How it works
Policy, phone, schedule. Then every shift takes care of itself.
Managers set the rules and the rota. Employees connect their own iPhone once. From then on the phone's own Screen Time schedule does the work, even with the app closed.
In three steps
Set a Work Policy
Pick the app categories that should pause during shifts, such as social media, games and streaming, and how breaks relax them.
Employees connect their iPhone
They install Work Mode, enter your company code and approve Screen Time access. Their app choices stay on their phone.
Shifts do the rest
Work Mode switches on when a scheduled shift starts, eases off for breaks and switches off when the shift ends. Nobody has to remember.
A shift, start to finish
What happens, and who does it
Each step shows the state the phone reports to the dashboard at that moment: the same badge a manager sees.
- Manager
Create a Work Policy and Break Rules
Decide which categories pause during shifts and how breaks behave. Publish the policy so phones can receive it.
- Employee
Connect the phone
The employee installs Work Mode, enters the company code and their name, approves Screen Time and chooses what to pause. The choice never leaves the phone.
- ManagerOff shift: No shift is active; no restrictions are applied.
Schedule shifts
Add shifts or import the rota. Each phone syncs its own upcoming shifts and the policy that applies to it.
- Work ModeStarting soon: A shift begins shortly; restrictions will apply when it starts.
Shift starts
Shortly before the start the app shows a heads-up. At the start time the phone's own Screen Time schedule fires, even if the app is closed.
- Work ModeWorking: A shift is active and Work Policy restrictions are applied.
Shields go up
Restricted apps show a shield explaining that Work Mode is on. Calls, messages and anything not in the policy keep working.
- EmployeeOn break: A break is in progress; restrictions are relaxed as the Break Rules allow.
Break
The employee starts a break in the app, within the Break Rules, or a scheduled break begins. Restrictions relax as the rules allow.
- Work ModeWorking: A shift is active and Work Policy restrictions are applied.
Back to work
When the break ends, shields return automatically. Breaks that run long end themselves.
- Work ModeOff shift: No shift is active; no restrictions are applied.
Shift ends
Every shield lifts at the scheduled end. Off shift, the phone is the employee's own again and the app only checks in for schedule changes.
Works without signal, and without the app open
The schedule is applied by iOS itself once it is on the phone, so a basement stockroom or a dead battery bar doesn't matter.
- Offline shifts
- Upcoming shifts and the policy are synced ahead of time. Shields start and stop on schedule with no connection.
- Rota changes
- A silent push asks the phone to sync within minutes when it is online; otherwise it catches up at its next check-in.
- Wrong clock
- The server measures the phone's clock skew and flags devices that drift, so a shift never silently starts late.
- Leaving
- An employee can leave the workplace from the app at any time. Shields and schedules are removed from the phone immediately.
See it on your own rota
A 20-minute walkthrough with your shifts, your policies and your questions.
Block distractions. Don't monitor employees.