Mid scroll, the screen goes dark gold and the feed disappears behind the Tollgate shield. It reads something like:
That’s 10 minutes. Earn the next 10. General knowledge · question ready · works offline Walking away counts as a win. We keep score.
The shield is drawn by iOS itself, which is why it cannot be swiped away, and it offers exactly two buttons:
This is the toll. Tapping it sends you a notification, “Answer a question to unlock →”, and tapping that drops you straight onto your question. Answer correctly and the shield lifts, usually in under a second, with your next block ready.
Why the notification hop? Apple does not allow a shield to open another app directly, so the notification is the hand off. With notifications on it takes about two seconds. If the button seems to do nothing or just closes the app, notifications are off, and here is the fix.
The other button simply closes the guarded app. No question, no penalty, and honestly, the better ending. We log it as a walk-away and count it in your favor.