Hard Mode

The mode you cannot undo tonight.

Fokyo generates a Screen Time passcode, keeps it, and never shows it to you while Hard Mode runs. Until you are released, your goals cannot be weakened, paused or deleted — and neither can Fokyo.

Start 3 days free Setup in three steps

iPhone only. A cooling-off equivalent for Android is planned; it is not the same thing, and we would rather say so than blur it.

How release works

One door, slow on purpose.

The 24-hour door

Ask for a release and a cooling-off timer starts: 24 hours by default, longer if you chose longer at setup. You keep using your phone for everything that is not blocked. When the timer ends, Fokyo hands the passcode back so you can unlock Screen Time yourself. Withdraw the request at any time and nothing changes.

A commitment keeps it shut

At setup you can add a commitment of up to 90 days. Until it is over the timer cannot be started at all, and there is no other way out — not through support, not through anyone. If your plan ends, the commitment stops applying. Pick a length you can live with.

Release, step by step →

What stays locked

Everything that is normally one tap away.

Your goals

No deleting, no weakening — only a goal's name, reason and soft reminder can change. Adding a new goal is always allowed.

Pause

There is no pause in Hard Mode and no unblock door. A goal that is running keeps running.

The app itself

Setup has you switch off app deletion in Screen Time, so Fokyo cannot be uninstalled around the block.

Screen Time settings

Locked behind the passcode Fokyo holds. You cannot turn Screen Time off or raise a limit to get around it.

The clock runs server-side

Changing the time zone, the date or the phone does not move the timer. It counts down on Fokyo's servers.

Do not turn this on angry. Hard Mode set at 1 a.m. after a bad night is a decision made by the part of you that is losing. Turn it on at 10 a.m. with a clear head and with a window you can actually live with.

Setup

Three steps, about four minutes.

1
Verify your iPhone has Screen Time on
Fokyo checks that Screen Time is enabled and that no Screen Time passcode is already set. If one is, you remove it first — we walk you through it.
2
Fokyo dictates the passcode
The 4-digit code is never displayed. Fokyo reads it out as keypad instructions — a letter printed on the key, or a number word — and you type along on the iPhone's own passcode screen, twice, because iOS asks for it twice. When iOS offers Apple Account recovery for the passcode, you skip it.
3
Lock Screen Time settings
Settings › Screen Time › Lock Screen Time Settings. That is the whole mechanism — Apple's own lock, with a key you do not hold.

Set up Hard Mode

Needs a Fokyo account on Pro, and the iPhone in your hand.

Who it is for

Not everybody, and we will say so.

Turn it on if

You have beaten every other blocker. You relapse at a predictable hour. You have deleted and reinstalled an app more than twice in a week. You want the decision taken out of your hands for a fixed stretch.

Do not turn it on if

You need those apps for work at unpredictable hours. You share the phone. You are in a period where feeling trapped would make things worse. Start with a goal on its own instead; Hard Mode will still be here.

Hard Mode questions

What happens if I lose my phone or get a new one?

Hard Mode belongs to the device it was set up on, and your account keeps its record. You can still ask for a release from the website, and the same cooling-off timer applies. Lost or replaced phone →

Can support release me early?

No. Support cannot shorten the timer and cannot see the passcode. That is deliberate: a support inbox you can talk your way through would be the weakest door in the building.

Does Hard Mode block calls or messages?

Never. Hard Mode adds no blocks of its own; it locks the goals you already set and the Screen Time settings around them. Phone calls, including emergency calls, keep working — and so does everything you did not put in a goal.

Is Hard Mode on Android?

Not yet. On Android, getting past a block always goes through the unblock door, and that resets your streak. A cooling-off equivalent is planned; it is a different mechanism with different limits, so we will not call it Hard Mode.

Hand the fox the key.

3 days of full Fokyo, Hard Mode included. Cancel before the trial ends and nothing is charged.

Start 3 days free See how it works

iPhone and Android. Hard Mode is iPhone only at launch.