App GatekeeperApp Gatekeeper
Posted by sky
App Gatekeeper is an app that tracks your usage time on all the apps on your Android device. Being able to track the apps usage, allows it to prevent the user from spending too much time on the devices (phones, tablets).
The main purpose of Gatekeeper is to free up one's time for more important tasks, and prevents user addiction to such electronic devices.
Gatekeeper provides 2 ways of protecting your interest / health:
- it can setup maximum usage limits for apps and categories of apps.
- it can setup specific times when you can access the apps.
The app provides 2 types of usage limits: per day usage limit for an app/category, and usage limit on weekend. You can create a Games category, and assign all your games apps to the category. If you setup a maximum usage limit of 1 hour per day for Games category, then Gatekeeper will ensure that you will never spend more than an hour per day on all your games. If you wish to allow yourself more gaming time on weekend (Sat and Sun), you can setup a maximum usage limit of 2 hours on weekend (per day).
The other alternative is to setup specific times where you can access the apps (categories). For example, you can setup the time from 8 to 9pm on Games category, this allows you to access any of your games in between 8 to 9pm, and disallows you from accessing them on other time. This would prevent you from playing games late into the night when you are supposed to go to sleep.
So far so good, but would you not be able to modify these as you wish, to extend the maximum usage limit when you have cross the limit?
To prevent you from doing so, the premium version provides 2 lock features: a manual lock, and an auto-lock.
The manual lock is useful when you can get your friends or parents to setup a lock password only they know, and to ask them to lock those maximum usage limits and specific access times you have setup. Because you will need the lock password to first unlock them before being able to modify them, you won't be able to change them as you wish. (The other possibility is for parents to setup these on their children devices)
The auto-lock is useful if you are disciplined enough to follow your own decisions. When an auto-lock is applied to an app/category usage limits and access times, the values will be locked for a specific number of days before the lock expires and the values become modifiable. So, if you are unsure of your decision, you can setup a small auto-lock period. If you are confident, you can setup a longer auto-lock period. (If you are really disciplined, you would not have needed the lock feature?)
For the complete guide, please refer to App Gatekeeper Help Guide.
