Device Control

What is Device Control?

Device Control is a feature that lets your keyholder manage and monitor your Android phone.

When enabled, they can:

• Set daily screen time limits
• Block specific apps
• Filter websites and block adult content
• View your app usage
• Take screenshots (with your permission)
• Set time windows for when you can use your phone

Who Can Use It?

• Wearers: Anyone with the Chastify Android app can enable Device Control and grant access to their keyholder
• Keyholders: Anyone who has been granted control can manage the device settings
• Self-Control Mode: You can also use Device Control on yourself to test the features and see what a keyholder can do

Getting Started

Step 1: Install the Android App

Device Control features are only available on the Chastify Android mobile app.

Step 2: Open Device Control

1. Open the Chastify app on your Android device
2. Go to Device Control page

Step 3: Grant Permissions

You'll see a list of permissions that need to be enabled. Tap each one to grant it:

Required Permissions

Permission	What It Does	Why It's Needed
Device Admin	Prevents the app from being uninstalled	Stops you from removing Chastify without permission
Overlay	Allows blocking popups to appear over other apps	Blocks access to restricted apps and websites
Accessibility	Monitors which apps and websites you're using	Enables app blocking, browser filtering, and time limits
Usage Stats	Tracks how long you use each app	Provides screen time data to your keyholder
Screen Capture	Allows screenshots to be taken	Only if you enable screenshot consent

How to Grant Each Permission:

1. Tap the Start Setup button
2. You'll be guided through each permission one by one
3. For each permission, tap the button and follow Android's prompts to enable it
4. When granted, next permission will launch, or you may be required to press the back action key
5. Once all permissions have been granted Device Control is active and you can Enable Self-Control mode to test the features.

Step 4: Give Control to Your Keyholder

After setup is complete:

1. You'll see your keyholder's username displayed (if they're the owner of your active lock)
2. Review what your keyholder will be able to do:
   • Set daily screen time limits
   • Block specific apps
   • Monitor app usage
   • Set time restrictions
3. Tap Give Control to Keyholder

That's it! Your keyholder can now manage your device from their dashboard.

What Your Keyholder Can Do

Screen Time Limits

Your keyholder can set a maximum amount of time you can use your phone each day. For example, they might set a 4-hour daily limit.

What happens when the limit is reached:

• You'll see a warning when you're getting close
• Once exceeded, you'll be blocked from using most apps
• Essential apps (phone, messages, settings) are always allowed for safety

Time Restrictions

Your keyholder can set specific hours when you're allowed to use your device. For example, only between 6:00 AM and 10:00 PM.

What happens outside allowed hours:

• Apps will be blocked during restricted times
• The overlay screen will show and restrict access and explain why
• Essential apps (phone, messages, settings) are always allowed for safety

App Blocking

Your keyholder can:

• Block specific apps - Prevent you from opening certain applications
• Set per-app time limits - Allow only 30 minutes per day for one specific app
• Allow apps - Remove apps from the blocked list
• Always allow - Mark certain apps as always permitted (like phone or maps)

Browser Control

Your keyholder can filter what websites you can visit:

• Block adult content - Enable a pre-configured filter for ~50,000 adult websites
• Block specific sites - Add websites to a blocked list
• Allow specific sites - Use "allowlist mode" to only permit certain websites
• View browsing activity - See which websites you visit (just domain names, not page content)
• View restricted activity - See which websites you tried to access which were blocked

Screenshots (With Your Consent)

Your keyholder can only take screenshots if you explicitly enable screenshot consent. Please note this feature is bugged and the MediaProjection turns off after some time. Or it's a safety restriction on Android itself to prevent apps spying on a user.

You can disable this at any time! When disabled, your keyholder will see a message that you haven't granted permission. When you give the permission you can either choose it for one app only or all apps. You are required to use all apps for it to work.

No screenshots are saved and is only accessible by the keyholder, once the control page is reloaded the screenshot will be gone forever.

View Your Activity

Your keyholder can see:

• How much time you've spent on your phone today
• Which apps you've used and for how long
• See all your installed apps
• View your latest browser activity in realtime
• Recent app usage

Privacy Information

What IS Collected

• App names you have installed (package names, icons)
• Screen time data - how long you use apps each day
• Websites you visit (the full URLs)
• App usage - which apps you open and how often

What is NEVER Collected

• Your messages or chat content
• Your passwords or login information
• Your location
• Screenshots - only taken with your permission and never stored on the server

Data Retention

• Browser history - Automatically deleted after 3 days (MongoDB TTL index)
• App usage - Stored in database; keyholder can only view the last 7 days via the dashboard
• Screenshots - Never stored - transmitted directly via WebSocket and not saved on server
• All data - Deleted when the lock ends or control is released (entire parental control record is removed)

Managing Device Control

View Your Current Settings

While under device control, you can see all restrictions in the Device Control settings:

1. Open → Device Control
2. View your current status:
   • Who has control
   • Today's screen time and remaining time
   • Active time restrictions
   • Blocked apps
   • Individual app limits
   • Browser filtering rules

Check Permissions Anytime

If something isn't working correctly, check your permissions:

1. Open → Device Control
2. Scroll to Permissions Status
3. Each permission shows a green checkmark if granted, red X if missing
4. Tap any missing permission to re-grant it

warning

When control is released:

• All saved data are immediately removed
• Your keyholder loses access to device management
• You can press button Disable Parental Control to disable the protection service

For Keyholders: How to Manage a Device

Accessing Device Control

When someone grants you device control:

1. You'll receive a notification
2. Go to your wearers Lock Details Page
3. Click the Device Control button

You can also Open → Device Control directly to see all wearers who have granted access

Taking Screenshots

1. Make sure the wearer has enabled Screenshot Consent in their settings
2. Click Take Screenshot on the device control panel
3. Wait for the capture to complete (progress bar shows)
4. View, download, or clear the screenshot

tip

If screenshot fails, ask the wearer to:

• Enable screenshot consent in Device Control settings
• Tap "Enable screen capture" and choose "Share entire screen"
• Make sure the orange MediaProjection icon is active in the statusbar, it frequently disables itself for some reason

Releasing Control

If you want to end device control before the lock ends:

1. Scroll to the top of the device control page
2. Click Release Parental Control
3. Confirm your decision

warning

This action cannot be undone! All restrictions will be immediately removed.

Troubleshooting

"Device Offline" Warning

If you see a message that the device is offline:

For the wearer:

• Open the Chastify app
• Make sure you're logged in
• Make sure all permissions have been granted and the acessible service is running
• Open the logs viewer with View logs button in the menu - then click bottom left button called PARENTAL to see detailed logs

For the keyholder:

• Wait for the wearer to sync it's initial data, it does that immediately once enabled for the first time and then syncs every 1 hour

"Permission Issues Detected"

If you (or your keyholder) see a permission warning:

1. Open → Device Control on the Android device
2. Check the Permissions Status section
3. Re-grant any permissions showing as denied
4. Try restarting the Chastify app

Can I uninstall the app while Device Control is active?

No. The Device Admin permission prevents uninstallation without your keyholder's permission. This is intentional to prevent bypassing restrictions.

What happens when my lock ends?

Device control is linked to your lock. When the lock ends, device control will also end unless self-control is active.