1. Start here
ZenFence brings application rules, website rules, schedules, and safe locations together in one place. A useful setup usually follows this order:
- Create the account you will use to keep settings and, if you choose, share a profile or add an Accountability Partner.
- Choose the applications and websites that should be allowed or blocked.
- Add a schedule with Daily Lore, or a place with Safe Space, when the same rules should not apply all day.
- Allow only the Android permissions required by the features you turn on.
Boundaries work best when they are understandable and agreed upon. ZenFence is a tool for those rules. It is not a substitute for conversation, and it is not meant for unrestricted surveillance.
2. Permissions
ZenFence asks for an Android capability only when a feature needs it. You can turn permissions off later in Android settings. The related feature will stop working until that permission is allowed again.
Usage Access
Usage Access lets ZenFence see which application is active so it can apply the rules you configured. It is not used to read messages, passwords, or the contents of other applications.
Accessibility Service
If you enable the ZenFence Accessibility Service, it is used for application-state detection and enforcement of the rules you set. It is not intended to collect passwords, private messages, keyboard input, chat conversations, or personal documents.
VPN for website rules
Website and domain policies use Android’s VPN framework on the device. Traffic can pass through that local VPN so ZenFence can allow or block a configured domain. This is not a general browsing profile for advertising.
Location
Location is needed only for Safe Space. ZenFence uses it to tell whether the device is inside a place you configured. Turning location off in Android settings stops Safe Space from working.
Notifications
Notifications are used for service events such as Accountability Partner requests, profile-sharing requests, and account or subscription notices. You can turn notification permission off in Android settings.
3. Apps and websites
Application policies decide which installed apps are available. Website policies decide which domains are allowed or blocked. You can also keep a whitelist of applications or domains that should remain available.
ZenFence does not need the contents of those applications to apply these rules. It uses the app list and the domain you configured, not your messages or files.
4. Safe Space
A Safe Space is a location and radius, such as home or school, where a different set of applications and websites becomes available.
- Turn on location permission when you want place-based rules.
- Set the place and the distance around it.
- Choose the application and website rules that should apply inside that place.
Safe Space does not need a continuous historical trail of where the device has been. If the device is outside the radius, the rules for that place are not the active ones.
5. Daily Lore
Daily Lore is for routines that follow the clock. Create a one-time or repeating schedule, set the time period, and attach the rules that should apply during that period.
Use it when an app is useful at one time of day and distracting at another, such as study hours versus the rest of the evening.
6. Random Lore
Random Lore groups applications by category so you can apply one rule to a set of apps instead of setting each app by itself. Categories include:
- Social media
- Gaming
- AI applications
- Other categories introduced over time
7. Zenfench Launcher
The Zenfench Launcher shows only the applications permitted by the digital policy that is active right now. The aim is to make the allowed choices easier to see, not to make the device more complicated.
8. Accountability Partner
An Accountability Partner is a trusted person who can take part in selected protected changes and approvals. They do not need to manage every part of the device.
When this feature is on, certain changes can wait until the partner approves or declines them. ZenFence can notify both people about the request. You can change or remove the partner from the Accountability settings.
9. Profile sharing
Profile sharing sends a snapshot of selected application and website rules to another ZenFence user, so a setup does not always have to be built from scratch.
- You choose when to share. Sharing is not automatic.
- The other person reviews the snapshot and confirms it before those rules are applied on their device.
- A shared profile can include package names, policy states, domains, a username or profile identifier, a timestamp, and a version.
- It does not include passwords, security PINs, or access tokens.
10. If something stops
Check the permission first. Safe Space needs location. Website rules need the VPN-based protection to stay allowed. Application rules may need Usage Access or the Accessibility Service, depending on what you enabled.
- A feature that was working can stop after its Android permission is denied or after the app’s data is cleared.
- A schedule applies only during the time period you set. A Safe Space applies only inside the place you set.
- A shared profile is not applied until the recipient confirms it.
- Account, sync, notification, subscription, and profile-sharing features need a connection because they use cloud services. Device enforcement itself is designed to be decided on the phone where that is practical.
More detail on what ZenFence processes, and what it does not intentionally collect, is in the privacy policy.
11. Contact
If a guide here does not answer the question, contact the developer with the support address published for ZenFence.
- Developer
- [Individual Developer Name]
- Application
- ZenFence
- Support Email
- [Support Email Address]
- Website
- [ZenFence Website URL]