Frequently Asked Questions

Neara helps you break the autopilot and be present where it matters by automatically shielding time-stealing apps during the hours you choose. Inside the app, you select which categories, apps and websites tend to steal your attention, and customize your recurring zones—Presence (the time that matters most with family and friends), Focus Time (your most productive hours at work or study), and Sleep (calm and rest at night). When a zone is active, the distractions you selected are shielded automatically, while apps in Always Allowed and other everyday tools continue to work as normal.

Neara is a Norwegian-developed tool from Naer App AS, co-created with co-owner Dr. Ole Petter Hjelle—physician, neuroscientist, and bestselling author on brain health and focus. While Apple’s built-in Screen Time is a technical lock where tapping “Ignore Limit” quickly becomes an automatic habit, and other apps often rely on rigid locks, stressful gamification or red alerts, Neara is built on neuroscience and mindful friction: when you open a shielded app out of old habit, Neara gives you a calm breathing pause and a reflective question that makes it natural to stay in Presence or Focus Time—with zero shame or guilt.

Yes, always. Not all screen time is bad. Even when you activate Full Presence using the shield on the home screen (which blocks all apps and websites—including apps in Always Allowed), standard phone calls and SMS messages always come through so your loved ones can reach you.

You are always in full control of your phone. If you try to open a shielded app or website during Presence or Focus Time, Neara greets you with a calm breathing pause (“Give it a moment”) followed by the question “What do you need your phone for now?”. From there, you can choose to put your phone away and stay in the zone, or take a brief, intentional break of, for example, 2, 5, 10, 15 or 30 minutes to do what you need.

No, never. Neara is built on Apple’s official, encrypted Screen Time API. This means all your detailed screen time statistics, usage records for individual apps and websites, and settings are processed and stored locally on your own iPhone. We at Naer App AS have neither access to nor insight into which specific apps or websites you open, what you type, or what you view. Your data is never sold.

When you start using Neara, you see your daily average for all screen use over the last 28 days and set your daily baseline. Every hour you stay below this baseline counts as time won back. Under Insights, you can follow the time you win back per week, per month and in total in your time bank under Total—and if you have a period with more screen use than usual, the counter stops at zero, so you never get negative numbers or penalties.

Under Insights, you can follow your progress by week, month and overall. You see how much time you have won back, your daily Balance Score, how many hours you have spent in Presence and Focus Time, and an overview of your most used shielded apps. The journal also collects your interruptions, moments and weekly reports, so you become aware of your own habits and of when in the day you take the most breaks.

No. Because Neara communicates directly with Apple’s built-in iOS system frameworks (DeviceActivity and ManagedSettings) rather than running heavy background processes or VPN solutions, you will notice virtually no difference in your battery life.

No. Neara is not a monitoring or parental control tool for locking someone else’s phone. Neara is a personal tool created for adults, parents, students, and professionals who want more calm, deeper concentration, and greater presence in their own daily lives.

When you download Neara, you can try all features completely free for 7 days with zero commitment. After the free trial, you can choose between an annual plan at 499 NOK/year (just 42 NOK/month) or a monthly plan at 59 NOK/month (or equivalent local App Store pricing). If you decide not to continue after the trial, simply cancel at least 24 hours before the trial period expires directly on your iPhone under Settings → [Your Name] → Subscriptions, and you will not be charged.

Neara is currently developed exclusively for iPhone (iOS), because the app builds directly on Apple’s official, built-in Screen Time framework for secure, local and battery-efficient shielding.

Check that Neara still has access to Screen Time in your iPhone settings, that iOS is up to date, and restart the app. If that doesn’t help, you’re welcome to contact us at support@nearaapp.no.

Sign in with the same account on your new phone. Your schedules come with you, but the categories, apps and websites to shield must be chosen again, because for privacy reasons they are only stored locally on the device itself.

In Neara, go to Settings → My account → Delete account and data. Note that an active App Store subscription is not cancelled automatically when you delete your account, so remember to cancel it under Settings → [Your Name] → Subscriptions on your iPhone.