Prayer Latch is a Christian app blocker for iPhone and Android. The apps you choose lock each morning when you wake up, and they open again after you pray and hold a button to say Amen.
Most of us don't decide to start the day on our phones. It just happens. You reach for the alarm, a notification is waiting, and twenty minutes later you've read the news, three group chats and somebody's vacation photos before you've said a word to God.
Prayer Latch puts one small step in the way. You pick the apps that pull at you, like Instagram, TikTok, YouTube or games, and you pick your wake-up time. At that time each morning, those apps lock. To open them, you pray first.
How does Prayer Latch work?
- Choose your apps and your morning. During setup you choose the apps to lock and the time you usually wake.
- Pray. When you're ready, open Prayer Latch. Read a guided prayer, or pray in your own words with a quiet timer of 1, 3, 5 or 10 minutes.
- Hold to say Amen. Hold the Amen button and your apps open until the next lock time, usually the next morning.
You can add more lock times, like a lunchtime or evening prayer break, on the days you choose.
Who is Latch?
Latch is the app's companion: a round caramel padlock with a silver shackle that pops open when you say Amen. Each day you pray, Latch moves along a 90-day journey through 10 painted places, each with its own Bible verse. Read more in Who is Latch?.
What else is inside?
- An offline Bible in 24 languages, with highlights and notes.
- A prayer journal that keeps the prayers you've said on your phone.
- Built-in prayers that work without internet, plus optional personal prayers written for how you feel today.
- Emergency unlock, always free, for the moments real life can't wait.
Is Prayer Latch free?
Your first 7 days are free with no card and nothing to cancel. After that, keeping apps locked needs Prayer Latch Plus, which is US $4.99 a month or $24.99 a year. Prayer, the Bible, the journal and Latch's journey stay free either way. See Is Prayer Latch free?.
Does it work on iPhone and Android?
Yes. On iPhone and iPad it uses Apple's Screen Time permission, the same system parents use for app limits. On Android it uses the Accessibility service, which the app explains and asks you to approve before turning it on. Details are in the iPhone and Android guides.
Who is it for?
Prayer Latch is for Christians who want to give God the first minutes of the day and keep finding them taken by a screen. It doesn't shame you with charts of your screen time. It just asks for one prayer before the scroll, every morning, and lets the habit grow from there.
Was Prayer Latch called something else?
Yes. Prayer Latch was previously called First Amen. It's the same app from the same developer, Janus Works LLC.
Pray before you scroll
Prayer Latch locks your chosen apps each morning until you pray. Your first 7 days are free, no card needed.
Updated October 20, 2026 by the Prayer Latch team at Janus Works LLC.