Fact sheet
Second Key, in plain sentences.
Second Key blocks the apps you choose, during the hours you choose, on iPhone and Android. Leaving early needs the approval of someone you trust — your keyholder — who gets a notification and decides.
- What it is
- An app blocker for iPhone and Android where early unlocks need another person’s approval.
- How an early unlock works
- You ask with a reason and a length (5, 15 or 30 minutes). Your keyholder gets a notification and approves or declines. Approved apps re-lock on their own when the time runs out.
- Who can be a keyholder
- Anyone with a phone: a partner, friend, sibling, roommate or study partner. They join with a six-character code.
- Blocking on iPhone
- Uses Apple’s Screen Time API (Family Controls). Apps are chosen in Apple’s own picker.
- Blocking on Android
- Uses Android usage access to see which app is open, and shows a block screen over held apps during scheduled hours.
- Bypass reports
- If someone switches off the permissions blocking depends on, their keyholder is told.
- Price
- Free: one schedule and three partner unlocks a week. Pro: $59.99 a year or $9.99 a month. Pro for two: $89.99 a year for both people ($59.99 the first year for waiting-list members). Waiting-list members lock in Pro at $19 a year instead of $59.99. Keyholders never pay.
- Privacy
- Stores schedules, unlock requests and decisions. Never messages, browsing or what you look at.
- Status
- Waiting list open. Invites go out in waiting-list order; pairs are invited together.
Common questions.
- What if my keyholder is asleep?
- The two of you decide whether an unanswered request auto-approves after ten minutes. Most pairs switch it off after the first week.
- Does my keyholder have to pay?
- Never. Holding a key is free on every plan. Only the person being held pays, or neither of you on Free.
- Can it see my messages, or what I look at?
- No. Blocking runs on your phone through Apple’s Screen Time API and Android’s usage access. We store schedules, requests and decisions — never content.
- When do I pay?
- Not today. Joining the waiting list takes an email and nothing else. You choose a plan when your invite arrives, and the waiting-list price is held for you.
- When can I use it?
- Invites go out in waiting-list order, and pairs are invited together. Naming your keyholder moves you up ten places.
- Does it work if we have different phones?
- Yes. Either of you can be on iPhone or Android; the request and the answer cross between them.
Press and partnerships: hello@secondkey.link · Last updated 2026-09-25