How can we help?

Open the Lock tab and tap Allow Screen Time. iOS asks you to confirm. Then tap Choose apps, pick the apps (or whole categories) you want to keep closed, and turn Prayer Lock on.

On the free plan the lock is on all day and unlocks when you read 3 verses. In the same tab you can choose how long an unlock lasts (5, 15 or 30 minutes) and how many unlocks you get a day (1 to 20, 5 by default). Altar+ adds more schedules, such as overnight, and the pray-for-60-seconds and recite-a-verse rules.

Tap Preview the shield to see what a locked app will show.

Screen Time access has to be allowed by the person who owns the iPhone. Check that Screen Time is available in Settings › Screen Time. If this iPhone is managed by a parent through Family Sharing, or by an employer or school, they may need to allow it. Then try Allow Screen Time again.

iOS doesn’t let the lock screen open another app directly, so Altar sends you a notification that says “Pray first”. Tap it to go straight to your unlock. If you’ve turned off Altar’s notifications, just open Altar yourself and go to Lock › Unlock. You can turn notifications back on in Settings › Notifications › Altar.

You always have a way out:

• Emergency unlock. Once today’s unlocks are used, Altar offers an emergency unlock that opens your apps for 5 minutes. You can take one every hour.
• Turn Prayer Lock off. Open Altar’s Lock tab and switch Prayer Lock off. Your apps open right away.
• Remove Screen Time access. In Settings › Screen Time, remove Altar’s access, or delete Altar. Either one removes all of Altar’s locks.

Please don’t lock apps you might need in an emergency.

Prayer Lock relies on iOS Screen Time, which can occasionally lag. Open Altar once so it can refresh your locks, and make sure Screen Time is still allowed. Restarting your iPhone after an iOS update often helps. If it keeps happening, email us with your iOS version and what you saw.

Sign in with the same Apple Account, then open Altar and go to Me › Settings › Restore Purchases. The paywall also has a Restore Purchases button. There is no Altar account; your purchase belongs to your Apple Account.

Open Settings on your iPhone, tap your name, then Subscriptions, choose Altar+, and tap Cancel Subscription. Cancel at least 24 hours before your renewal date to avoid the next charge. You keep Altar+ until the end of the period you’ve paid for. To cancel a free trial without being charged, cancel at least 24 hours before the 3 days are up.

Apple handles all payments and refunds, so we can’t issue them ourselves. Request one at reportaproblem.apple.com.

Touch and hold an empty part of your Home Screen, tap Edit then Add Widget, and search for Altar. Choose Verse of the Day (small, medium or large) or Streak. For the Lock Screen, touch and hold the Lock Screen, tap Customize, choose the Lock Screen, and add Altar’s widget there. Lock Screen widgets need Altar+.

If a widget looks out of date, open Altar once; widgets refresh from the app.

Go to Me › Wallpapers, choose a verse and a theme, and tap Save to Photos. Altar asks for add-only access the first time; it can’t see your other photos. Then open Photos, choose the image, tap the share button and pick Use as Wallpaper.

If saving fails, allow “Add Photos Only” for Altar in Settings › Privacy & Security › Photos. Dawn and Linen are free; the other themes come with Altar+.

Tap the translation button (KJV or WEB) at the top right of the Read tab, or change it in Me › Settings. Altar includes the King James Version and the World English Bible, both complete and both offline. We only include public-domain translations, so modern copyrighted ones such as the NIV or ESV aren’t available.

Your streak grows each day you meet your daily goal, a number of verses or minutes you set. Days follow your iPhone’s local time, including when you travel or the clocks change.

With Altar+ you get 2 streak freezes a month. If you miss a single day, Altar uses a freeze to cover it when you open the app the following day, so your streak carries on. Frozen days show on your streak calendar.

Find them under Me › Challenges. Advent 2026 runs from 29 November to 24 December; Lent 2027 from Ash Wednesday, 10 February, to Easter Sunday, 28 March. 40 Days Off Doomscrolling can be started any day.

Each day has a reading, a prayer prompt and a Prayer Lock goal. Mark a day read on the day or within 3 days after to catch up. The current season is free; past seasons are in the Archive with Altar+.

Go to Me › Settings › Reminders. Turn on the morning verse and pick a time, turn on the 8 pm streak saver if you like, and tap Apply. Reminders are scheduled on your iPhone; nothing is sent from a server.

Altar has no account or server, so there’s nothing to sync. Your data moves with an iCloud or computer backup of your iPhone when you restore the new one from it. If you set up the new iPhone as new, Altar starts fresh.

Delete the Altar app. That erases everything it stored on your iPhone. We hold nothing on our side. See Your data for details.