• Measurements can lag. Usage totals and remaining time come from Apple and can arrive late. They are not a live stopwatch.

3. The real limits of Screen Time controls

No screen time app can guarantee that its rules always apply. Here are the most common reasons a rule may not work as you expect:

• Permission is turned off. If Apple’s Screen Time permission for SteadyBounds is turned off or revoked, if your child’s Apple Account leaves or changes Family Sharing groups, or if the device is erased, SteadyBounds cannot enforce rules on that device.
• Software updates. iOS and iPadOS updates can change how Screen Time behaves or introduce problems. Apple can change its frameworks at any time.
• No connection. An offline device cannot receive new rules, approvals or extra time, and the parent app cannot receive its latest status. Changes wait until the device reconnects.
• Clock and time zone changes. Changing a device’s date, time or time zone, or traveling across time zones, can affect when daily limits reset and when schedules such as bedtime and school time begin and end.
• Other devices. SteadyBounds only manages the devices you pair. Other phones, tablets, computers, game consoles, smart TVs, school devices and friends’ devices are not covered.
• Shared Apple Accounts. If a child uses a parent’s or another person’s Apple Account, or several people share one account, Screen Time permission and rules may not work as intended. Each child needs their own child Apple Account.
• Determined kids. Children sometimes find ways around rules, such as using another device or account, a browser or app that is not covered, or a parent’s PIN or passcode they have learned. We cannot guarantee that every workaround is blocked.
• Apps that stay available. Apps you choose to keep available are not limited, and some apps and system features may stay available whatever rules you set.
• Restores and replacements. Restoring a device from a backup, resetting it or replacing it may mean setting it up again.
• Outages. Problems with Apple’s services, the internet or our service can delay changes and status updates.

The parent app may show a device as not confirmed when it notices a problem, but it cannot detect every problem, and it may not tell you right away.

4. Not an emergency service

SteadyBounds, family chat, time requests, safety reports, location sharing and our support email are not emergency services and are not monitored around the clock.

• If anyone is in immediate danger in the U.S., call 911. Outside the U.S., call your local emergency number.
• For a mental-health or suicide crisis in the U.S., call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
• Do not rely on a SteadyBounds message, request, notification or location to get help in an emergency. Notifications can be delayed or missed.
• Make sure your child knows how to reach you and emergency services without SteadyBounds, and keep the apps they need to call you, such as Phone, available.

5. Not a monitoring service or content filter

• No access to other apps. SteadyBounds manages time and access to apps and websites. It cannot read your child’s text messages, iMessage conversations, phone calls, email, social media messages, or what they do inside other apps, and it does not see the content of web pages.
• Website controls are limited. Website rules use Apple’s supported Safari web content filtering. You can limit adult websites, block specific websites, or allow only websites you choose. Apple’s adult-content filter is automated and imperfect. Other browsers, apps with their own built-in browsers, and content inside apps may not be covered.
• Reports are summaries. Screen time reports come from Apple’s on-device reports and show time spent in apps and on websites. They are not a complete browsing history or a record of what your child saw.
• Use Apple’s tools too. For more protection, use Apple’s own Screen Time features, such as Content & Privacy Restrictions, Communication Limits and Communication Safety. They work separately from SteadyBounds.

6. Chores and rewards

• You choose every chore. Make sure each chore or task is safe, legal, age-appropriate, and within your child’s abilities, and supervise it.
• Avoid risky tasks. Do not assign tasks that involve sharp or power tools, chemicals or cleaning products that are unsafe for children, cooking or other heat, electricity, ladders or heights, water hazards, vehicles or lawn equipment, unfamiliar animals, going places alone, or meeting strangers, unless an adult is directly supervising and the task truly suits your child’s age and ability.
• Real-world rewards are yours. If you promise a treat, an outing, money or anything else, that promise is between you and your child. SteadyBounds does not provide or pay for it.
• Earned time is not money. Earned time and Time Bank balances are an in-app allowance with no cash value. They stay within the caps you set and do not override bedtime or school time.
• Keep it healthy. Earning time is optional. If rewards start to cause stress or conflict, change or turn off the settings that are not working for your family.

7. Hands-on learning activities

• Some learning activities, such as building and engineering challenges, ask children to make things with everyday materials. These need an adult’s supervision, and some need a parent’s approval before they earn time.
• Use paper or large, age-appropriate blocks on a clear table. No sharp tools, electricity, heat or climbing. Never test a model on a person or a pet.
• Keep small parts away from young children, who may put them in their mouths.
• These are general reminders, not a complete list of precautions. You know your child and your home, so decide whether an activity is suitable and how to keep it safe.
• Learning activities are general enrichment. They are not a curriculum, tutoring or professional advice, and levels and progress reports do not measure a child’s ability or intelligence. If something looks wrong, please tell us.

8. Family chat

• Only for your family. Family chat is for members of your SteadyBounds family. A parent chooses who is in each conversation. Chat carries text messages and time actions, not photos or files.
• Not monitored in real time. No one at SteadyBounds watches conversations as they happen. A report goes to authorized SteadyBounds reviewers, but we do not promise that it will be reviewed within any particular time or lead to any particular outcome.
• Reporting. To report something, touch and hold a message and choose Report message, or open the conversation’s options and choose Safety & reporting. A report shares the reported message, or up to the 20 most recent messages the reporter can see in that conversation, plus the reason and any note, with authorized SteadyBounds reviewers. Report records are kept for 90 days.
• Blocking and muting. Blocking stops free-text messages between two people across your family’s conversations. Muting turns off message notifications for a conversation. Time requests and parent decisions keep working.
• Not end-to-end encrypted. Messages are encrypted in transit and stored with our hosting provider, and our systems can process them. Do not use chat for sensitive information.
• Filtering is limited. An automated filter blocks some abusive phrases, but it misses a great deal.
• Messages cannot be recalled. Once delivered, a message can be kept, screenshotted or shared by the people who received it.
• Talk with your child. Explain what kind messages look like, and ask your child to tell you if anything in chat upsets them.

9. Location sharing

• Optional. Location sharing is off unless a parent turns it on and the device allows location access.
• Latest point only. It shows the most recent location a device reported, with the time and an accuracy estimate. It is not continuous tracking or live following.
• A device, not a child. It shows where the device was, not necessarily where your child is.
• Can be old or wrong. A location can be out of date, inaccurate or unavailable, for example when permission is off, the device is off or offline, or iOS limits background updates. Locations older than 24 hours are hidden and then deleted.
• Not for emergencies. If you think a child is missing or in danger, call 911 in the U.S. or your local emergency number.
• Share with care. Only share the location of devices you have authority over, and talk with your child about it.

10. What we ask parents to do

These steps can lower the chance that a rule does not work as you expect. They cannot remove it.

1. Talk with your kids. Explain the rules and the reasons for them, and agree on them together where you can.
2. Check the device status. After setup and after every change, check the device’s status in the parent app, and try the rule on your child’s device to confirm it works.
3. Keep your parent PIN private. Choose a PIN your child cannot guess, do not use a birthday, do not enter it while your child is watching, and change it if you think your child knows it.
4. Use Apple’s Screen Time as a backup. Set an Apple Screen Time passcode your child does not know, and consider Apple’s Content & Privacy Restrictions, Communication Limits and Ask to Buy.
5. Keep Apple Accounts separate. Keep your child’s own Apple Account in your Family Sharing group, do not share Apple Accounts, and keep your own Apple Account password private.
6. Keep devices updated. Keep iOS or iPadOS up to date, and check that your rules still apply after each update.
7. Keep the clock automatic. Keep Set Automatically turned on in Settings > General > Date & Time on your child’s device.
8. Keep a way to reach you. Keep the apps your child needs to contact you, such as Phone, available.
9. Think about other devices. Remember that SteadyBounds only manages the devices you pair.
10. Supervise real-world activities. Supervise chores and hands-on learning activities.
11. Review regularly. Revisit your rules as your child grows and your family’s needs change.

11. Removing SteadyBounds

You can remove SteadyBounds from a child’s device at any time, with or without a subscription.

From the parent app

1. On your child’s device, open SteadyBounds and make sure it is connected to the internet.
2. In the parent app, open Settings and choose Remove a Child or Allow App Removal.
3. Under your child’s name, choose Devices & Removal.
4. Choose the device, tap Disconnect Device, and confirm.
5. Wait until the parent app shows that the device has disconnected. SteadyBounds then turns off its limits on that device. If limits remain, use the recovery option described below.
6. To delete the app, touch and hold SteadyBounds on your child’s Home Screen, then choose Remove App and Delete App.

If the child’s device cannot connect

On the child’s device, open SteadyBounds. On its disconnecting screen, tap Parent Help and enter your parent PIN to remove SteadyBounds’ limits there directly. If you do not have the PIN, use the Screen Time settings for your child in your Apple Family Sharing group.

Good to know

• Removing SteadyBounds turns off SteadyBounds’ own limits. Restrictions set in Apple’s Screen Time or by a school or other management tool may still apply.
• Deleting your SteadyBounds account or family data is done separately, in the parent app under Settings > Account & Family Data. Deleting data from our service does not remove restrictions from a device that is lost or offline.
• Removing SteadyBounds or deleting your account does not cancel a Premium subscription. See how to cancel.

12. These limits are part of our Terms

This page is part of our Terms of Use and is incorporated into them by reference. The limits described here are part of the agreement between you and Vantaryn Labs, including the parent responsibility, disclaimer, limitation of liability, indemnification and release sections of the Terms. If this page and the Terms conflict, the Terms control. The steps and tips on this page are suggestions for your family. By offering them, we do not take on any duty to supervise your child or to make sure the steps are followed. Nothing on this page limits any right you have under law that cannot be waived.

Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle your family’s information.

13. Questions

If something does not work as you expect, or you have a safety concern about SteadyBounds, please contact us. Our Support page has tips on what to include. Email is not an emergency channel.