First steps
Download or update No Buy on the App Store. The app is designed for iPhone in portrait orientation and requires iOS 18 or later. There is no Android, iPad, Mac, or browser-app version.
If something appears stuck, preserve your local activity by trying these non-destructive steps first:
- Close and reopen No Buy.
- Check that the iPhone has a working internet connection if the issue involves a subscription purchase, restoration, or plan loading.
- Open No Buy Settings and review the status shown for Notifications, Shopping App Protection, and No Buy Premium.
- Update iOS and No Buy when an update is available, then restart the iPhone.
No Buy has no account or cloud-sync service. Deleting the app can remove activity that is not recoverable from an applicable Apple device backup. Read Sync, backup, and reinstall before deleting it.
Subscriptions, cancellation, and refunds
No Buy purchases are made through Apple’s In-App Purchase system. An active No Buy Premium subscription is required to enter the main app after onboarding. The app displays the localized price, billing period, and any introductory offer that Apple reports for the signed-in Apple Account. An offer applies only when it is shown before confirmation. No Buy does not sell subscriptions on this website and never stores App Store payment-card details.
Restore an active subscription
- Confirm the iPhone is signed in to the same Apple Account used for the purchase.
- Connect to the internet and open No Buy.
- On the subscription screen, choose Restore Purchases.
- Allow the App Store and RevenueCat status to refresh. Restoration does not create a new charge.
If nothing is restored, confirm that the subscription is active in Apple’s subscription settings, restart the iPhone, and try once more. Apple also provides official in-app purchase restoration guidance.
Manage or cancel
On iPhone, open Settings → your name → Subscriptions → No Buy. Cancellation stops future renewal but normally leaves access available through the already-paid period. Deleting No Buy does not cancel a subscription. See Apple’s subscription cancellation instructions.
Request a refund or investigate a charge
Apple controls billing decisions and refund eligibility. No Buy cannot issue or promise an App Store refund. Sign in at Apple’s Report a Problem service or read Apple’s refund instructions. A pending charge may not be eligible for a refund request until Apple issues a receipt.
Monthly and yearly availability, localized prices, billing periods, and introductory-offer eligibility come directly from the App Store. Review the in-app purchase screen before confirming because those live disclosures are authoritative for the plan being purchased.
Shopping App Protection and Screen Time
Shopping App Protection is optional. It uses Apple’s Screen Time frameworks to place a No Buy shield in front of individual apps that you select. It does not inspect retailer accounts, watch purchases, identify shopping apps automatically, or block whole app categories and websites.
Set up or change protection
- In No Buy, open Settings → Shopping app protection.
- Approve the Screen Time request if iOS asks for permission.
- Choose the individual apps you want to protect in Apple’s picker, then confirm the selection in No Buy.
- Return to the same screen to change the selection or turn protection off.
Apple gives No Buy opaque selection tokens rather than readable app identities. No Buy can apply the selection you made, but it cannot independently verify that every selected app is a shopping app. Apple explains how to enable the underlying service in its Screen Time guide.
What the shield buttons do
- Continue Shopping · 15 min temporarily releases only the app whose shield you tapped. If protection remains enabled, that app is protected again after approximately 15 minutes. Continuing into a different protected app can end the earlier app’s temporary window.
- Pause Instead records a request for No Buy’s Urge Support flow. On iOS 26.5 or later, iOS can open No Buy directly. On earlier supported versions, iOS closes the protected app and No Buy opens the queued support flow the next time you launch it.
If protection is not appearing
- Open No Buy’s protection screen and confirm that protection is on and at least one app is selected.
- Review No Buy’s Screen Time authorization in iPhone Settings. Menu labels can vary by iOS version.
- Change the app selection and confirm it again, then reopen the selected app.
- If a temporary 15-minute window is active, wait for it to end or select a different protected app.
- Restart the iPhone if iOS still does not refresh the shield.
Turning protection off removes No Buy’s shields. It does not delete pause history, recovery plans, or an App Store subscription.
Notifications and reminders
Notifications are optional. No Buy may schedule local reminders for the end of a purchase pause or quick reset and for recovery milestones. A timer is based on its saved end time; closing the app does not convert it into a purchase or decision.
If reminders are missing
- Open No Buy Settings and check the Notifications status.
- On iPhone, open Settings → Apps → No Buy → Notifications and enable Allow Notifications.
- Review Focus modes, Scheduled Summary, Lock Screen visibility, sounds, and notification-delivery settings.
- Open No Buy again so active pause and milestone reminders can be reconciled.
iOS controls final delivery timing, so a notification is not guaranteed to arrive at an exact second. You can always reopen No Buy and review an active pause manually. See Apple’s app-notification instructions.
Delete local activity
In No Buy, open Settings → Privacy & your data → Delete activity data. Confirming the action permanently removes the following local activity:
- purchase pauses, decision reflections, shared-product imports, and saved product photos;
- urge check-ins, quick-reset activity, personal recovery plans, and slip reflections;
- challenge progress, earned milestones, and the recorded amount kept toward a goal;
- the saved name, commitment and plan-review dates, and related activity counters.
The recovery start date restarts on the deletion date. Delivered No Buy notifications and scheduled activity reminders are cleared or reconciled.
Activity deletion intentionally keeps setup choices such as selected temptations, goal configuration, default waiting rule, Shopping App Protection selection, and subscription status. Turn Shopping App Protection off separately if you no longer want selected apps shielded. App Store subscription cancellation is also separate.
No Buy has no recycle bin, account history, or developer-side copy that can restore deleted activity. An older Apple device backup may still contain app data until that backup is replaced or deleted under your Apple backup settings.
Sync, backup, and reinstall
No Buy does not operate an account or cloud-sync service. Activity does not automatically appear on another iPhone merely because both phones use the same Apple Account, and No Buy currently has no activity-export or merge feature.
Depending on Apple settings, local No Buy data may be included in Apple-managed iCloud or computer device backups. Backup inclusion and successful restoration are controlled by Apple and are not guaranteed by No Buy. Apple describes what iCloud Backup can include and how to restore an iPhone from a backup.
- Before deleting or reinstalling: assume local No Buy activity could be lost unless you have confirmed an applicable device backup.
- After reinstalling: Screen Time permission and the selected-app shield may need to be set up again.
- Subscription access: this is separate from activity data and can normally be restored with the same Apple Account from No Buy’s subscription screen.
“Message someone I trust”
This recovery-plan response opens Apple’s Messages app to a blank compose state. No Buy does not choose a recipient, write the message, send it, read replies, or monitor whether you contacted anyone. You remain responsible for choosing the person, writing the message, and tapping Send.
No Buy records the recovery plan as used when iOS successfully opens Messages—not when a message is sent. If Messages cannot open, No Buy displays a notice and you can contact someone through another method.
No Buy does not notify trusted contacts, clinicians, emergency services, or crisis responders on your behalf.
Safety, wellbeing, and crisis help
No Buy is a self-guided reflection and habit-support tool. It is not medical care, mental-health treatment, addiction treatment, financial advice, a fiduciary service, or an emergency service. It cannot diagnose risk, monitor your wellbeing, prevent every purchase, or guarantee financial outcomes.
If shopping behavior is causing significant distress, debt, conflict, or loss of control, consider speaking with a qualified mental-health professional and an appropriately credentialed financial counselor in your region. If you are worried about an immediate charge or access to funds, contact the relevant bank or card issuer directly.
Call your local emergency-services number now. In the United States, call or text 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. In Canada, call or text 9-8-8 Suicide Crisis Helpline. The No Buy support inbox is not an emergency or crisis service and is not continuously monitored.
Still need help?
Email kevicy24@gmail.com. Include your iPhone model, iOS version, No Buy app version, and a short description of what happened.
Do not email passwords, Apple Account credentials, payment-card details, health records, or Screen Time selection tokens. For App Store billing, cancellation, restoration, or refunds, use Apple’s linked services above.