In development. Not on the App Store. Not on Google Play. No public download.

Learn to Unlock

Learn to Unlock is a product of Kaizen Intelligence Labs LLC for families with children from preschool through grade 8, about ages 3 to 14. It runs on iPhone, iPad, and Android. The Android app and the grading server are being built now. The iPhone and iPad apps are part of the same product and are not built yet.

What problem it is for

A lot of children’s free screen time goes to short videos and games. Most parental controls can only block an app or cut off a timer. They do not make a lesson the way back in. Parents also have a hard time finding material that fits a child, getting the child to do it, and knowing whether the child understood it.

Learn to Unlock ties the two together. The parent chooses the entertainment apps that stay locked. The child opens Learn to Unlock, does a short lesson, and, if the lesson is passed, gets a parent-set window in those apps. When the window ends, the apps lock again.

A session

1. The child opens Learn to Unlock. Their avatar starts the lesson.
2. The child answers. Younger children tap and drag. Older children can type a number. The avatar can explain and hint. Hints come from the lesson, including on the free tier, where no model is required.
3. The server checks every answer against an answer written for that item. The avatar does not decide the score. The phone does not decide the score.
4. If the session passes, the server records a grant for that child and that device, with an expiry the server sets. The device unlocks the parent’s chosen apps until that expiry, then locks them.
5. The parent can read the session: skill accuracy, recent scores, hints used, passes, and minutes earned.

The avatar

Each child has one avatar. It is an animal or creature, never a person. Its markings are unique to that child. It speaks with the phone’s built-in voice. A parent can choose speech with text, or text only. The child cannot change that setting. Choosing text only for a child who cannot read yet shows the parent a warning.

The avatar is a tutor. It teaches the current item. It does not pretend to be a friend, it does not claim to have feelings, and it does not ask the child for personal details.

What the parent controls

• Which entertainment apps are locked. Learn to Unlock itself is never one of the locked apps.
• The pass bar, and how many minutes a passed lesson is worth.
• Speech with text, or text only.
• Teaching changes. An assistant for the parent can explain progress and propose a change to pace, focus, or explanation style. A parent confirms each change before it applies. A chat message cannot change the rules by itself.

Earned minutes are not a way around the parent. The product is built so a grant cannot push past the parent’s daily ceiling or bedtime. Children do not get their own login. A parent signs in with Apple or Google. The server checks that sign-in. A child profile holds a display name, a birth year, an age band, and lesson settings. The parent can delete a child profile, and that deletion includes the avatar, sessions, and reports for that child.

Lessons

The first subject is kindergarten through grade 2 math, and those lessons are being written now. Every item has an authored answer and a recorded source and license. Later subjects are planned in waves: reading foundations and preschool material, then grades 3 through 5, science, and writing practice, then grades 6 through 8 and social studies. Writing practice is for feedback. It does not earn minutes by itself.

A free family is meant to be able to teach the planned skills and earn unlocks. Paid tiers, which are not priced yet, add a cloud assistant, a more natural voice, homework-photo plans, and a longer report history. Prices are not set, and nothing on this page is an offer to sell a subscription.

Where the work stands

The product is specified, and the build of the core loop is underway: parent sign-in, a family, child profiles, device pairing, rules, server grading, the speaking avatar, the parent assistant, and locks on the device. Android package controls and the server are in development. The iPhone and iPad apps are still to be built. On those devices, locks will use Apple’s Family Controls, Managed Settings, and Device Activity.

There is no beta list on this website. Please do not send a child’s name, school, health information, or other personal details about a child. Questions about the product go to admin@kaizenilabs.com or (408) 478-2138.

The privacy notice for this website is separate from the app. An app privacy policy will be published before any store listing. Read the website privacy notice.