A new app can help families spend more time together by allowing parents to lock their children’s phone or tablet at meal times.

The DinnerTime app enables parents to pause activity on a child’s gadgets. Everything from apps and the internet to texting and calling friends is temporarily disabled.

Parents can set a dinner time so the devices will automatically lock up during the meal.

Once Dinner mode is activated, the child will see a message along the lines of: “Spend some quality time with your family. This device will be available in 44 minutes.”

The app was created by Richard Sah, co-founder of DinnerTime, who noticed his three children were always distracted, The Telegraph reported.

“I’ve noticed they find technology to be addictive at times, playing games or watching videos on their tablets or phones, and are easily distracted by their devices at dinnertime and bedtime,” Sah said.

“This gave me the idea for DinnerTime, as I wanted to create something that could help my children focus on other activities, and we could enjoy quality time together,” he added.

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