Spend Toll Get the app

Support

Spend Toll is made by Alex in Vancouver: one person, no team, no trackers. Here's how to get help, and answers to the questions that come up most.

Contact

Need help, found a bug, or want to share feedback? Every message is read by me (Alex). I'm one person, so the reply might take a beat, usually within 24–48 hours. It always comes back.

Common questions
What is Spend Toll?

A free iOS app that adds intentional friction to impulse in-app purchases: gacha pulls, game packs, live-stream tips, subscription upsells. It reframes every IAP as a cost in the hours you worked for it (using your hourly wage), then puts buying behind a short buying window: free inside the monthly limits you set for that app, a small coin toll once you are past them.

You always have the choice. Spend Toll just makes the cost visible and adds a beat of friction so the decision gets made on purpose, not on autopilot.

How does it work?
  1. Pick the apps where IAP gets you, on the Tolls tab.
  2. When you open one, Spend Toll's pause screen appears. Press Close to walk away, or Enter, which pauses IAP everywhere on your phone and queues that app up.
  3. To actually buy, open Spend Toll and pick that one app. Inside its monthly limits the window is free. Past them it costs 5 coins · 4 if you set a $ plan. Either way the window runs 5 min by default.
  4. IAP works for that one app during the window. A Live Activity counts it down on your Lock Screen and Dynamic Island.
  5. When the window ends, IAP locks again across your whole phone, until you tap Resume normal IAP.
Why does it cost coins to buy in my own apps?

Because friction is the product. A simple on/off blocker is too easy to disable in a weak moment. Past an app's monthly limits a buying window costs a coin toll, and an honest report follows every window. Together they make you feel the tradeoff in the moment, instead of tapping by reflex.

An app against impulse IAP… that sells IAP. Isn't that a conflict?

Fair question. The test we hold ourselves to: does our revenue grow when you fail? Structurally, it can't. Emergency coin packs are hard-capped at 3 purchases a month across all sizes. Even a complete relapse is worth at most ~$18 to us, and you can't build a business on that. That's the point: the business has to live on Pro, and Pro only renews if the tool actually works for you.

Coins are earned back free through honest reports, so the packs are a safety valve, not an engine. And Pro never sells a way around the friction: it sells stricter tools (Hardcore Mode) and deeper stats. Spend Toll isn't against spending. It's against unconsidered spending. Our own prices are flat, disclosed, never discounted into bulk bait, and the trial reminds you before it charges. If we ever remove the monthly cap or start discounting bigger packs, hold us to this answer.

How do I earn coins?

You start with a balance, and earn more by filing an honest report after a buying window: what you actually spent, even if it was $0. File within 24 hours and it earns +1. After that the report still counts, but it earns nothing, so file promptly. Report coins are capped at 8 a month, and earning pauses whenever your balance is already at 15 or above, so coins never pile up past a few windows' worth.

If you run dry, optional emergency coin packs are available, but they're capped at 3 purchases per month, on purpose. We never translate earned coins into a dollar figure. Coins are a friction unit, not a currency.

What does "Resume normal IAP" do?

When a buying window ends, IAP stays locked across your whole phone, not just guarded apps, until you open Spend Toll and tap Resume normal IAP. That one extra step is deliberate: it's the accountability beat that closes the loop and gets non-guarded apps (Spotify, your newspaper, etc.) buying normally again.

How do I remove a single guarded app?

Go to the Tolls tab → tap the app → Remove. The button reads Remove · tomorrow at midnight. The removal takes effect at the next day boundary rather than immediately (anti-cheat), so removal can't be used as a one-tap bypass.

How do I stop using Spend Toll?

Open Settings → Troubleshooting → Reset Spend Toll, then uninstall the app. Screen Time / Family Controls permission is revoked automatically when you delete the app. The reset keeps your coin balance and your Pro subscription, because those are things you paid for.

Troubleshooting
IAP isn't pausing, or apps aren't showing the pause screen

Check that Family Controls authorization is still granted. Open Spend Toll → Tolls tab → if you see a Reconnect Screen Time card, tap it to re-authorize. Spend Toll can only show its pause screen on apps you've added on the Tolls tab. Apps you haven't added are never touched.

My coin balance reset or didn't sync between devices

Your coin balance and hourly wage back up to your own iCloud (Key-Value Store). Sign in to the same Apple ID on both devices, and make sure iCloud Drive is on: Settings → Apple Account → iCloud → iCloud Drive → On. Then open Spend Toll on both devices.

Note: only those two values sync. No usage history leaves your device.

I bought a coin pack and didn't receive coins

Coin packs are processed by Apple. If Apple confirms the purchase but coins didn't arrive, force-quit and reopen Spend Toll. It re-syncs entitlements on launch. If they're still missing, email hi@spendtoll.app with your Apple receipt and I'll resolve it manually.

What's the green banner after I buy coins or subscribe?

That's your receipt confirmation. A coin pack shows N coins added · balance X inside the sheet, and the sheet stays open so you can see the new balance. Pro shows You're on Pro. and closes the sheet. If no green confirmation appears at all, the purchase didn't go through. Try again, or email me.

A buying window ended, but IAP still seems off in my other apps

That's by design. When a window ends, IAP re-locks across your whole phone, not just guarded apps. Open Spend Toll and tap Resume normal IAP to restore in-app purchases everywhere.

Managing or canceling Spend Toll Pro

Spend Toll Pro is an optional auto-renewing subscription: $19.99 USD / year, with a 7-day free trial for new subscribers. It renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period.

To manage or cancel:

  • Inside Spend Toll (fastest): Settings → Spend Toll Pro → Manage subscription.
  • From iOS Settings: Settings → Apple Account → Subscriptions → Spend Toll Pro.

Both routes open the same Apple-managed sheet.