Helpfl: Habits & App Blocker
Scan an NFC tag to unlock
Free · In‑App Purchases
New for fall: Harvest and Haunt themes for Helpfl Pro. Underneath, nothing changes — your apps lock at the time you set, and only your tag unlocks them.
Your apps stay locked until you actually do it.
HOW IT WORKS
Tag it. Scan an NFC tag or sticker once to register it in Helpfl, give it a name, then leave it where the habit actually happens — on the mirror, the pill bottle, the gym bag. They're passive, so there's no battery and nothing to charge.
Set the rule. Pick a time and choose which apps to block — Instagram, TikTok, the news, whatever you reach for instead.
Tap to unlock. Your apps shield themselves at the due time and stay that way until you walk over and scan. Then they're yours again.
YOUR TAG CAN ARRIVE LATER
You don't have to wait on your tags to arrive. Set up your first habit the day you install Helpfl and finish it with a button for five days — the blocking is real the whole time, only the key is different. Register your tag when it turns up and it takes over the habit you already built. If the five days run out first, that habit pauses instead, and your streak is kept.
REAL BLOCKING, NOT A REMINDER
Helpfl uses Apple's own Screen Time framework, so a blocked app is genuinely blocked — not a notification you can swipe away. Everything runs on your device. Helpfl never sees which apps you open.
BUILT FOR THE DAYS YOU DON'T FEEL LIKE IT
A 60-minute head start — the hour before a routine is due, everything stays open. Finish early and nothing ever locks.
Streak freezes — one bad day shouldn't erase two months. Spend a freeze and the streak survives, honestly labelled.
Time Extenders — stuck in a meeting when the lock lands? Buy yourself ten more minutes without breaking the habit.
Live Activities — the countdown lives on your Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island, so the deadline is never a surprise.
Apple Watch — the countdown, the freeze and the Time Extender all live on your wrist. Your phone still does the enforcing.
Cloud sync — streaks, tags and history back themselves up, so a new iPhone doesn't cost you your record.
HABITS AND ONE-OFF TASKS
Recurring routines get streaks and freezes. One-time tasks get a deadline. Both can lock your apps — or you can leave a task unarmed and let it behave like an ordinary reminder.
A TAG FOR EVERY HABIT
Name each tag, give it a colour and an icon, and that colour follows the habit everywhere — the home screen, the streak grid, the charts. One glance tells you which part of your day slipped.
SEE THE HOURS YOU WIN BACK
Every lock that held is time you spent somewhere else. Helpfl adds it up — by day, by habit, by tag — so the payoff is a number and not a feeling.
CAN'T YOU JUST CHEAT IT?
You can, and deliberately not easily. The emergency bypass makes you type out a paragraph acknowledging what you're doing, then records the routine as bypassed rather than done. It's there for the day you're genuinely stuck, not the day you don't feel like it.
TAGS
Any standard NFC tag or sticker works — a sticker for the flat surfaces, a tag for everywhere else. Helpfl links to a pack from inside the app if you'd rather not go looking. Scanning one in Helpfl is all it takes to link it to a routine. Put it somewhere you have to walk to — that's the whole point.
PRICING
The blocking is free, forever. Unlimited habits and tasks, app blocking, NFC unlocking, streaks, freezes, the 60-minute head start, Live Activities, Apple Watch and insights — all free, plus three Time Extenders to get you started.
Helpfl Pro adds Vacation Mode (pause every habit at once, or just the ones you pick), advanced scheduling, unlimited Time Extenders, bonus freezes every month, and secure cloud backup across your devices. $4/month, or $36/year with a free month — about 25% cheaper.
Requires iOS 18 or later and an iPhone with NFC. Apple Watch companion included.
Questions: support@helpfl.io
Privacy Policy: https://helpfl.io/privacy Terms of Use: https://helpfl.io/terms
Seasonal themes, for Helpfl Pro.
• Harvest and Haunt give Helpfl a look for the season: new colors,
falling leaves or a moon and bats across the top of each tab, and
leaves or bats when you finish a habit. Pick one in Me › Theme.
• Each theme stays only while its season lasts — Harvest through
November, Haunt until Halloween is over — then Helpfl goes back to
Classic on its own. Haunt is always dark.
• Turn on Match App Icon and your home screen icon changes with the
theme too.
• Your tags and habits keep their own colors under every theme, and
locked, missed and frozen look the same as always, so a glance still
means what it did.
The developer, Helpfl, LLC, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Linked to You
The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:
- Contact Info
- User Content
- Identifiers
- Usage Data
- Diagnostics
Data Not Linked to You
The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
- User Content
- Identifiers
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
- Seller
- Helpfl, LLC
- Size
- 11.6 MB
- Category
- Health & Fitness
- Compatibility
Requires iOS 18.0 or later.
- iPhone
Requires iOS 18.0 or later. - Apple Watch
Requires watchOS 11.0 or later.
- iPhone
- Age Rating
13+
- 13+
- In-App Purchases
Yes
- Helpfl Pro $36.00
- Helpfl Pro $4.00
- Copyright
- © Helpfl, LLC
