Show HN: I made a app that uses NFC as a physical switch to block distractions

Very cool; wondering if this could work as a parental control. "screen time" on iOS is fundamentally broken, and something like this would require the child to come to the parent for screen time extensions (if the parent has the NFC chip).

How is that different from the parent holding the code?

Apple Screen Time will occasionally stop blocking applications, allowing the child account to use them without restrictions.

Other drawbacks include only a single period of "down time" per day. There is also an inability to totally block applications; the closest analogue is to set a maximum of one minute for the website or application.

not just occasionally but often, in our experience with multiple phones and iPads. I have 2 kids with devices and have found Screen Time completely useless. It is the right idea in theory but in practice it's broken (I'm guessing no Apple higher ups have young kids that they've tried to use this with.)

Also, besides the resets (and by reset I mean not just time restrictions but content restrictions too), my kid can just bypass it by entering his AppleID password.

We talked about something like this for parents on HN not long ago. Definitely monetizable.

There are many YouTube videos for teens on how to bypass ScreenTime. It’s a mess that Apple needs to clean up quickly

Screen time blocks are terrible

I use them myself to limit some websites that waste my time

It is way too easy to click on 1 more minute, or 15 mins or ignore for the day

The only way to really block sites is to add them as adult websites and turn on parental controls

But can’t do that with apps

One scenario I can think of: When there's an occasion where you want to give them unlimited time, but you don't want to disclose the code and then later have to reset it to something new. Or you want to delegate permission to a babysitter.

You just give them the doohickey and ask for it back later. (Cloning the NFC tag is a much harder job that remembering a PIN.)

For this reason a configuration profile [1] is the only fool proof method. However, I have only used them to deploy permanent content restrictions. I don't know of a way to enable or disable restrictions based on the time of day or a certain duration.

1. https://support.apple.com/guide/apple-configurator-mac/creat...

Not unlike using a TPM to prevent users from copying copyrighted content while still allowing controlled access.

> enable or disable restrictions based on the time of day or a certain duration

this is what I need

That seems like a rather unfair comparison, tarring "parent won't let child watch movies after bedtime" with the same brush as "international megacorp sabotages hardware you own in profit-seeking paranoia."

Heck, in many jurisdiction the device is owned by the parents anyway, not the kid.

Nah, it's fair.