01 Uninstall
Uninstall intercept
Long-press → uninstall
Blocked at OS level through Android's PackageManagerService. The system rejects the request before it reaches a dialog.
Android V1 ships 2026 · iOS V2 follows
The parental control kids can't beat.
Anchor is a two-app system: Anchor Parent on your phone, Anchor Child on your kid's. A 6-digit pair code links them. Ten layers of bypass-defeat hold the line.
Founders Offer
First 12 founding parents get lifetime free Family Pro. 0 / 12 claimed.
+Android-first (iOS V2)
+No content surveillance
+Half the price of Bark
Anchor is a device-level parental control app for Android built around bypass-resistance, not content surveillance. It runs as a two-app system: Anchor Parent on the adult's phone, Anchor Child on the kid's device, linked by a 6-digit pair code. Ten enforcement layers close the bypass routes kids actually try. Device Admin rejects uninstall attempts at the OS level. Force-stop is gated. Schedule enforcement runs on server-truth time, so changing the device clock to skip bedtime does nothing. Tamper events that happen offline are queued with their original timestamps and flushed to the parent app the moment the device reconnects. Anchor does not read messages, photos, keystrokes, or browsing history. Android ships first in V1 (2026); iOS follows in V2 later in 2026. Pricing is a 14-day free trial, then Family at $4.99 per month for up to three children or Family Pro at $9.99 per month for unlimited children. One honest V1 limit: the OS-level uninstall block holds, but parent-side notifications when a child attempts to uninstall are not yet shipped, so the defense works while visibility into the attempt is limited at launch. More at https://www.getanchor.store/.
The problem
Every parental control app loses week one.
The reviews are full of the same story. Parents install Family Link, Bark, or Qustodio. The kid figures out the workaround in days. The app stays installed but does nothing. Quiet failure is the default.
The uninstall
Kid long-presses the icon, hits uninstall, confirms. The whole system is gone in under five seconds. Most apps cannot prevent this.
The force-stop
Settings → Apps → Force stop. The background service dies, enforcement disappears, and the parent never knows because the dashboard still says "active."
The clock change
Bedtime starts at 9:00 PM? Set the device clock to 6:00 AM. The schedule unlocks. This works on every parental control that trusts device time.
The airplane-mode trick
Flip airplane mode. The control app cannot phone home, so it fails open or stops enforcing. Kid gets the rest of the night unsupervised.
Every one of these bypasses takes under a minute to learn on TikTok. Anchor was built specifically to close them.
The 10-layer moat
Every bypass kids try, already closed.
Each layer maps to a real attack vector. End-to-end validated in our Phase C hardening cycle: uninstall blocked at the OS, force-stop gated by Device Admin, server time defeats clock tampering, pair state survives reboot, offline tamper events queue and flush with original timestamps.
02 Force-stop
Force-stop gate
Settings → Force stop
Device Admin policy gates force-stop behind your parent passcode. Kid cannot kill the service without you.
03 Permissions
Permission watchdog
Revoke Accessibility / Usage Access
Anchor monitors its own permissions every second. Revocation re-prompts immediately and surfaces in the parent feed.
04 Service kill
Foreground auto-restart
Task killer / OEM cleanup
Foreground service restarts within seconds when terminated. Validated against Phase C kill-and-recover scripts.
05 Clock
Server-truth time
Change device clock to skip bedtime
Schedule enforcement uses our backend's clock, not the phone's. Spoofing the device time changes nothing.
06 Passcode
Argon2id passcode
Guess the parent unlock
Parent passcode is hashed with Argon2id and lockouts ramp on retry. Brute force is not in the budget.
07 Reboot
Pair persistence
Restart device to break link
The parent-child pairing lives in encrypted storage and reloads on boot. Reboot does not unlink Anchor.
08 Pairing
Encrypted JWT pairing
Fake the 6-digit code
The 6-digit code resolves to an encrypted JWT signed by our backend. Spoofed codes never validate.
09 Doze
Doze-resistant runtime
Battery optimizer kills service
Anchor requests OEM-specific battery exemptions during setup so the service stays alive on Samsung, Xiaomi, OnePlus, and friends.
10 Offline
Offline tamper queue
Airplane mode to break enforcement
Enforcement keeps running offline. Tamper events queue locally and flush to the parent app on reconnect, original timestamps preserved.
Features
Everything you need. Nothing you don't.
Anchor is built for the 90% of parental control work that matters: deciding what runs and when, and knowing when something is off.
Schedule editor
Bedtime, school hours, study windows. Recurring weekly schedules with one-off overrides for sick days and weekends.
App picker
Three policies per app: always-block, always-allow, or scheduled. Apply across the kid's whole library in seconds.
Tamper alerts
Force-stop, permission revocation, clock change, offline disconnect. Each event is surfaced in the parent feed in real time when the device is online.
Per-child views
Run 1, 2, 3, or unlimited children from one parent dashboard. Each kid gets their own schedule and app policy. One pair code per device.
Override codes
Grant a temporary access window with one tap. Set the duration, share the unlock code, and Anchor re-locks automatically when it expires.
Activity feed
Which apps were opened and for how long. Foreground-only. We do not capture what your kid types, photos, browsing, or chat content.
Pricing
Honest pricing. No surveillance upsells.
One subscription covers your whole family. We charge for enforcement, not for reading your kid's messages.
14-day Trial
Try Anchor on one kid, no card required.
$0
/ 14-day trial
After 14 days, choose Family or Family Pro to continue.
- 1 child device
- Full 10-layer enforcement
- Bedtime schedule
- Tamper alerts
- Activity feed
Family
Everything most families need.
$4.99
per month
- Parent app and up to 3 children devices
- Unlimited app blocks
- Multiple schedules per child
- Override codes
- Full alert history
- Multi-parent access
Family Pro
For larger families and stronger control.
$9.99
per month
- Parent app and unlimited children devices
- Everything in Family
- Priority support
- Early access to new features
- VPN-level enforcement (V2)
Founders Offer
How the Founders Offer works.
12 spots. Lifetime free Family Pro. A 15-day feedback commitment in return. Here is exactly what you get and what we ask back.
Step 01
Join the Founders waitlist
12 spots. First-come, first-served. Enter your name and email below.
Step 02
Get early Closed Testing access
When Closed Testing opens, the first 12 founders get a sideload invite by email, before public launch.
Step 03
Family Pro: lifetime free access
Founders pay nothing, ever. Lifetime access to Family Pro: unlimited children, all features, every current and future v1.x release. No monthly fee, no expiration, no renewal, for the lifetime of the product.
Step 04
Share feedback within 15 days
In return, founders commit to sharing feedback within 15 days of receiving their Closed Testing invite. Real feedback from real parents is how we ship v1.0 right.
Join the Founders waitlist
Sign up right here.
Two fields. Lifetime free Family Pro for the first 12 founders. You'll be the first to know when Closed Testing opens.
You're on the list.
We'll email you the moment Closed Testing opens. Watch for a note from support@getanchor.store.
You're #... on the Founders list.
Lifetime free Family Pro for the first 12 founders. Feedback expected within 15 days of your invite. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
FAQ
The questions parents actually ask.
The uninstall is rejected at the OS level. Android's
PackageManagerService sees Anchor as a Device Admin and refuses to remove it. The kid cannot uninstall without your parent passcode, full stop. (V1 blocks the uninstall itself; richer parent-side visibility on uninstall attempts ships in a follow-up release.)Schedule enforcement runs on server-truth time, not device time. If the device clock is moved forward to slip past bedtime, the backend's clock still says it's bedtime and the block stays on. The clock change itself surfaces as a tamper event in your parent feed.
Enforcement runs locally on the child device, so airplane mode and SIM-pulling do not disable Anchor. Any tamper attempts that happen while the device is offline are queued with their original timestamps and flushed to the parent app the moment the device reconnects.
No. Anchor records which app is in the foreground and for how long, that is all. We do not collect message content, photos, keystrokes, browsing history, or chat conversations. Enforcement does not require surveillance, and we built Anchor specifically to avoid the surveillance model that Bark and Qustodio use.
Android first, V1 ships 2026. iOS follows in V2, late 2026. Android first because Apple's restrictions on parental control apps are tight, and we wanted to ship the strongest possible enforcement on the platform that supports it. The parent app will be cross-platform from V1.
Four, all standard for enforcement-class parental controls. Device Admin to block uninstall and gate force-stop. Usage Access to know which app is in the foreground. Accessibility Service to enforce the schedule overlay. Notifications so the foreground service can surface its status. Read the full breakdown in our privacy policy.
Install Anchor Child on each kid's device. Open Anchor Parent on your phone, tap "Add child," and a fresh 6-digit pair code generates. Enter that code on the new child device and the pairing locks in. Free supports one child; Family up to four; Family Pro unlimited.
First 12 founding parents to sign up get lifetime free Family Pro. No card on file. No monthly fee. No renewal. Lifetime access for as long as Anchor exists. In return, founders commit to sharing feedback within 15 days of receiving their Closed Testing invite. 12 spots only, matching the minimum tester count Google requires for Closed Testing, and once those founders are in, the offer closes for good.
Because we are not selling parental anxiety. No content surveillance, no monthly engagement reports, no upsell ladder. We do one thing, enforcement that holds, and we charge for that one thing. That is a smaller product, and a fairer price.
Privacy & trust
We built Anchor against the surveillance model.
The whole pitch of Bark and Qustodio is that they read your kid's messages and tell you what's inside. Anchor doesn't. The data we collect is the minimum needed to enforce the schedule you set.
No content capture
We never see message text, photos, browsing, keystrokes, microphone, or camera. Foreground app name and duration only.
Encrypted by default
JWT pairing tokens are encrypted on the wire. Parent passcodes use Argon2id. Pair state lives in Android's encrypted storage.
COPPA-aligned
Anchor Child is for use under parental direction. No third-party advertising SDKs, no behavioural tracking, no data resale. Ever.
Your data, your delete
Unpair a child and the associated activity wipes from our backend within 30 days. Account deletion is a one-tap operation, not a support ticket.
Stop watching parental control fail.
Anchor V1 ships on Android in 2026. Founders Offer closes after 12 sign-ups. Get on the list.
No spam. One email when V1 ships. Unsubscribe in one click.