Atten — Block Distractions & Reduce Screen Time

To enhance the security of your Atten sessions and prevent Atten's access to Screen Time from being disabled during a session, we've prepared a step-by-step guide for you. This guide will walk you through the process of using the built-in iOS app, Shortcuts, to ensure your screen time settings remain active during your focus sessions. This feature is particularly useful for maintaining your Screen Time permissions. To get started, follow these steps:

What you'll achieve

Create a shortcut that checks if Atten is active and restricts the Settings app to prevent you from disabling Atten's access to Screen Time

Part 1: Creating the Shortcut

Open Shortcuts and Create New

Open the Shortcuts app on your iPhone and tap the "+" button to create a new shortcut.

Name Your Shortcut

Search for "Atten" and tap the shortcut "Is Atten Protection On?", then disable the "Show when run" option.

Add If Statement

Search for and add an "If" action. This will check whether Atten is active.

Note: This checks whether Atten is active. If it is, the shortcut will run.

Complete the Shortcut

Add actions for when Atten is active. Tap on "Search Actions" and search for "Open App", then select the "Atten" app.

If Atten is active, the Atten app will open.

Part 2: Setting Up Automations

Go to Automations Tab

In the Shortcuts app, tap on the "Automations" tab at the bottom.

Create New Automation

Tap the "+" button and select "When App Opens". This will run your shortcut automatically.

Select Settings App

Choose "Settings" as the app. This ensures the shortcut runs when you open the Settings app. Select "Run Immediately" and turn off "Notify When Run".

Select Your Shortcut

Press "Next", then choose the "Is Atten Protection On?" shortcut you created earlier.

Configure Automation Settings

For the best experience:

Make sure you've turned off "Show When Run" in the shortcut
Make sure you've turned off "Notify When Run" in the automation

Extra Protection

You can also block the "Shortcuts" app using Atten to prevent the automation from being disabled.

Open Atten and tap the "+" button to create a new session.
Block the "Shortcuts" app every day from 12:00 AM to 11:59 PM. This will ensure it always runs, and use "Strict Mode" to prevent changes to the session.
Go to Settings in Atten and turn off "Allow ending strict blocks". By default, users can end a strict mode session once every 7 days. Disabling this setting prevents that option entirely.

How to Lock Atten's Screen Time Settings