# Excalibur

> Excalibur is an iPhone app blocker built around a hand-painted world. Your distracting apps are locked in stone. Pull the sword to open them for a few minutes, up to three times a day, and add a guardian (a QR key, an NFC tag or a friend) who has to agree to each pull.

## Key facts

- What it is: an app blocker (screen time blocker) for iPhone, built around a hand-painted 3D world with a sword in a stone, lit by the real sun or moon for your time of day.
- Platform: iPhone only, iOS 18 or later. Uses Apple's Screen Time API (Family Controls), so it needs the Screen Time permission.
- Locking: you pick apps, app categories and websites with Apple's picker. They stay locked all day, every day, with no schedules. Opening a locked app shows "Locked by Excalibur" and how many pulls are left today.
- Pulls: you choose 0 to 3 pulls a day; each pull opens your locked apps for 5, 10, 15 or 30 minutes, then they lock again by themselves. 0 pulls is a hard lock. You pull by dragging the sword up out of the stone.
- Guardians (free, optional): a guardian has to agree to each pull. Choose one: a QR key (generated on the iPhone, printed as a wallet card or sticker and hidden somewhere annoying, scanned to pull), an NFC tag (any plain NFC sticker, key fob or card with a fixed ID; tapped to pull; phones and payment cards don't work), or a buddy (a friend who taps Agree in a chat).
- Buddies: free for both people, and a buddy doesn't have to lock anything. Invite with a 6-character code that works for 48 hours. An agreement lasts 30 minutes. Two friends can guard each other. A buddy picks a bird (raven, owl, magpie or phoenix) and a hat that sits on the other person's stone.
- Rule changes (apps, pulls, length, guardian) start at the next midnight, never the same day.
- Emergency unlock: always available, never needs the guardian and never uses a pull: wait 5 minutes, then your apps open for 15 minutes. The wait can be cancelled.
- Excalibur can't be deleted while your apps are locked.
- Seasons: all of October the world is dressed for Halloween (pumpkins, candles, bats, a blood moon).
- Privacy: no account, no ads, no analytics or tracking SDKs. Which apps you lock and your usage never leave the iPhone. Buddies and gift codes use Apple CloudKit; purchases use Apple and RevenueCat.
- Price: free for one locked app with every feature (guardians and buddies included). Premium locks all apps, categories and websites: Solo $9.99/year, Duo $14.99/year (adds a gift of Premium for a friend), Lifetime $24.99 once (includes the friend gift). US prices; Solo and Duo renew yearly until cancelled in Apple Account settings.
- How it differs from other app blockers: instead of timers or an off switch, you get a small daily budget of pulls; the key can be a free QR code or an NFC sticker you already own (no hardware to buy); a friend can hold the key for free; loosening rules waits until tomorrow.
- Contact: support@theexcaliburapp.com
- Availability: Coming soon to the App Store (app ID 6819089090).

## Pages

- [Home](https://theexcaliburapp.com/): what Excalibur is, how it works (lock, pull, guardian), guardians, buddies, pricing and a comparison with iOS Screen Time limits.
- [Help and FAQ](https://theexcaliburapp.com/help): getting started, pulls, QR key, NFC tag, buddies, Emergency unlock, Premium, gift codes, restoring and cancelling, unpairing, the Screen Time permission.
- [Privacy Policy](https://theexcaliburapp.com/privacy): what data the app and website handle, CloudKit records, RevenueCat, deletion.
- [Terms of Use](https://theexcaliburapp.com/terms): subscriptions, gift codes, buddy chat rules, Apple's standard EULA.

## Optional

- [Full text for language models](https://theexcaliburapp.com/llms-full.txt): the facts above plus every help answer.