Kidlyoo

How it works

How the lockdown actually holds.

The technical reality, without scaring you or oversimplifying. Two layers of defence, four permissions, and an honest list of what we deliberately don't try to defend against.

The two layers of lockdown.

Layer 1

KidlyooKioskWatchdog

A background service that listens for foreground-app changes via the Accessibility API. If the foreground app isn't on the approved list, the service bounces it back to Kidlyoo within milliseconds.

Layer 2

UsageStats fallback

Some Android phones aggressively kill background services. As a fallback, we run a foreground service that polls the Usage Stats API once per second. If the Watchdog gets killed, the fallback still bounces escapes.

Common escape attempts and how Kidlyoo handles them

Attempt What happens
Press Home button Watchdog detects within ~100ms, bounces back to Kidlyoo. If Kidlyoo is your Home app, no escape happens at all.
Swipe up to Recents Same as Home. Detected and bounced.
Pull notification shade Doesn't bypass kiosk - Kidlyoo's main screen ignores notification taps until PIN.
Tap a notification If the notification opens another app, the Watchdog bounces it back.
Double-tap power for camera Watchdog bounces back.
Force-stop Kidlyoo from Recents Bounce-resume kicks in: when Kidlyoo restarts, it goes straight back to the kid session if the watchdog flag is fresh.
Restart the device On boot, Kidlyoo doesn't auto-launch. You start the next session intentionally. (An Android safety behaviour, not a Kidlyoo limitation.)
Find the parent PIN Out of scope. We can't stop a kid who watches a parent type the PIN. We do offer auto-pin and biometric for extra layers.

Why we ask for each permission.

We ask for exactly what we need to enforce the kiosk. No more.

Set Kidlyoo as Home app

Optional

When Kidlyoo is the Home app, every Home-button press opens Kidlyoo. The kid never flashes through your home screen.

Accessibility

Required

Lets the Watchdog know which app is in the foreground. Used for one thing only - bouncing back to Kidlyoo when an off-list app comes forward. We never read your screen, capture text, or send anything anywhere.

Usage Access

Recommended

A backup signal for the Watchdog. If the OS kills the Watchdog, the Usage Access fallback (a foreground service) keeps bouncing escapes. We only ever read the current foreground app, never history.

Battery optimisation exemption

Required

Tells Android not to kill our background services. Without this, the Watchdog gets terminated and the lockdown breaks. Battery cost is small (about 0.5 to 1% per hour while a kid's session is running).

Phone (CALL_PHONE)

Only if speed-dial is enabled

Lets approved calls happen inside the kiosk so the kid doesn't break out. We never request this if you have phone access set to Off for every child.

For the deep-dive on each, see Help - Permissions.

Per-device approvals.

Each phone holds its own approved-apps list. Why? OEM apps differ across devices. Samsung's calculator is com.sec.android.app.popupcalculator; Oppo's is com.coloros.calculator. A single cross-device list would show phantom tiles that fail when tapped.

When you install Kidlyoo on a second phone, a one-tap "Copy approvals from your other device" intersects the source list with locally-installed packages, so we never copy something that isn't on this phone.

If you lose your PIN.

Three ways back in, in order:

  1. 1

    Device biometric

    Fingerprint or face, if you set it up earlier.

  2. 2

    Account password

    Your Kidlyoo sign-in password.

  3. 3

    Email reset link

    Standard reset to your sign-in email.

So in practice, "I forgot my PIN" is never a dead end. PINs are hashed and salted at rest; we never store them in plaintext.

What we deliberately don't try to defend against.

Honesty matters more than over-promising. Here's where Kidlyoo stops trying.

  • A parent's PIN written on a sticky note next to the device.
  • Determined teenagers with rooted devices.
  • Jailbroken or rooted devices in general - we assume the device is in a normal state.

Our target is preventing accidental escape and casual probing, not defeating a security researcher.

Curate. Lock. Hand it over.

Free tier, no card, every safety feature included.

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