Help

The most common questions about Fleißstern. Yours isn't here? Write to us using the contact form or at hallo@fleissstern.de – we usually reply within one working day.

Do I need an account?

Not on iPhone: without an account Fleißstern works there in full – tasks, stars, rewards, statistics and the kids view. You only need an account to sync with the browser, the other parent's phone and your children's phones.

The Android app always works with an account, like managing things in the browser. For one child everything stays free. Your children's phones do not need an account of their own.

How do I connect my child's phone?

You need an account and Premium for this. On your iPhone open Settings → Account and syncing and tap, for the child, Connect – in the Android app under Settings → your child → Connect phone. On the child's phone you choose at startup A child's iPhone or A child's phone and scan the code – or type in the eight digits. iPhones and Android phones can be mixed freely.

How does stars for screen time work?

You decide which apps on your child's phone or tablet cost stars, games or videos for example. Those apps stay locked until your child trades stars for time in Fleißstern. You decide how many minutes a star is worth, how much time there is each day without stars and how much at most. Time is only counted while one of those apps is actually running. Traded time that is left over still counts the next day.

You can switch it on in the app under Settings → your child → Stars for screen time or in the browser under Settings → Screen time. Then open Fleißstern on your child's iPhone and tap on Screen time on Set up: set a parent PIN, allow access to Screen Time, choose apps. You need Premium for this and a connected iPhone or iPad belonging to your child running iOS 17.4 or newer. It is best if it belongs to a child account in your Family Sharing: then you confirm access with your Apple Account, and your child cannot take it away again.

On Android: Open Fleißstern on your child's connected Android phone and tap on Screen time on Setting up – for parents: set a PIN, then in the Android settings grant Usage access and Display over other apps switch on, and finally choose the apps. You need Premium for this and Android 8.0 or newer. Unlike on iPhone, the locking is not done by the system but by Fleißstern itself – anyone who withdraws the two permissions or deletes the app gets around it.

Without their own iPhone: If your child uses a family iPad or your iPhone with the kids view, you set the lock up on that device – in the app under Settings → your child → Stars for screen time → Set up on this device. As long as Fleißstern is showing the kids view there, the chosen apps stay locked until the child trades stars. The parent PIN gets you back to the parent view, and then everything is free again. This works without an account too.

Which apps are locked stays on the device itself. Fleißstern only learns how many there are, and shows you in the settings whether the lock is set up on your child's phone.

Can I see how long my child has watched today?

Yes. Once screen time is set up, Fleißstern shows you under Today how many minutes of the selected apps have added up today for each child – and how much there is for that day in total. There is more detail under Settings → your child → Stars for screen time. That covers time your child had without stars too: anyone who only uses the free time each day does not show up in the star history at all.

The figure comes from your child's device whenever Fleißstern is running there, so it can be a few minutes old; the app says how fresh it is. Only the apps you selected are counted – which ones those are never leaves the device. We store one number of minutes per calendar day and delete it after 14 days.

Can the other parent join in?

Yes, with Premium – with their own account and their own name. In the app open Settings → Parents of the family or in the browser Settings → Parents and tap Invite a parent. Send the link to the other parent; if you are standing next to each other, they can simply scan the QR code with the camera in the app. The link is valid for seven days and only once.

If Fleißstern is installed on the iPhone, the link opens the app directly, otherwise the browser. There the other parent signs in or creates an account and joins. They do not need to create a family or a child of their own. Premium applies to the whole family – to the second parent too, with no second purchase. Anyone who has already set up the app finds the way under I have been invited at first launch or under Settings → Account and syncing.

Does my child get told when I approve a reward?

Yes, on their own phone. The first time your child asks for something, the app asks whether it may send notifications. When you approve the wish, your child's phone shows something like “Mum approved ‘movie night’”. Your child picks how it sounds themselves: in the kids view, using the bell at the top. Notifications can be switched off in the phone's settings.

Do I get told when something is waiting for me?

Yes, on your iPhone. In the app, under Settings → Notifications when you want to be told: when a task is waiting for your confirmation, or when a child asks for a reward. Then you see something like “Mia is waiting for you” with the task underneath. Tap it and the app opens the right list.

Your iPhone has to be connected to your Fleißstern account for this. Each parent switches notifications on for their own iPhone. Things that happen on your own iPhone – in the kids view, for example – are not reported back to you.

How does photo proof work?

When editing a task, switch on Photo as proof . When your child ticks it off, they take a photo first – on their iPhone, in the kids view of the app or in the browser. You see the photo under Waiting for you on every device in your family and in the browser, and you confirm or decline the task right there.

We make the photos smaller and keep no camera details such as where they were taken. If you decline a task we delete the photo straight away, otherwise after 30 days. Photo proof is part of Premium.

Where do I see claimed rewards?

Under Rewards: parents see at the top what was recently fulfilled or declined, and with Show all the whole history, filtered by child too. In their own view, children find under Already claimedwhat they received.

Can I use a photo of my child?

Yes. In the settings tap your child and then the symbol, or Choose a photo. Fleißstern then shows the photo everywhere instead of the symbol. We crop it, make it smaller and keep no camera details such as where it was taken. Only members of your family can see it.

Can I change the app icon?

Yes, under Settings → App icon: gold, white or light.

What is the kids view?

In the kids view a child only sees today's tasks and their rewards. They tick things off themselves and ask for rewards. The parent PIN gets you back to the parent view – in the app and in the browser alike.

What does Premium cost?

One child is free, with everything that belongs to it. Premium adds more children, photos as proof and sync across devices: €1.99 a month, €14.99 a year or €17.99 once (offer, normally €34.99). You buy Premium in the iPhone app through the App Store or in the Android app through Google Play.

How do I cancel my subscription?

Subscriptions from the App Store are managed by Apple. On your iPhone open Settings → your name → Subscriptions → Fleißstern. Subscriptions from Google Play are cancelled in the Play Store app under Profile → Payments and subscriptions → Subscriptions → Fleißstern. One thing to note: deleting the app or your account does not end the subscription.

I have a new phone. How do I get Premium back?

In the app, on the Premium screen, tap Restore purchases. On iPhone you need the same Apple ID as when you bought it, on Android the same Google account and your Fleißstern account. If you have Premium through your Fleißstern account – from a voucher, for example – sign in under Settings → Account and syncing . Premium then applies on the new iPhone too.

How do I share a task list?

In the app and in the browser under Share a task list you pick a few of your tasks and get a link. Whoever opens it takes the list into their own family with one tap – and needs no account just to look at it.

Only the title, symbol, stars and repeat are shared. No children, no star counts, no names. You do not learn who takes a list – only how often. You can end a list at any time: the link stays readable, but nobody can take it over any more.

We are a school, nursery or club – is that possible too?

Yes. Institutions can sign up themselves and pass task lists on to parents as a link – in the parents' letter, in the class group or on their own website. Free of charge and without a contract.

Nothing is stored about individual children: no names, no star counts, no feedback about which family took a list – only a counter. That is exactly why this access needs neither approval from the school authority nor a data processing agreement. More on the page For institutions.

Can I use Fleißstern in English?

Yes. The apps and the browser version follow your device language first. You can change it in the app under Settings → General → Language, in the browser in the same place – and before you sign in, at the bottom of the sign-in page.

The choice is stored with your account, not on the device: emails and notifications then come in the same language, on a new phone too. This website is at fleissstern.de in German and at fleissstern.de/en in English.

How does telling others about Fleißstern work?

In the app and in the browser you will find your personal link under Tell others. If a family starts through it and uses Fleißstern – one child, a few tasks done – we give a month of Premium to both of you. It arrives by itself, the next day at the latest, and is added to the end of your term.

If the other family downloaded the app first, it is enough for them to open the link once in the browser while signed in – then the recommendation still counts. The details are in the Terms of Use.

How do I redeem a voucher?

A voucher from us, for example from a giveaway: sign in to the Managing in the browser and open Settings → Redeem a voucher. Premium then applies to the whole family, in the app too.

Offer code from the App Store: in the app on the Premium screen tap Redeem a code tap.

How do I delete my account?

In the iPhone app under Settings → Account and syncing → Delete account, in the Android app under Settings → Account → Delete account or in the browser under Settings → Delete account. You can also reach us through the contact form ask us. Account and family are deleted for good on our server. What is on your iPhone stays there until you delete the app.

Where is my data kept?

Without an account, only on your iPhone. With an account – and in the Android app – on our server in Germany. More is explained in our Privacy Policy.