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Only the ones that reach the Ex-Tax line. Ex-Tax puts the line on your ex's contact card, so texts and calls to your ex by name come to the line instead. For those, we keep the time and whether it was a text or a call, never the words. Ex-Tax can't see your other texts, calls, DMs or anything on other phones.

It reaches the Ex-Tax line, not your ex. Your ex never gets it. The line replies: "This is Ex-Tax. Your ex never got this, and never will from this number. Open Ex-Tax if you need options. Not okay? Call or text 988." Your friends get a heads-up with the time, at most once every 30 minutes. Nothing is charged, and your streak doesn't change.

Without a Screen Time passcode, you could put your ex's number back yourself or type it from memory. Your keyholder sets a passcode only they know and turns on Contacts Only, so numbers that aren't saved as contacts can't be texted or called. Then you both run a wall test: try texting a number that isn't in your contacts and check it gets blocked.

The five handoff steps: iCloud Contacts on, then Contacts Only; a passcode only the keyholder knows, recovered with their own Apple Account; your ex's card (now the line), the keyholder and the Help lines card in Always Allowed; Account Changes and Deleting Apps set to Don't Allow; and Share Across Devices on, then a check of your iPad and Mac.

Check that iCloud Contacts is on, and that Communication Limits says "During Screen Time: Contacts Only". We're still confirming how Contacts Only behaves on an adult's own iPhone on iOS 26 and 27. If it still doesn't block, email us with your iOS version. The line still answers texts to your ex's card either way.

With full Contacts access, Ex-Tax looks for your ex's original numbers whenever it runs. It switches them back to the line and gives your friends a heads-up. It can't see changes while it isn't running, so it does this the next time Ex-Tax runs. With limited access, it can only check your ex's card.

It might. Contacts Only can also block incoming calls and texts from numbers you haven't saved as contacts. Before the handoff, save the numbers you can't miss: your kids' school, your doctor, family and work. We're still confirming exactly how this behaves on real iPhones. 911 always works.

Ex-Tax only changes your ex's contact card. A group chat that already includes your ex can still reach them, because group messages go to each person's own number. Leave or mute the group, or ask a friend to start a new one without your ex.

Ex-Tax swaps every number on your ex's card, and with full Contacts access, the same number on any other card. Before you swap, remove any number you still need to reach, like a home landline or your child's phone, from your ex's card, and save it on its own card. Otherwise calls and texts to it reach the Ex-Tax line.

It depends on how long your current streak has lasted: $1 from day 0 to 29, $10 from day 30 to 59, and $20 from day 60. Trying to text or call your ex never costs anything. You pay only if you choose to buy a pass.

• No relapse discount: after your streak starts over, your price can't drop below what it was for 60 days.
• Another paid pass within 7 days costs one step more than your last: $1, $2, $5, $10, then $20.
• After 3 paid passes in 7 days, or 2 in 24 hours, passes pause. Ending the pact is always free.

The full rules are in our Terms.

Yes. Ask a friend first: if they say yes, the pass is free, up to 2 a month, and your streak still starts over. If you turned on co-parenting or legal, those passes are free, up to 3 a week, and your streak keeps going. For safety, Get help has a free, private pass once a day. If a pact from another account on your iPhone may still be on, passes for your account, paid or free, are off on that iPhone until Ex-Tax sees that pact has ended. The safety pass stays available.

Open Ex-Tax. A pass starts the moment Apple confirms the purchase, and the app switches the card when it runs. If the purchase went through but the pass didn't start, the app retries with your receipt the next time you open it. Once we've verified it, you get your pass, even if your price changed in the meantime.

A purchase is turned down only if it was already used, Apple refunded it, or your pact isn't running (for example, it ended before the purchase reached us). Then ask Apple for a refund at reportaproblem.apple.com, or email us with the date and time.

Open Ex-Tax and it switches the card back to the line. You get a reminder when the 30 minutes are up, and for paid, friend-approved, co-parenting and legal passes your keyholder gets a note if the card hasn't switched back 15 minutes later. Safety passes stay private.

A Streak Saver covers one missed daily check-in. It never covers contact and never changes your day count. You earn one every 7 check-ins in a row, and can hold up to 3 earned savers, or buy one for $0.99. Savers you buy never expire and carry over to your next pact.

Apple handles all refunds for Ex Passes, Streak Savers and Pro. Ask Apple at reportaproblem.apple.com. If a pass is refunded, the streak it reset stays reset.

Not yet. Every scene and widget, your history and up to 8 friends are free. The only things you can buy are an Ex Pass and a Streak Saver. If we add an optional subscription later, the app will show its price and what it adds before you buy, and the lock, the line and your friends will stay free.

Download Ex-Tax from the App Store. It's free for friends, and you never pay anything. Then tap the invite link your friend sent you again. It opens in Ex-Tax, where you sign in with Apple and tap "I'm in." If you're the keyholder, meet your friend in person for the handoff. Their phone walks you through it.

Open the report in Ex-Tax and tap Dispute within 24 hours. If you don't answer in time, the report counts. Pick a reason: it didn't happen, it was an exemption, wrong day, or something else. Your streak is safe while it's sorted out.

Your friend can withdraw the report or stand by it. Another friend can confirm it within 72 hours of your dispute. If nobody does, it's cleared. A dispute that says it was an exemption stays open instead. A report never costs money.

Open their pact in Ex-Tax and leave it, any time. They're told you left. If you hold their keys, talk to them first: the Screen Time passcode stays on their iPhone until you remove it. If it's your pact, you can remove any friend at any time in Settings.

Tap Report on the urge, reply or slip note. Ex-Tax opens an email to support@extax.app with what you're reporting, so you can add anything else before you send it. Our terms forbid harassment, and we can close the sender's account. You can also leave their pact, or remove them from yours.

Ending your pact is free and never needs your keyholder: in Ex-Tax, go to Settings > End the pact. Your ex's real number goes back on their card 24 hours later. You can also remove a friend at any time.

The Screen Time passcode lives on your iPhone, not in Ex-Tax, so we can't remove it. Write down your ex's number first if you'll ever need it: in Ex-Tax, Settings › [their name]'s real number. If your keyholder won't remove the passcode, erasing your iPhone removes it (Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone). Make sure your photos and contacts are in iCloud first, and set it up as a new iPhone, since restoring a backup can bring the passcode back.

If someone is using Ex-Tax to control you, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or text START to 88788. If you're in danger, call 911. Get help now in the app has a page for this too. Then email us: our terms forbid using Ex-Tax to control anyone, and we can close their account.

In Ex-Tax, go to Settings > End the pact. It's free and takes 24 hours, and your friends are told. You can cancel during those 24 hours. If you ask your keyholder to release you and they remove the Screen Time passcode and tap Done, ending takes effect right away: it ends as soon as you tap End, or at once if you'd already started ending it. Your ex's real number goes back on the card when the pact ends. If a pact from another account on your iPhone may still be on, it goes back once Ex-Tax sees that pact has ended.

Deleting the app doesn't end your pact, and your ex's card still points to the line. Your ex's original numbers stay saved in your iPhone's Keychain, so reinstalling Ex-Tax and signing in again can restore the card. On a new iPhone, contact cards come over with iCloud, but the Keychain copy may not. We never had your ex's number, so we can't recover it. To keep a copy, open Settings › [their name]'s real number in Ex-Tax and save the number somewhere you control.

App shields are free pause screens on apps you pick, during your danger hours. Check that Screen Time access is on for Ex-Tax in your iPhone's Settings, that the app is in your list, and that it's during your danger hours. Opening Ex-Tax re-applies your shields. If it still doesn't work, email us and share your debug logs from Settings > Debug logs in the app.

In Ex-Tax, go to Settings > Delete account and type DELETE. Ex-Tax deletes your account, phone number, pacts, friends, passes and history from our servers, then puts your ex's real number back on their card. During a pact, it checks first that it can. If it can't put the number back (for example, Contacts access is off), the number stays saved on your iPhone, so you can put it back from Ex-Tax's welcome screen. If a pact from another account on this iPhone may still be on, your ex's card stays on the Ex-Tax line, and the number stays saved on your iPhone. Pro is billed by Apple, so cancel it too. See our Privacy Policy for details.