How it works

The two numbers that run the day

You give is the guaranteed screen time you set for one child. Set it to 60 min, and your child’s day reads You give 60 min.

By default your child can earn that much again in the same day: give 60 min and the most they can have available is 120 min, shown as Daily max. Set a different Can earn up to, and Daily max follows it.

How earning is divided

The earnable minutes come from three places: the mind game, the daily episode, and chores. Together, those three can add up to exactly the amount you give again.

KidCommit splits the earnable minutes between the ways to earn. By default they are split evenly, with the rounding worked out so the total comes out exactly right, and in the parent app you can move minutes between them.

With 60 min a day, the math is unusually well behaved: 20 min for the mind game, 20 min for the daily episode, and 20 min for chores.

If one way to earn is not there

If a way to earn is not available on a day, it is not counted for that day. For example, if your child has no chores at all, the chores part is not left sitting around looking useful.

The earnable minutes are split between the remaining ways to earn. With 60 min a day and no chores, the mind game and daily episode divide the 60 min between them.

How chore minutes are worked out

A child can have up to three chores. Each chore has the time you expect it to take, from 1 to 240 minutes.

The day’s chore minutes are split between that day’s chores in proportion to those expected times. A longer job is worth more. Doing every chore on the list earns all the chore minutes for the day.

The minutes a chore is worth are fixed when your child starts it. If the chore list changes while they are working, the chore still pays what it promised when it started.

The order minutes are spent

When your child uses limited apps, KidCommit spends minutes in this order: what you give first, then saved-up minutes, oldest first, then what was earned today.

This order is why earned minutes can be saved even on a day when your child used the phone. If the given minutes covered the use, today’s earned minutes are still unused.

Bonus time is different. During bonus time, limited apps open and your child’s own minutes are not spent.

• First: what you give
• Second: saved-up minutes, oldest first
• Third: what was earned today

What happens at the end of the day

Unused minutes from what you give do not carry over. They burn at the end of the day.

Unused earned minutes are saved up and stay there. Saved-up minutes can be spent on a later day, but they never raise Daily max.

Daily max still rules the day. If you give 60 min, the day never goes past 120 min, even if your child has minutes saved up.

Worked example: 60 min given, 45 min used

The day starts with You give 60 min. Your child solves the mind game, passes the daily episode, and does the chores, so they earn 60 min more.

Your child uses 45 min. Those 45 min come out of the 60 min you gave first, so none of today’s earned minutes are touched.

At the end of the day, the unused 15 min from what you gave burns. The 60 min your child earned is saved up.

Why Daily max stops more earning

A day never goes past what you set: the time you give plus what can be earned on top. By default that is double, so giving 60 min means the day stops at 120 min.

That is why your child cannot keep stacking minutes by doing more after the day’s earnable minutes are already earned. The daily maximum is the line, not a suggestion.

Choosing the ceiling and the prices

Can earn up to is yours to set. Left alone it matches You give, so a day can double. Set it yourself, in steps of 15 minutes, and Daily max becomes You give plus Can earn up to.

You can also decide what each way to earn is worth. Move minutes between the daily episode, the mind game and chores in steps of 5, as long as they add up to Can earn up to. Your child sees the day's prices in the morning, and they stay the same all day.

Both take effect from the next day, like the guaranteed time: a day keeps the numbers it started with.