Earn screen time with chores, on every screen at home

Kids earn minutes with chores at home and spend them where they like: on the TV, the console, the PC or the tablet. Kroni keeps track of the minutes and shows a countdown while they are being spent. The screen itself needs no app. Here is how it works, and how to use it with the settings you may already have.

The screen doesn't need an app

An app that locks other apps can only lock the device it is installed on. The TV in the living room, the console and the family PC are out of its reach. Kroni works the other way round. The deal lives in Kroni, on your phone, your child's phone, a tablet the family shares or a web browser. The screen your child earns time for can be anything.

An example: Emma (10) empties the dishwasher and earns 10 minutes. By Saturday she has 30 and asks for the reward "30 minutes of console". You approve it, she starts the countdown, and when it ends you both get a note.

Kroni does not block apps or switch off a device. A grown-up follows up when time is up.

How it works in Kroni

1. Pick a unit for the balance. Use points, or make your own currency called "Minutes". The balance then reads "30 Minutes".
2. Give the chores a value. "Empty the dishwasher, 10 minutes", "Vacuum the living room, 20 minutes". You choose which chores need your approval. The Screen time deals pack in Chore ideas gives you a few to start with.
3. Add a timed reward. "30 minutes of console" for 30 minutes from the balance, with a countdown. The countdown can run from 5 minutes to 8 hours.
4. Your child asks for the reward with their balance, and you approve it. Nothing is taken from the balance until you say yes. If something is marked Must-do, like homework, rewards wait until it is done.
5. Start the countdown when the screen time begins. Your child sees it, and when it ends you both get a note. In the app your child gets a notification 5 minutes before a countdown of 10 minutes or more ends. On iPhone, the countdown also shows on the Lock Screen.

Each child has their own balance and sees their own minutes, even when siblings share one console.

Use it with the controls you already have

If you want a device to stop by itself, most platforms have parental settings of their own. Kroni doesn't replace them. A simple split: the device's setting holds the fixed daily base, and the minutes from Kroni become extra time you give when your child spends a reward.

• iPhone and iPad: Screen Time. In iOS 27 and iPadOS 27, Time Allowances set a daily time budget across app categories, and Screen Time Schedules set when apps are available. When your child reaches a limit, they can ask for more time, and you approve it from your own device. Your child needs a Child Account in Family Sharing. Older versions use Downtime and App Limits instead.
• Android and Chromebook: Family Link. Daily limit sets the time per day, and Bonus time gives your child more time that day without changing the limit. Your child needs a Google Account supervised with Family Link.
• Xbox: the Xbox Family Settings app sets a screen time schedule for each child and each day of the week.
• Nintendo Switch: the Nintendo Switch Parental Controls app sets a daily play-time limit, and you can add more time with your PIN.
• PlayStation: the PlayStation Family app sets playtime for each day, and you can change today's playtime when your child needs more.
• A TV with no settings of its own: the countdown in Kroni and an adult who says when.

These names were checked against Apple's, Google's, Microsoft's, Nintendo's and Sony's own help pages on November 2, 2026. They change between versions, so check on the device you use. What a countdown does and doesn't do is in timed rewards vs. app blockers: check what your tool really does.

Keep the deal small

Minutes from chores work best as a small bonus on top of a fixed base your child can't lose. 10 to 15 minutes for an ordinary chore is plenty, with a daily cap. If every minute of screen time has to be earned, every day turns into a negotiation.

How to write an agreement that holds, with numbers by age, is in screen time rewards for kids: an agreement that actually works. Rewards don't always have to be screens, either. A movie trip, choosing dinner or a trip to the pool can sit on the same list.