One product. Two apps. Built around how parental controls actually need to work.

Anchor ships as two apps because parental control on Android actually needs to be two apps. The kid's device runs an enforcement runtime that has to live deep in Android: a persistent background service, schedule evaluation that fires on time, tamper detection that catches the bypass routes kids try. Your phone is a control surface: sign up, set rules, see what's happening, generate codes when your kid asks for more time.

Bundling those two responsibilities into a single app forces a compromise that breaks at least one of them. Either your phone installs enforcement permissions it does not need, or your kid's device runs a parent-grade dashboard it does not use. Anchor avoids that compromise by keeping the two roles on the two devices where they belong.

This is also the architecture Google's Families policy expects for parental controls. Every major Android parental control product ships as a companion-app pair for the same reason: the responsibilities and permissions live where they are actually used.

If you cancel your subscription, the kid's device keeps Anchor for Child installed but enforcement gracefully stops. The 4-layer moat disengages cleanly: no more schedule blocks, no more tamper-event surfacing, no more background enforcement. Both apps stay installed and can be reactivated by restarting the subscription.

Nothing about cancellation traps the kid's device in a managed state without your active payment. Anchor will not enforce rules you are not paying for.