How to block distracting apps on iPhone
iPhone comes with several ways to block or limit apps. Each one works differently, and each one has a weak spot. Here's what they do, how to set them up, and when an app blocker is the better tool.
Option 1: Screen Time App Limits
App Limits give an app, or a whole category such as Social, a daily time allowance. When it runs out, the app is covered by a grey screen.
- Open Settings → Screen Time and turn it on if it's off.
- Tap App Limits → Add Limit.
- Choose a category, or open one and pick individual apps.
- Set the daily time and tap Add.
Good for: capping total daily use. Weak spot: when you hit the limit you can tap Ignore Limit for another fifteen minutes or the rest of the day. Unless someone else holds your Screen Time passcode, it's a speed bump, not a wall.
Option 2: Downtime
Downtime blocks everything except the apps you allow, on a schedule. It's useful for evenings and bedtime.
- Go to Settings → Screen Time → Downtime.
- Turn on Scheduled and set the times.
- Under Always Allowed, choose the apps you still need, such as Phone and Messages.
Good for: a fixed phone-free window every day. Weak spot: it runs on a timetable, so it can't follow an afternoon of revision that starts whenever you sit down, and you can override it the same way as App Limits.
Option 3: Focus modes
Focus modes (Do Not Disturb, Work, Personal, Sleep and your own) mainly silence notifications. They can also hide home screen pages so tempting apps are out of sight.
- Open Settings → Focus and tap + to create one, or pick an existing one.
- Choose which people and apps are allowed to notify you.
- Under Customise Screens, pick a home screen page with only the apps you need.
Good for: quiet. Weak spot: nothing is actually locked. The apps still open if you search for them.
Option 4: An app blocker
Since iOS 15, Apple has let other apps use the same Screen Time technology to block apps. A blocker can lock everything except what you choose, for exactly as long as you choose, starting the moment you tap start.
Two things are worth knowing:
- Your privacy is protected by Apple. When you choose apps in a blocker, iPhone hands it an anonymous token, not the app's name. A blocker built this way can't see which apps you use or how long you spend in them.
- The block screen is Apple's. When you open a locked app you'll see a simple screen with a message and a button or two. It's the same in every blocker.
Good for: focus sessions that start when you do. Weak spot: it's still your phone, and you can always end a session. A good blocker gives you a reason not to.
Which one should you use?
- Want less social media overall? App Limits on the Social category.
- Want your evenings back? Downtime from an hour before bed.
- Want fewer interruptions? A Focus mode with notifications off.
- Want to get one thing done, now? An app blocker for the length of the task.
They stack well: Downtime at night, a Focus mode for quiet, and a blocker when it's time to work.
Blocking is half the job
A blocker removes the distraction. It doesn't make the work feel worth doing. That's the gap Focus Fortress is built for: it locks your apps like any blocker, and turns each focus period into a fight you win by finishing. More on the habit side in how to stop checking your phone.