Solve To Play
No more screen-time fights: iOS keeps the games locked until the math is done.
Solve To Play is an iPhone and iPad app that locks games and other apps until your kid solves a few math tasks.
For iPhone and iPad with iOS 18 or later.
How it works
You choose which apps, categories and websites stay locked. When your kid opens one, they get a short round of math tasks. Once they’ve solved them, the apps open for a set time (30 minutes unless you change it) and then lock again.
The lock uses Apple’s Screen Time, so iOS does the blocking, not the app. Your kid can’t delete the app without your approval.
When your kid gets stuck
There’s no timer. A wrong answer stays on screen for another try, and a picture of dots helps your kid count their way to the answer. For addition and subtraction, the picture appears for numbers up to 20.
After the third wrong try the app shows the answer and your kid types it in. Tasks your kid missed turn up again in later rounds.
What you can set
- How many tasks per round (3 to 20)
- How long the apps stay open (5 minutes to 3 hours)
- How many unlocks per day (1 to 12, or no limit)
- Extra rounds for stars: on or off, and how many per day
- Which apps, categories and websites stay locked
The settings are behind a four-digit PIN. If your kid has earned some extra time, you can give them an unlock that doesn’t count toward the daily limit.
Stars and the shop
Every solved task earns a star. Your kid spends stars in the shop on hats, glasses, toys and backgrounds for their character, and new things go on sale as they collect more. Stars never buy playtime, and they can’t be bought with money.
When the apps are already open or the day’s playtime is over, your kid can keep solving extra rounds just for stars. You can turn extra rounds off or set how many are allowed per day.
Three looks
Your kid picks how the app looks: Classic, Kawaii or Space, and one of four app icons. A daily streak counts the days in a row they’ve solved a round.
Which math tasks
During setup you pick your kid’s school grade and the app turns on the task types that fit. You can switch each of the 26 types on or off and set its numbers at any time.
Numbers & amounts
- Quick look
- dots show for a moment: how many?
- Number line
- where does 7 go on a line from 0 to 10?
- Split a number
- 7 = 5 + ?
- Number sequences
- 3, 6, 9, ? and 40, 35, 30, ?
- Place value
- 3 H 4 T 7 O = ?, 347 = 3 H ? T 7 O
- Number neighbors
- neighbors of 47: ? and 48
- Rounding
- round 47 to tens: ?
- Counting
- how many stars? (up to 10 or 20)
- Ten-frame
- how many dots? How many more make 10?
- Tens and ones
- rods and cubes: which number is this?
- Which is more?
- two clouds of dots: tap the one with more
- Match the number
- dots, digit or word: find the same number
- Compare numbers
- 47 ◯ 52, 3 + 4 ◯ 9: tap <, = or >
Add & subtract
- Addition
- 8 + 5, with numbers up to 10, 20, 50, 100 or 1000
- Subtraction
- 13 − 5, with the same number ranges
- Missing number (+)
- 7 + ? = 10
- Missing number (−)
- 13 − ? = 9
- Number wall
- each brick is the sum of the two below it
Multiply & divide
- Times tables
- 7 × 8, from 1×1 up to 20×20
- Missing number (×)
- 7 × ? = 56
- Division
- 56 ÷ 7
- Double and half
- double 8, half of 14
- Fraction of an amount
- ½ of 8, ¼ of 20
- Two steps
- 3 + 4 × 2: × before + and −
Measures
- Unit conversion
- 3 m = ? cm, 300 cm = ? m (also km, kg, l, h, min)
- Read the clock
- full hours down to every minute
Your data
There’s no account and no ads, and the app doesn’t track anything. Settings and progress stay on the device. The app sends us anonymous crash reports and usage statistics so we can fix bugs and improve it. You can turn that off in the settings. Details are in the Privacy Policy.
What you need
An iPhone or iPad with iOS 18 or later. For full protection, set it up on your kid’s device, signed in with a child Apple Account in your Family Sharing group, and confirm once with your own Apple Account. A device your kid shares with you works too: it is set up with the device passcode, and your kid could delete the app there.
Questions? See the FAQ and Support, or write to support@solvetoplay.com.
Free printable math worksheets
Times tables, plus and minus, missing numbers: print a sheet, let your kid solve it, check it with the answer page. Free, no sign-up.
Guides for parents
Questions parents ask about screen time and math practice at home.
Screen time rules for kids 6 to 10
What US, UK, Canadian and Australian guidelines say about screen time for kids 6 to 10, which rules cut the daily fight, and how to let the iPad hold the rule.
Is screen time as a reward a bad idea?
What research says about screen time as a reward, and how to set up math before games so the daily limit stays and math doesn't turn into a chore.
In what order should kids learn the times tables?
The order schools in England, the US and Germany teach the times tables, the easy rows to start with, the tricks that save memorizing, and how to practice.