Best Accountability Setup Document

Step 1: Account Setup

Do you already have a subscribed Best Accountability account?

Truple and ScreenKin accounts work too. If you don't have an account, you'll need to create one before proceeding. You can create an account at https://app.bestaccountability.com.

Enter your subscribed account email

Enter the email address associated with your Best Accountability account. If your email contains a '+' character, there's a known issue with iOS devices. Please contact support@bestaccountability.com to verify how to proceed.

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Step 2: Best Accountability App Setup

Install Best Accountability onto your device

Install Best Accountability from the App Store at: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/best-accountability/id6753020993

Open the Best Accountability app

Open the Best Accountability app on your device and click "Add Device to Account."

Add to account

Enter the subscribed Best Accountability account email address (Truple and ScreenKin accounts work too). Choose a device name (for example, "Cam's phone"). Click "Add Device to Account."

Accept the request

Log in to your account to accept the request. This can be done from any Best Accountability, Truple, or ScreenKin website.

Accept add device request

Once logged in, you will see an invitation to add your device to your account. Click "Accept." If the prompt does not appear, refresh the page.

Check if Granted

Go back to the app and click "Check if Granted."

Request Permission

Click "Request Permission."

Click Continue

Follow the prompts to continue.

FaceID or Passcode

Enter your biometric authentication or passcode when prompted.

How the app works

Watch this video to see a video guide explaining how the app works.

Our app works differently on iOS due to Apple's limitations:

• By default, Best Accountability blocks all apps and websites
• To unblock them, open the Best Accountability app and click "Start Monitoring". This launches monitoring, and unblocks the apps so you can use them.
• If the broadcast is stopped, Best Accountability will automatically block the apps again

Important: Due to the way Apple designed iPhones/iPads, turning off the screen will cause the broadcast to end, resulting in apps and websites being blocked.

Device-wide Screenshots on iOS is now setup

You can adjust in-app settings to make life easier (for example, allow some apps to be used without monitoring). Just be careful—a lot of apps have hidden web browsers.

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Step 3: Screen Time Configuration

Configure Screen Time

Now you need to configure Screen Time settings on your device. From your Apple device, open the Settings app and select Screen Time.

Enable App & Website Activity

Select "Turn On App & Website Activity."

Lock Screen Time Settings with PIN

Select "Lock Screen Time Settings" then set a PIN.

Important: You need to remember this PIN. Anytime you make changes to these settings, you'll need to enter it. Do not let anyone else have access to this PIN. We recommend you save it to your phone or write it down somewhere safe.

Always Allowed Apps

Select "Always Allowed" and remove (unselect) all apps from Screen Time's Always Allowed list except for the Phone and Best Accountability apps.

Communication Limits

Select "Communication Limits" and then select "During Downtime."

Add Contacts

When Best Accountability is blocking apps, messages and FaceTime calls don't go through unless they're from a Trusted Contact. Add anyone you want to be able to reach you while apps are blocked.

Warning: If you don't do this, your messages and FaceTime calls will not reach your phone while apps are blocked.

Content & Privacy

Go back to the main Screen Time menu, select "Content & Privacy Restrictions," and enable the Content & Privacy functionality in Screen Time.

Intelligence & Siri

Select "Intelligence & Siri," then select "Web Search Content" and set it to "Don't Allow."

App Store, Media, Web, & Games

Go back to Content & Privacy Restrictions, select "App Store, Media, Web, & Games," and ensure "Screen Recording" is set to "Allow."

Allow Changes To

Go back to Content & Privacy Restrictions and set:

• "Allow Account Changes" to "Don't Allow"
• "Allow Background App Activity Changes" to "Don't Allow"

Warning: If you don't do this, Best Accountability can be bypassed.

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Step 4: Recommended Steps for Added Protection - Block Settings App

Much of what we have set up can be undone with enough digging in settings and experimentation. If you think that this will be a temptation, we recommend taking the following actions to block the Settings app.

Open Best Accountability and Unblock Apps

Open Best Accountability. Click the "Unblock Apps" button and follow the steps to unblock the apps on your phone.

Download the Best Accountability Shortcut

Download the Best Accountability shortcut here to your phone.

You should see a screen asking if you want to get the shortcut. Click "Get Shortcut".

Add Shortcut

This will open the Shortcuts app. Click "Add Shortcut".

Verify Shortcut Added

You should now see the shortcut added to your Shortcuts app.

Navigate to Automation Tab

Navigate to the "Automation" tab in the Shortcuts app.

Create New Automation

Click "New Automation".

Select App Automation

Scroll down and select "App".

Choose App

Select "Choose".

Search for Settings App

Locate the "Settings" app in the app list.

Select the Settings App

Select the "Settings" app.

Configure Automation Settings

Match the settings as follows: "Settings", "Is Opened", and "Run Immediately" should all be selected. Then select "Next" in the top right corner.

Select Block Settings Shortcut

Select the "Block Settings" shortcut from "My Shortcuts".

Verify Automation in Place

Once you've selected the shortcut, the automation should appear under the "Automation" tab.

Grant Automation Permission (iOS 26+)

Now open the Settings app on your device, and grant the Block Settings Automation permission to run.

Go to Best Accountability App Settings

Navigate back to Best Accountability and go to the app settings.

Select Always Blocked

Select "Select Always Blocked".

You will see a warning. Select "Proceed".

Block Shortcuts App

Select the "Shortcuts" app from the application list under "Productivity & Finance".

Return to the app settings and the list will be saved.

Settings App Successfully Blocked

The Settings app is now blocked, which closes up loopholes. When you attempt to open the Settings app, it should cause the Best Accountability app to appear. If you wish to unblock the settings app in the future, please disable monitoring via the device settings page for your device.

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Setup Complete

Everything is now set up. You can view reports by logging into your Best Accountability account.

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Recommended Best Accountability Device Settings

Once Best Accountability is set up on your device, you can adjust your device settings from the device settings page.

Find your device and click to expand the settings.

By default, alerts are sent anytime a change is made to Best Accountability's in app settings. You can consider enabling the "Block Tamper" setting, which will block your ability to make changes to Best Accountability's in app settings. Block tamper will prevent changing in app settings like editing of the "Always Allowed Application List" and the "Always Blocked Application List". Make sure to click the "Save" before leaving the page when you are done.

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Other notes

Unblock apps delay

Best Accountability allows full device wide screenshots. The only way to accomplish this on iOS (iPhone/iPad) is using the broadcast permission. Apple controls the broadcast permission popup and requires a 3 second delay.

Music apps / background players

Music apps / background players won't be able to play in the background unless they're added to an "Always allowed" list. Music apps will still function while connected to a car via CarPlay even if they aren't on an "Always allowed" list. Before you add these apps to an always allowed list, please note that there is visual and audible pornography found in music apps.

Please Note: We're investigating issues with Apple Music, which prevents you from listening to music while a broadcast is running (which is what this app does when apps are unblocked). This creates an issue where each time you start a broadcast Apple Music will continue playing but it doesn't actually produce sound through speaker/headphones. This is not an issue with Youtube Music, Spotify, and other music streaming apps—only with Apple Music. If you wish to use Apple Music, you can use it in the background and it works fine. However, if you wish to use Apple music while being monitored using other apps, you'll need to use a web browser and go to music.apple.com instead of using the Apple Music apps. We'll continue searching for ways to improve this.

Video streaming apps

Some video streaming apps (Netflix, etc) use digital rights management (DRM) features to block screenshots from being captured in order to protect their copyrighted video content. When this occurs, it will be indicated in the event timeline. We recommend you use the apps built in parental control features, or use a web browser to watch the films instead of the app.

Snapchat

Since Best Accountability monitors using a screen recording broadcast, Snapchat will report that the user is recording the screen to anyone they're receiving Snapchat's from. If you wish Snapchat to be monitored, the user must put up with this. Otherwise, you can add Snapchat to the "Always Allowed Applications List".

Compatibility

Best Accountability requires iOS 18+ on the iPhone or iPad (if the phone was newly purchased after 2019, you should be good to go).

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With those settings in place, Best Accountability is all set up. Congrats!

If you have any questions, comments, or ideas to help us improve, email us at support@bestaccountability.com.