The guide
Five minutes is all it takes to set your rules. Here is the full journey, with the app's real screens as they are today.
The screenshots are in French; the app itself is fully in English. Free for one child and one home, forever.
Five minutes to get started
Nothing is saved until the end: you can go back at any step, or close the app and pick up where you left off.
Open the app and tap Start: that's it. Okilou works without an account: your data stays on your phone until you decide otherwise.
A first name and an age: that's all Okilou needs. No date of birth, no photo required, no questionnaire: data minimisation isn't a setting here: it's the design.
Depending on age, Okilou suggests a rule template: Little one (3 to 5, with no screen time at all), Child (6 to 9), Pre-teen (10 to 13) or Teen (14 to 17). The screen opens straight to the recommended template; the others stay within reach.
Rules hold when your child has helped choose them. The app suggests doing the next part together, then asks two questions on one screen: what your child already loves, and what they already have access to. What they love doesn't need to be a reward. It already belongs to them, so the app takes it out of what has to be earned and turns it into a moment to share.
Two more questions and you're set. Does your child live in two homes? You can invite the other home at any time from Settings, without losing anything. And who checks off in the app? The child themselves, in their own space, or you, the parents, on their behalf. Both ways work, and you can change this at any time.
One last detail: your school holiday zone (France's A, B or C), so that school-related conditions pause automatically during the holidays.
The first time you get there, a four-step tour shows where everything happens: the To validate list, the Rules tab, child mode, the card showing what gets unlocked. It only plays once, and you can replay it from Settings.
Every day
The everyday loop, at any time of day: Saturday morning just as much as a school night.
On their screen, your child sees their day: their conditions, their gauge, and what the next win will unlock. When they've finished something, they check it off: the app asks "Done?", they answer "Oki!", and it lands as pending on your side.
On your Home screen, the To validate list waits for your move: validate or decline. A notification also arrives on your phone, with the same buttons and a "Well done", so you can answer without opening the app.
Every validation earns points; tiers open minutes or activities, exactly as written. Your child starts their minutes when they want to use them, and the countdown keeps running even if the app is closed. What's earned stays earned: no counter ever goes down.
Beyond minutes, each tier reached opens one activity to choose: an extra story, an outing, a workshop together. The child chooses on their screen, or you choose for them from the Home screen. Nothing is spent: the points stay, and tomorrow everything can be earned again.
The Journey tab shows your child how many successful days they've strung together, their week and the minutes they've earned. It's their own progress: no ranking, no comparison.
Later on
Rules can be read at a glance and changed calmly, for tomorrow.
The Rules tab reads as one sentence per rule: its points, its frequency ("a ceiling, not a target"), the days it applies, in term time or in the holidays. Tap a rule to open its sheet, where each setting explains itself. A slip-up, meanwhile, takes nothing away: it opens a repair the child holds the key to.
The reward sheet shows the whole scale at a glance: the guaranteed minimum, whatever happens, the cumulative minute tiers, the perfect day, and the one-off activities with their tier. Call the time whatever you like: screen minutes, console minutes, tablet minutes.
Create an account (email, Google or Apple) to sync: invite the second parent with a code or a QR code, pair your child's device in locked child mode, find everything again on a new phone.
Shared custody? Invite the other home from Settings: shared rules managed by both of you, or independent ones; alternating weeks, 2-2-5-5 or weekends; one-off swaps. On days at the other home, the child's screen stays calm, and their progress never splits in two.
