All features

An exhaustive list of what Screen Buddy offers, organized by theme. The app evolves regularly — current version is 1.3.0.

⏱️ Sessions and timer

Activity selection at start: TV, Console, Phone/Tablet, Computer, Video, or "Other". Each activity has its own emoji and color.
Duration selection: presets of 5 / 10 / 15 / 20 / 30 / 45 / 60 min, themselves configurable per child.
Large visual timer with color gradient depending on phase (running, attention, danger, critical).
Configurable warning phases (default 5 min then 1 min before end).
Pause / resume sessions, plus the ability to add time mid-session (in configurable increments).
Multiple sessions in parallel: an independent timer per child, with no interference.
🏠 Home button to return to the home screen without interrupting the session, and start another timer for another child.
"Sessions in progress" cards on home screen with chrono updated every second.
Clean resume if the app is closed or the tablet rebooted during a session.
Gentle ending: rotating kind message, announced transition, alarm sound.
Configurable ending style: gentle, festive, or visual-only — to prepare the child for stopping without a meltdown.
Choose who confirms the end: automatic (medal granted on every finished session) or confirmed by the parent.
Visual countdown of the last 10 seconds (big number readable even by a non-reader).
Child can request more time, with no code, approved by the parent (who gets a notification).
One-tap replay of the last activity from the home screen.

Unlimited child profiles: add as many profiles as siblings.
For each child: first name, avatar (emoji or photo), preferred durations, daily/weekly limits, reward threshold, ending sound.
Quick switch of the active child from the home screen or from Settings.
Multi-child selector in Stats: show one child only or overlay several colored curves.

28 themed medals by tier: bronze, silver, gold, legendary.
Lifetime cumulative medals + "active" medals that reset with each unlocked reward to maintain momentum.
Customizable reward: visual (emoji or photo) and description agreed upon as a family (e.g. park trip, Friday movie).
Configurable threshold per child (1 to 28 medals).
Progress visible during the session and next-tier anticipation, to motivate a good ending.

Tips & guidance for parents: a dedicated screen with recommended screen time by age range, sourced (WHO for toddlers, Serge Tisseron's "3-6-9-12" benchmark for older children).
Personalised guidance: if the child's age is set, their range is highlighted — otherwise a reminder invites you to complete the profile.
For each age: recommended duration, concrete tips, and an argument "to share with your child" to defuse conflicts.
"Did you know?" cards for kids: small, kind awareness messages (readable by a non-reader) shown now and then at the end of a session.
Indicative guidance: this advice does not replace professional opinion.

Stats screen: minutes for today, this week, this month, total cumulative.
Daily and weekly charts, bars colored by child in multi-child mode.
Y-vs-Y-1 comparison: badge "↑ +X min / ↓ -X min vs last week" under the "This week" cell.
Usage mood by day and week (☀️ clear sky, 🌥 cloudy, ⛈ stormy), with adapted child and parent messages.
Cooperative endings rate: at the end of each session, the parent rates 😊/😅; Stats aggregates the share of well-handled endings (e.g. "18/22 — 82% ☀️") with an adapted encouragement message.
"Takeaways" summaries: screen-time trend, busiest day and cooperative endings, automatically turned into actionable sentences.
Configurable parent report notification: frequency (daily / weekly / monthly), day of week or month, time of day. The notification body includes total time, the change vs the previous period and the cooperative endings rate; option to skip periods with no screen time. A tap opens the Stats screen directly.

Daily limit per child (toggleable, in minutes).
Weekly limit per child (toggleable, in minutes).
Limits enforced at launch: an alert warns if starting the session would exceed the daily or weekly quota.
Curfew range (start / end hour): no session can start during this range. If the curfew starts during a session, it ends gently.

Full JSON export via the system share menu: profiles, sessions, medals, settings and language in a single file.
Import via file picker: schema validation, confirmation before replacement, clear error message if file is corrupt.
Easy transfer to another tablet by sending the JSON via email or a cloud.

Three dedicated Android channels: "Timer running" (silent, persistent), "Timer" (end alarm, high importance), "Parent report" (recap, medium importance, no aggressive sound).
Audible & vibrating end notification: the notification rings (child profile sound), vibrates, and stays visible until you tap it — including when the app is in the background or the tablet is locked. A tap opens the end-of-session screen.
Exact-alarm permissions (USE_EXACT_ALARM / SCHEDULE_EXACT_ALARM) to ensure reliable triggering when the app is closed, in the background, or the tablet is locked.
Tap on an end notification opens the end-of-session screen, even after the app has been killed (cold-start handled).
Tap on a report notification opens the statistics screen directly.

5 built-in sounds: gentle chime, light bell, harp, water drops, bird song.
Custom sound per child (import a local audio file).
10 child avatars as emoji + photo import.
12 reward visuals as emoji + photo import.
Bilingual French / English with toggle in Settings.
Animations can be enabled/disabled: a calmer, reduced-motion mode for sensitive children.
Vibrations can be enabled/disabled.
Accessibility: screen-reader labels and cues that don't rely on color alone.

100% local: no account, no cloud, no tracker, no ads, no in-app purchases.
No internet connection required for regular use.
Parent code (4–6 digits, hashed locally) protecting access to settings and session extensions.
GDPR-K and COPPA compliant by non-collection.

4-step setup wizard at first launch: welcome page with feature overview, child profile, reward, sound + parent code.
Ability to relaunch the wizard at any time from Settings.
FAQ built into the app + on the website.
Rotating child and parent recommendations on the home and end-of-session screens (adapted WHO advice).
"Recommend the app" button via the system share menu.