How to block apps on iPhone with Screen Time

By G, founder of Memenmo Studios · 6 October 2026

Open Settings, tap Screen Time, and use Time Allowances to cap how long you spend in app categories each day, or a Screen Time Schedule to choose when they're available. Add a Screen Time passcode so changing them takes more than a tap. On iOS 26 and earlier, the same tools are called App Limits and Downtime.

Which Screen Time feature should I use to block apps?

Use Time Allowances to limit how long you spend in apps, and a Screen Time Schedule to limit when. Both live in Settings → Screen Time, and both need Screen Time switched on first.

These are the iOS 27 names. Time Allowances do roughly what App Limits did, and Screen Time Schedule roughly what Downtime did. Apple notes the new features need iOS 27 on all your Apple devices, so if your iPad or Mac hasn’t updated, follow the iOS 26 notes below.

	Time Allowances	Screen Time Schedule	A focus app’s session blocking
What it limits	How long, per category, per day	When categories are available	Everything except what you allow, for one session
When it applies	All day, until the budget runs out	In the time windows you set	Only while a focus session runs
Older name (iOS 26)	App Limits	Downtime	—
Good for	Cutting back overall	Protecting set hours	Single stretches of work

How do I turn on Screen Time?

Open Settings, tap Screen Time, then tap Turn On App & Website Activity from any of its sections. Nothing else here works until you do.

Following Apple’s setup steps:

Open the Settings app.
Tap Screen Time.
Tap Screen Time Schedule, Time Allowances or Manage Screen Time, then tap Turn On App & Website Activity.

If your iPad and Mac are on iPadOS 27 and macOS 27 too, Manage Screen Time → Share Across Devices applies the same limits to all of them, which closes the obvious loophole.

How do I set a time limit on apps?

Go to Settings → Screen Time → Time Allowances, then set a daily total and a budget for each category. You can use a category’s apps until they reach its allowance or the daily total, whichever comes first.

Open Settings and tap Screen Time, then Time Allowances.
Drag the slider, or tap the plus and minus buttons, to set your total daily time.
Under Time Allowances, tap a category, such as Social Media, and set its budget the same way.
To add a category, tap Manage Categories, tap the add button, then pick one.

Apple says that if an app declares a website, its allowance covers the website too.

On iOS 26 and earlier: go to Screen Time → App Limits → Add Limit, pick categories or tap into one to choose single apps, tap Next, and set the time, as in Apple’s iOS 26 guide.

How do I block apps at certain times of day?

Make a Screen Time Schedule. You split the day into time windows and choose which app categories are available in each, so a 9-to-12 window can leave Social Media out entirely.

Open Settings, tap Screen Time, then Screen Time Schedule, and turn on Schedule.
Tap Add Schedule and choose the days it covers.
Tap a time window to rename it, change its start and stop times, or choose the Time Allowance categories that are available during it.

On iOS 26 and earlier: tap Downtime, then Scheduled, and set the days and times. Turn on Block at Downtime too, or you only get a reminder you can wave away. Block at Downtime needs a Screen Time passcode.

How do I keep some apps available all the time?

Add them to Always Allowed. Those apps, and the people you add, stay reachable whatever your schedule or allowances say.

Open Settings and tap Screen Time, then Always Allowed.
Tap Add Apps or Add People.
To remove one, tap Edit, then the remove button next to it.

Apple suggests family members and the Health app, for emergencies. Keep the list short, or it quietly becomes the list of apps you use instead.

How do I stop myself from changing the limits?

Set a Screen Time passcode. Then any change to your limits asks for it first.

Open Settings and tap Screen Time, then Manage Screen Time.
Tap Lock Screen Time Settings.
Enter a four-digit passcode, then enter it again.

On iOS 26, Lock Screen Time Settings sits further down the main Screen Time page. Apple’s passcode guide also explains Screen Time Passcode Recovery, which lets your Apple Account reset it if you forget.

Can you get around Screen Time limits?

Yes, and it’s worth knowing how before you rely on them. Screen Time is built for parents setting limits for a child. When you’re both parent and child, it can only be as firm as you let it be.

Apple’s iOS 26 guide says plainly that, by default, Screen Time limits can be ignored once reached. When you reach a limit, the screen that appears offers Ignore Limit, and without a passcode, getting past it takes a tap.
A passcode adds a step, but you know the passcode. Asking a friend to set it works, until you need a setting changed.
Limits are daily budgets or fixed hours. They don’t know when you’ve sat down to work.
Content & Privacy Restrictions looks like the place to block things, but it’s for content ratings and built-in features like AirDrop and Camera, not time.

Still, a pause before you open an app is often enough.

How do I block apps only while I’m focusing?

Use a focus app that switches Screen Time shields on when a session starts and off when it ends. Doggydoro, our Pomodoro timer, does this with three modes:

Strict shields apps and websites in every category while a focus session runs. Safari stays where it is, but the websites in it are shielded.
Allowlist shields everything except the apps you choose in Apple’s own picker. Until you choose some, it works like Strict.
Chill out blocks nothing.

Breaks are never blocked. The shields come down when the session ends or you stop it early, even if Doggydoro has been closed, because its Screen Time extension lifts them on time. Doggydoro never learns which apps you picked. It only holds sealed tokens it can’t read, and nothing about them leaves your phone.

It needs Screen Time on, and Doggydoro allowed under Apps with Screen Time Access. The support page covers what to check if blocking isn’t working.

For the rest of a focus-friendly setup, see the iPhone focus guide, or put the session’s countdown where you can see it with a timer on your Lock Screen.