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Support
Answers about pledges, appeals and devices. A person reads every message.
Reach a person
Email [email protected] or use the contact form. We answer every message ourselves. Never send your card number or Apple ID password.
- Your pledge: status, withdrawal, appeal, hardship release
- Withdraw a pledge (first 14 days)
- Helplines and responsible use
How an appeal works
- A forfeiture event is recorded: your own report, two independent signals, or protection left off for 24 hours.
- You get a notice by push notification and email with the evidence: category, time, device, never URLs. The charge can happen 48 hours later at the earliest.
- You appeal in the app (Pledge → Appeal), through the link in the email, or by writing to us. Nothing is charged while the appeal is open.
- A person reviews the evidence and your explanation and emails you the decision.
- If the event is upheld, the amount is charged once and the pledge ends. If not, nothing is charged and the pledge ends without a charge.
A hardship release works the same way and is possible at any time, not only after a notice. A person decides within 3 business days.
Common questions
Why don’t you charge upfront?
Because paying upfront doesn’t help you quit. A subscription gets paid whether it works or not. Clearing only earns money when a pledge is charged, and that only happens after a verified relapse or protection left off for more than 24 hours, and only after a 48-hour notice and a human appeal. So our interest is that your protection works and the rules stay fair. Win, and you keep every cent. A pledge is charged once at most, and the app is free with or without one. Prefer no money at all? The honor pledge keeps the same rules without a card.
I got a notice, but I didn’t relapse.
Appeal before the notice period ends, in the app (Pledge → Appeal) or through the link in the email, and choose “It wasn’t a relapse”. A single automated signal never triggers a notice, but signals can still be wrong, and a lost device or someone else using it counts too. A person reviews your appeal, and nothing is charged while it is open.
I switched protection off by accident.
Switch it back on within 24 hours and nothing happens. If the window has passed, appeal with “Technical problem” and tell us what happened.
My phone will be off for a few days.
Declare travel in the app (Protect → Travel mode), for up to 7 days and twice per pledge. Being offline is never a forfeiture event by itself; only a device that sends nothing for 72 hours without declared travel starts the restore window.
I got a new phone.
Sign in on the new phone with the same Apple ID and set up protection again. Then write to us so we can mark the old device as replaced and its silence isn’t counted.
How do I add my iPad or Mac?
Sign in with the same Apple ID and the device joins your account and your active pledge. Alternatively, use the 6-digit code under Protect → Add device on your iPhone. The Mac app comes from the Mac App Store.
Why does Clearing need Screen Time and DNS access?
Screen Time access lets Clearing shield the apps and sites you chose. The DNS setting points your device to the Clearing filter. iOS asks you to confirm both. Neither lets Clearing read what you do: Apple only gives the app anonymous tokens, and the filter only counts blocked lookups.
Where do I find my pledge reference?
In the confirmation email you got when you confirmed the pledge, and in the app under Pledge.
My card changed or expires during the pledge.
The app asks you to confirm the new card. The pledge continues either way.
Can I get money back?
If a charge was not justified, appeal or write to us; if our review agrees, we refund it in full. Within the first 14 days you can withdraw free of charge as long as no forfeiture event has occurred.
How do I delete my data?
In the app under Settings → Delete account. During an active pledge we carry out the deletion once the pledge has ended; requesting it never triggers a charge. Details are in the Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy.