# SmileLock: Smile to Unlock

> SmileLock: Smile to Unlock (iPhone/iPad app by Ryota Sago.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/smilelock-smile-to-unlock/id6761288071 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Ryota Sago](https://appshunter.io/developer/1884475272)
- Category: Health & Fitness
- Price: Free
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 26.1 · 8 MB
- Languages: English, Japanese
- Released: 2026-08-25
- Data updated: 2026-09-28

## What is SmileLock?

Have you ever thought about the face you make while looking at your phone? Mostly blank. SmileLock asks you for three seconds of smiling before you open an app, and again when you have been on it too long.

Lifting the corners of your mouth tricks the brain into feeling happier, and a fake smile is said to work too. SmileLock drops that moment into the middle of your reach for the phone.

■ A breath before you open it
Open an app you have locked and SmileLock launches with a smile check. Smile and go in, or change your mind and stay out. Every time you back out gets counted.

■ It steps in when you have had enough
Keep using a locked app past your chosen interval and the screen turns into a smile check. Smile once more and the lock lifts and the app comes back. Some apps you reopen yourself. Intervals run from one minute to one hour.

■ See the days add up
Your streak, today's count, and the hours and weekdays you smile most all show up as charts. How often you chose not to open an app is there as a count and a percentage, along with the time that adds up to for this week and overall, so the times you held back turn into a number.

■ Camera never leaves the device
Your iPhone reads the movement of your face to decide, and it all happens on the device. No photos, no video, no face data sent anywhere. Your smile log stays on the device as well. No account needed.

■ Everything is free for now
No ads, no in-app purchases. Every feature is available for free.

■ Before you start
The smile check on app launch runs on a Shortcuts automation, one for each app you want to lock. The setup guide inside the app walks you through it with screenshots and takes about two minutes per app.

Detecting overuse requires Screen Time permission. SmileLock uses that permission only to manage your own device. It has no features for managing anyone else's.

Smile detection needs an iPhone that can read the movement of your face. On other devices SmileLock tells you at launch.

## Is SmileLock safe?

Not enough ratings yet to assess SmileLock.

## Is SmileLock legit?

SmileLock: Smile to Unlock has limited verification signals. The AppsHunter Legitimacy Score for SmileLock is 48 out of 100 points across 7 verification signals from App Store and developer data.


## Version history (last 1 release)

### 1.0 — 2026-08-26

No release notes.

## More apps by Ryota Sago

- [Smile Alarm Clock: Wake Happy](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/smile-alarm-clock-wake-happy/id6760436032)
- [hueday9 きょうの色をあつめる写真日記](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hueday9/id6799768089)

All apps by Ryota Sago: https://appshunter.io/developer/1884475272

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-28.*