Setting up your TAC TILE

1 — Set up on iPhone

2 — Block websites too

Blocking the Instagram app doesn't stop anyone opening instagram.com in Safari. Foqos lets you block domains alongside apps, so close that door while you're here: add the website addresses of anything you've blocked as an app. It takes an extra minute and it's the difference between a real block and a speed bump.

3 — Pair your emergency unlock card

Your box includes a printed unlock card. This exists for one reason: a focus session stays active until you tap the tile again, so if you misplace the tile mid-session you need another way in.

To pair it, edit your profile, find Physical Unlocks, choose QR/Barcode and scan the card. It now works as a second key for the same profile.

Then put it somewhere safe and slightly inconvenient — a drawer, a wallet, a file at home. Not next to your desk. The whole point is that reaching for it takes more effort than finishing what you're doing.

4 — Add a second tile (Duo Packs)

If you bought a Duo Pack, both tiles pair to the same profile — you don't set anything up twice, and there's no "main" or "backup" in the app's eyes. Either tile locks and unlocks the same phone.

Repeat step 03 with your second tile: edit the profile, Physical Unlocks → NFC Tags → Add Tag, and hold your phone to the second tile. You'll now see two tags listed. That's it.

How people usually split them:

• One home, one travelling. The desk tile stays put; the Pro goes on your keyring. You're never locked out because you left the house.
• One each. Two people sharing a household each keep a tile, so neither waits on the other.
• One kept by a parent. The child's phone is set up with both, but only the parent's tile leaves the drawer.

5 — Setting it up for a child

Two things make this genuinely hard to get around on iPhone:

• The app can't be deleted mid-session. While a focus session is running, Foqos itself cannot be uninstalled — so there's no quiet removal while you're out of the room.
• Websites block alongside apps. Set up as described in section 2, the browser workaround doesn't work either.

Two things worth deciding deliberately:

• Keep the emergency card yourself, or don't pair one at all. A card left in a desk drawer is an unlock waiting to be found.
• Keep the tile with you. The product works because the key is physical. If it lives on the child's desk, it isn't a lock.

6 — Android

TAC TILE works on Android with an NFC-triggered blocking app, and for building your own focus habits it does the job well.

One honest limitation: on Android the blocking app can still be uninstalled while a session is active. That's fine when you're the one choosing to focus, but it means we don't recommend Android as a parental-control setup. If that's your use case, use an iPhone.

7 — If something isn't working

• The tap isn't registering. The NFC antenna sits near the top of an iPhone, not the middle. Hold the very top of the phone flat against the tile and hold it there for a full second.
• A thick case is in the way. Most cases are fine, but very thick or metal-backed ones can block NFC. Try once with the case off to check.
• Apps aren't locking. Confirm the session actually started in the app — the tap unlocks and locks a session, it doesn't create one on its own.
• Your glow tile looks dim. Aurora and Glacier charge from ordinary room light. If a tile has been shut in a bag or drawer for a long stretch, leave it out in the light for an hour.