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Clear guidance for setting up Play Credits, getting reliable practice detection, and handling the occasional exception.
Choose Personal or Adult-Managed Mode, approve Screen Time access, select an instrument, and pick the apps that should wait for practice. Personal Mode also requires a device unlock passcode; Face ID is optional. See the setup questions below for help.
Check your device placement, reduce competing audio, and repeat the short instrument test if your setup or room has changed.
Add practice you personally verified or grant temporary access without changing the learner’s normal rules or balance.
Practice not counting?
Detection works best when your iPhone or iPad can clearly hear the instrument over the sounds around it.
Place your iPhone or iPad in the room with you, with the microphone uncovered.
Turn down television, conversation, and music playing from other speakers.
Run the short setup test again if you changed instruments, rooms, or playing distance.
Common questions
Open your device’s Settings and choose Face ID & Passcode, Touch ID & Passcode, or Passcode, depending on your model. If you do not already have an unlock passcode, choose Turn Passcode On and follow Apple’s prompts. If one is already set, you do not need to change it.
Return to Play Credits and retry the Screen Time permission or Repair Screen Time Access step, complete Apple’s approval prompt, then choose the apps to block. Face ID is not required.
Enter your device passcode only in Settings or Apple’s system prompt—not in a Play Credits PIN field or a support message. Adult-Managed Mode has a separate Adult PIN; guardian/child authorization may also be needed for Full Protection.
In version 1.0.2 and later, download Play Credits free and obtain the 7-day Trial through Apple's purchase sheet to start seven days of full access. The trial starts when you obtain it, not when you download the app. Nothing is charged automatically, and restoring the trial does not restart its original seven-day period. If your App Store still shows subscriptions, wait for version 1.0.2 before starting a purchase.
Full Unlock is an optional US$4.99 one-time purchase through the App Store. One payment keeps full access; it is not a new subscription. You can choose it during or after your trial. The trial never turns into a paid purchase automatically.
Without Full Unlock or another valid entitlement, practice and earned app access pause, and Play Credits releases its app restrictions. Your practice history, unused earned time and settings stay saved. You can view saved history and use Release App Restrictions through Purchase help without paying again; Adult-Managed Mode keeps its authentication requirements.
Use the Apple Account that obtained the purchase, then open Access & Purchases or the purchase screen and choose Restore Purchases. Follow Apple's sign-in prompt if shown. Restoring an expired trial does not start another seven days.
Full Unlock supports Apple Family Sharing when purchase sharing is enabled. Family members with verified shared access do not need to buy another unlock. The free seven-day trial itself is not Family Shared.
Existing valid subscriptions remain supported. This update does not automatically cancel them or stop their renewal. Manage or cancel an existing subscription in your Apple Account subscription settings. A full unlock is a separate purchase; do not assume buying it cancels an existing subscription.
App blocking requires Screen Time permission on each device. Personal Mode also requires an iPhone or iPad unlock passcode—the code used to unlock the device. Face ID is optional. This is different from a Screen Time passcode or the Adult PIN created inside Play Credits. Without a device unlock passcode, Personal Mode cannot complete Screen Time authorization.
No. During an active session, Play Credits analyzes microphone input on your device to estimate likely musical activity. It does not create or keep an audio recording of the practice session, and practice audio is not sent to iCloud or Play Credits support.
Apple’s Family Controls and Screen Time frameworks let Play Credits hold the apps you select. Play Credits cannot see the private content inside those apps.
It depends on the plan you choose. Timed-access plans can keep earned minutes for later use. Daily-unlock plans follow the day’s practice goal and reset on their daily schedule.
Practice detection is an estimate, not proof of who or what is playing. Very quiet or silent practice may not count, and music from a nearby speaker may occasionally count. The setup test and a clear listening environment help improve results.
Not currently. Play Credits manages the iPhone or iPad where it is installed and does not include a remote parent dashboard. Adult-Managed Mode offers Full Protection, Screen Time Protection, and PIN Only; the setup screen explains the safeguards included with each option.
Some apps also need the microphone, and iPhone may not allow both to listen at once. If practice detection stops, return to Play Credits or use a practice app that does not need microphone access.
Play Credits is available for iPhone and iPad in the US App Store. Check the App Store listing for current iOS and iPadOS compatibility requirements.
iCloud Sync is optional. When you turn it on, selected practice history, balances, plans and schedules, instruments, detection preferences, access settings, and shared earned-access session status can sync between Play Credits devices signed in to the same Apple Account. Blocked-app selections, Screen Time authorization, active microphone listening, the Adult PIN and recovery credentials, and protection level remain specific to each device.
No. Share Diagnostic Summary creates a technical summary on your device. You can review it first, then choose whether to share it with support. It does not include or attach a practice audio recording.
Compatibility & access
Play Credits is available for iPhone and iPad in the US App Store and uses Apple’s Screen Time capabilities.
Microphone access supports practice detection. Screen Time authorization lets Play Credits hold only the apps you select.
If anything is difficult to read, hear, navigate, or understand, email us so we can improve the experience.
Before you email
A Diagnostic Summary gives support useful technical context without sending a practice recording. It is created on your device, shown to you first, and never sent automatically.
In Play Credits, tap Settings.
Choose Support & Privacy from the Settings screen.
Tap Share Diagnostic Summary, review it, then include it with your support email.
Still stuck?
Tell us what you were trying to do and what happened. When relevant, include your Diagnostic Summary when possible. If you cannot share it, include your device model, system version, Play Credits version, instrument, and any troubleshooting steps you already tried. Please do not send practice recordings or sensitive personal information.