Guardian Reader
The service
Guardian Reader is an iPhone app that lets a parent or guardian restrict selected apps using Apple's Screen Time system, and lets a child unlock screen time by reading a physical book out loud. Reading is verified on the device by comparing the text of the photographed pages against a live transcription of the reading.
Who may use it
The app must be set up by a parent or legal guardian, who is responsible for choosing which apps are restricted, for the reading targets, and for supervising their child's use of the device.
These terms are accepted on the child's behalf by that adult. A child may use the app afterwards but cannot enter into this agreement, and any purchase has to be made by the adult who controls the Apple account. The app does not ask for anyone's age and has no way to check it, so this is a condition of use rather than something it enforces.
Verification is a best effort
The reading check is a technical measure, not a guarantee. Text recognition and speech transcription can make mistakes, and no automated system can prove with certainty that a child read and understood a page. Guardian Reader is a tool to support a reading habit, not a substitute for parental judgement or for an educational assessment.
Subscriptions and purchases
Guardian Reader is free to use. The free version verifies reading, awards screen time, and keeps streaks, medals and the last 30 days of history, and it can lock one app or category. Premium removes that limit and adds the full history and the PDF reading report. It is sold as an auto-renewing yearly subscription (US$19.99 per year, currently with a seven-day free trial) or as a one-time lifetime purchase (US$49.99), through Apple's In-App Purchase system. Apple sets prices per storefront, so they may differ in your country.
- Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period.
- Your Apple account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before the end of the current period.
- You can manage or cancel a subscription in your Apple account settings after purchase.
- If a free trial is offered, any unused portion is forfeited when a subscription is purchased.
- Refunds are handled by Apple under its own policies. We cannot issue them directly.
Acceptable use
Do not use the app to circumvent device restrictions set by someone else, and do not attempt to interfere with its verification. The app may not be used to monitor or manage the device of another adult without their knowledge and consent.
No accounts, and how this ends
Guardian Reader has no user accounts, so there is nothing for us to suspend or close, and no way for us to reach into your device or restrict your use of the app. That cuts both ways: we cannot recover a forgotten parent PIN, and we cannot restore data from a device you have erased. You end this agreement by deleting the app. Purchases are governed by Apple: a lifetime purchase stays with your Apple account and can be restored, and a subscription ends when you cancel it in your Apple account settings.
Availability and changes
Features may change as the app evolves and as Apple's frameworks change. The app requires iOS 18 or later, and some features depend on device capabilities.
Guardian Reader is built entirely on frameworks that Apple provides as part of iOS: the Screen Time system for restricting apps, and Apple's on-device text recognition and speech transcription for verifying reading. App restriction in particular relies on a permission that Apple grants to this app and can limit or withdraw. If Apple restricts, changes or withdraws any of these frameworks or that permission, parts of the app — or the app as a whole — may stop working or stop being offered. Because the app deliberately has no servers, there is no server-side substitute for these functions, and restricting apps on iOS is not possible by any other means.
Verifying reading in a given language requires that language's speech model, which the iPhone downloads from Apple once, the first time that language is used. That single download needs an internet connection; after it, verification works entirely offline.
Disclaimer
Guardian Reader is provided "as is", without warranties of any kind. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the developer is not liable for any indirect or consequential damages arising from use of the app.
Governing law
Guardian Reader is published by Nicolás Gula, Montevideo, Uruguay. These terms are governed by the laws of the Eastern Republic of Uruguay, and any dispute will be brought before the courts of Montevideo, without prejudice to any mandatory consumer-protection rights you hold where you live. Nothing here limits a right that the law of your country grants you and does not allow you to waive.