ScreenTime Assistant
See how your child uses their Windows PC, and set limits or stop games and video from your phone.
Z
· v2.8.3
Overview
ScreenTime Assistant is a family & home app for Windows, made by Z. See how your child uses their Windows PC, and set limits or stop games and video from your phone. It’s made for Parents whose kids use a Windows PC for school and fun, and who want clear numbers and simple limits without spyware. The latest version is 2.8.3, released Oct 2, 2026. It was built with help from Claude Code.
ScreenTime Assistant is a Windows app for parents. Install it on your child's PC and link it to your account with your email. From your phone you can then see which apps and websites were used and for how long, set daily limits, stop games or video for the rest of the day, and leave your child a message. It doesn't log keystrokes, take screenshots or read files.
I built it for our own family PC. It's now free for any family: download the installer from the website and sign up on the parent dashboard.
How it works
- Run the installer on your child's PC (Windows 10 / 11, 64- or 32-bit). It starts right away, and a welcome window asks for your email.
- Sign up on the parent dashboard with that email, then tap Approve on the Account page.
- Usage shows up within about 5 minutes. Every Windows account on that PC is recorded and links itself the first time it signs in.
What parents can do
- See today and the past week by category, app and website. Fix a wrongly sorted item with one tap.
- Set weekday and weekend limits per category. Stop closes a category for the rest of today, even on a second screen or in picture-in-picture. Pause turns tracking off for an hour or until tomorrow.
- Turn off a single app, a whole website, or only links that start with a given address, so blocking Google Search doesn't block Google Docs.
- Study first: game and video time unlocks as study time adds up. Staying under a limit earns stars.
- Send a message that pops up on the PC within a minute; your child can reply.
- Update or uninstall the PC from the dashboard. It starts within about a minute, with no need to touch the PC.
Hard to get around
- Time comes from the server, not the PC's clock. Moving the clock to tomorrow or changing the time zone doesn't restart today's limits, and the change is logged. Each day starts at midnight in the family time zone.
- If the app is closed it restarts within a minute, and the dashboard records how long it was off.
- Uninstalling on the PC needs Windows admin permission plus a one-time code from the parent's account. Every uninstall is reported.
- The dashboard flags a PC whose clock is far off, one that connects from another time zone (possibly a VPN), and one that hasn't reported for 6 hours.
Open about it
It's a family tool, not spyware. It records app names, window titles and web addresses. Turn on the tray star and your child sees their own time and stars. It works best when the child knows it's there.
How it's built
Built with Claude Code. The recorder is Python (pywin32, SQLite), packaged with an Inno Setup installer. The parent dashboard, accounts, remote commands and updates run on Cloudflare Workers and D1.
Why people use it
Made for: Parents whose kids use a Windows PC for school and fun, and who want clear numbers and simple limits without spyware.
Real usage, by app and website
Today and this week by category, app and site. Idle time doesn't count, but a playing video or online class does.
Limits and Stop from your phone
Weekday and weekend limits per category. One tap stops games or video for the rest of today.
Turn off one app or link
Block a single app, a whole website, or only links that start with a certain address.
Study first, earn stars
Play time unlocks as study time adds up, and staying under a limit earns stars.
Hard to cheat
Server time, every Windows account recorded, restarts within a minute, and uninstalling needs a parent code.
No keylogging, no screenshots
Only app names, window titles and web addresses. The child can see their own time too.
Version history
-
v2.8.3 Limits follow the dashboard
Why this version
A tech-savvy kid could edit the settings file on their PC to raise their own limits, and changing a password didn't sign out devices that were already signed in.
- Limits set on the parent dashboard are the only ones that count; if they're changed on the PC, it switches back within about 5 minutes
- A PC can no longer change the limits stored in the parent's account
- Changing the parent password signs out every other device; changing the view-only password signs out everyone who used it
-
v2.8.2 Clock fixes for older PCs
Why this version
PCs still on older versions with a clock set ahead filed usage under tomorrow.
- The dashboard moves records from older PCs with a fast clock back to the right time and day
- Fixed a database step that briefly stopped older PCs from uploading
-
v2.7.8 Server time
Why this version
Changing the PC's clock or time zone could restart the daily limit or add hours of made-up usage.
- Time comes from the server; changing the clock or time zone no longer affects limits or records
- Family time zone: each day starts at midnight there
- Dashboard warns about a clock that's far off or a possible VPN
- Only changed records are uploaded
- Updates and uninstalls start within about a minute
-
v2.7.5 Every account, pair by email
Why this version
Kids switched to another Windows account to get around limits, and pairing codes were fiddly to type.
- Every Windows account on the PC is recorded; others link themselves after the first one is paired
- Turn off a single app, website or just certain links from the Timeline
- Uninstalling on the PC needs a code from the parent; closing the app restarts it within a minute
- A welcome window after install asks for the parent's email; the parent approves on the dashboard
-
v2.6.8 Remote control
Why this version
Parents shouldn't have to walk over to the kid's PC to pause, update or uninstall it.
- Pause, update and uninstall a PC from Settings
- One public installer; every PC links to your account
- Stop closes just the browser tab, and also covers second screens and picture-in-picture
- System and idle time get their own categories and don't count toward limits
- Reinstalling no longer wipes today's data
-
v2.5.1 Family accounts
Why this version
Until now it only served one family. Accounts let any parent sign up and keep their data separate.
- Parent accounts: sign up, link PCs with a pairing code; each family's data is separate
- Messages to the child through the tray icon, with replies
- Study first: game and video time unlocks as study time adds up
-
v2026.09 Sleep-proof recorder
- Recorder survives sleep: fixed the Task Scheduler power defaults that stopped it on battery or after 72 hours
- Watchdog no longer mistakes sleep for a hang
- Time is recorded by the clock shown on screen, unaffected by the PC’s time-zone setting
- Videos with sound no longer count as idle
- Cloud timeline shows the window title column
- Dashboard shows how long ago each machine last reported
Dev notes
How Z built ScreenTime Assistant: progress, problems, and working with AI.
No dev notes published yet.
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