Terms of Service

Last updated: September 16, 2026

ChoreBlock is an iPhone app built by Scarabyte ("we", "us"). It locks the apps you choose until you finish a household chore and prove it with a live photo. These terms are the agreement between you and Scarabyte for using ChoreBlock. By downloading or using the app you agree to them. If you don't agree, please don't use the app.

The short version: ChoreBlock is a tool you point at yourself. You pick the apps, you pick the chores, and you can always undo the lock. It's a paid app with a free trial, billed through Apple. We'll do our best to make it work well, but we don't promise it will stop you from opening an app, and we're not responsible for what you miss while your apps are locked.

1. Who can use ChoreBlock

ChoreBlock is for adults managing their own screen time. You must be at least 18 years old, or the age of majority where you live, to accept these terms and buy a plan. The app is not directed at children under 13 and is not a parental-control product.

2. What ChoreBlock is (and isn't)

ChoreBlock uses Apple's Screen Time framework to lock apps you select, on a schedule you set, and unlocks them when a photo of a finished chore passes an automated check. A few things to know:

It's self-imposed. You can pause any chore, change the schedule, unlock your apps early, remove the Screen Time permission, or delete the app at any time. ChoreBlock is a nudge, not a wall.
The lock is only as strong as Apple's Screen Time. Locking depends on iOS features we don't control. An iOS update, a Screen Time setting, a system restriction, or a bug can stop a lock from applying or lift it early. We don't guarantee that any app will be locked, or unlocked, at any particular time.
Photo checks are automated and can be wrong. A computer model judges each photo and may pass a chore that isn't done or fail one that is. When a check fails, you can try again, and after repeated misses you can mark the chore done yourself. Nobody at Scarabyte reviews your photos.
Don't lock anything you might urgently need. You're responsible for choosing which apps to block. Don't block apps you rely on for safety, health, work, or emergencies.

3. Plans, free trial, and billing

ChoreBlock is free to download, but it needs a plan to keep locking apps after the trial. Two plans are offered inside the app, and both are sold and billed by Apple through your App Store account:

Annual plan — starts with a free trial (the length is shown in the app). When the trial ends, your App Store account is charged the yearly price shown at purchase. The plan then renews automatically every year at the current price unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the trial or the current year ends.
Lifetime plan — a one-time purchase with no renewal. "Lifetime" means for as long as ChoreBlock is available on the App Store and supported on your device.

You manage, cancel, or change a subscription in your iPhone's Settings under your Apple Account, not inside ChoreBlock. Cancelling stops the next renewal; it doesn't refund the current period. Prices are shown in your local currency in the app and may change for future renewals, in which case Apple will tell you first.

Because Apple handles the sale, refunds are handled by Apple under its own policies. You can ask at reportaproblem.apple.com. We can't issue refunds ourselves.

If a trial or subscription lapses, ChoreBlock stops locking your apps and asks you to choose a plan again. We never hold your apps locked behind a lapsed plan.

4. Your photos and your data

Chore photos are sent to our verification service, checked, and immediately deleted. Your reference photos and settings stay on your device. Our Privacy Policy explains this in full and is part of these terms.

You're responsible for what you photograph. Only take photos in places and of things you're allowed to, and don't photograph other people without their consent.

5. Acceptable use

Please don't:

Use ChoreBlock to control, restrict, or monitor another person's device or apps
Send content to the verification service other than your own live chore photos
Overload, probe, or interfere with the verification service or Apple's systems
Copy, modify, reverse-engineer, or resell the app, except where the law says we can't stop you
Use the app in any way that breaks the law or Apple's App Store terms

6. Your license

We give you a personal, non-transferable, non-exclusive license to use ChoreBlock on any Apple device you own or control, as allowed by the App Store's usage rules. ChoreBlock, its name, design, and code belong to Scarabyte and its licensors. Nothing in these terms gives you ownership of any of it.

7. Changes, support, and ending the service

We update ChoreBlock regularly and may add, change, or remove features. We'll provide reasonable support by email, but we don't promise any particular response time. We may suspend or end your access if you break these terms. We may also retire ChoreBlock altogether; if we do, we'll give notice in the app or on this site where we can, and we'll follow Apple's rules for existing subscriptions.

8. No warranty

ChoreBlock is provided "as is" and "as available". To the fullest extent the law allows, we make no promises that it will be uninterrupted, error-free, or that it will lock, unlock, or verify anything correctly. Where local law gives you rights that can't be waived, those rights still apply.

9. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent the law allows, Scarabyte isn't liable for any indirect, incidental, or consequential loss, or for anything you miss, lose, or can't do because an app was locked or unlocked when you didn't expect it. Our total liability to you for any claim related to ChoreBlock is limited to the amount you paid for it in the twelve months before the claim. Nothing here limits liability that can't be limited by law.

10. Apple

ChoreBlock is distributed through Apple's App Store, so these points apply:

These terms are between you and Scarabyte, not Apple. Apple isn't responsible for ChoreBlock or its content.
Apple has no obligation to provide maintenance or support for ChoreBlock.
If ChoreBlock fails to meet a warranty, you may tell Apple and Apple will refund the purchase price; beyond that, Apple has no other warranty obligation, and any other claim is ours to handle.
Scarabyte, not Apple, handles any claim about the app, including product-liability claims, claims that it doesn't meet a legal requirement, and consumer-protection or similar claims.
If someone claims ChoreBlock infringes their intellectual property, Scarabyte, not Apple, is responsible for dealing with it.
You confirm you aren't in a country under a U.S. government embargo or designated a "terrorist supporting" country, and aren't on any U.S. government list of prohibited or restricted parties.
Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these terms and may enforce them against you.
You must also follow any third-party terms that apply when using the app, such as your wireless carrier's.

11. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada that apply there, without regard to conflict-of-law rules. Any dispute that can't be settled by talking to us goes to the courts of Ontario, except where the consumer-protection laws of the place you live give you additional rights or the right to bring a claim locally.

12. Changes to these terms

If we change these terms, we'll update this page and the date above. Material changes will be called out in the app's release notes. Continuing to use ChoreBlock after a change means you accept the new terms.

Contact

Questions? Email support@choreblock.app.