Threshold
Threshold support
Last updated 15 September 2026.
Threshold is a setup guide. You tell it a child's age and which devices and apps they use, and it produces the parental controls that apply, in the order worth doing them, with the steps for each one.
Why it says "you marked this done" and never "protected"
Threshold has no connection to your child's phone, console, tablet or any account of theirs. It cannot read a setting, so it cannot confirm one is on. Everything on the checklist is a record of what you told it you did.
That is why the wording never says a child is safe. An app that told you a control was on, when all it knew was that you tapped a button, would be making a claim it has no way to stand behind.
Why each step shows a date
Platforms move their settings. A step that was right in March can send you to a menu that no longer exists in September. So every guide carries the date its steps were last checked against the real interface, and the app shows that date rather than hiding it. If what you see on the device does not match the step, trust the device.
An item tagged Not yet re-checked is one the guide itself knows is behind the platform. It is still shown, because knowing which control to look for is useful even when the exact path has moved. Guides are stored on our side rather than inside the app, so a correction reaches you without waiting for an App Store update.
Why the list is in that order
The checklist sorts by consequence, not by device or category. The age on the account comes first, because most other controls on a platform are derived from it, so setting screen limits on an account with the wrong birthday is building on sand.
You can mark an item done, or mark it as not applying to you. Both are kept, so a control you deliberately skipped does not keep reappearing as unfinished work.
What turns up under Changes
When a guide you already completed is updated, that child gets an entry under Changes naming what moved, with the option to walk it again or dismiss it. You are only told about steps you actually completed. A control you never did is not a change; it is the current version, waiting on the checklist.
What Threshold does not do
- It does not monitor, filter, block or restrict anything. Every setting is made by you, in Apple's, Google's, Sony's, Nintendo's or the app's own settings.
- It never sees your child's messages, browsing, screen time, location or friends, because it is not connected to any of it.
Paying for a child
Each child is unlocked with a single payment through your Apple ID. It is not a subscription: there is nothing to renew and nothing to cancel. The amount is shown on the unlock screen inside the app, which reads it from the App Store for your country. Without paying you can still see every control that applies to a child and what each one is for; paying adds the steps, the record of what you have done, and the change alerts.
Restoring a purchase
On a new device, open the child and use Restore purchase. Purchases are per child, so a restore that finds nothing usually means you are looking at a different child from the one that was bought, or are signed in with a different Apple ID.
Refunds
Apple is the merchant of record, so refunds are requested from Apple at reportaproblem.apple.com.
Signing in, and your data
There is no password. You enter your email address and the app sends a six digit code. Threshold stores that address, each child's name and age band, which platforms you said they use, your progress, and your change alerts. No date of birth, no photograph, no school, no account name for any platform.
You can delete your account from the Account tab, which removes your profile, every child and all progress, immediately and permanently. Settings you changed on real devices stay changed; they were never ours to undo. The full policy is at carrierpress.com/threshold/privacy.
Contact
One person reads that, so a reply may take a few days.
Threshold is published by Jeffrey L Carrier.