How to Block Time-Wasting Apps on iPhone Using Screen Time

Everyone knows how easy it is to get sucked into spending time on your phone when you don’t intend to. Maybe you’re trying to spend less time on a specific app or want to completely avoid using your phone during certain periods of time. Either way, a built-in feature of your iPhone called Screen Time can help you regain control of when and how much you use your phone.

And even if you don’t struggle with your own phone usage, Screen Time’s suite of features is a great way to restrict the functionality of your child’s iPhone or iPad. If you’ve never taken a look at this menu, you should get acquainted with it.

To start using Screen Time, open Settings > Screen Time on your iPhone or iPad. At the top, you’ll see a graph showing how much you used your device per day this week. Faucet See all activity on apps and websites to dive deeper. This page shows your daily average screen times (including app categories), which apps you spent the most time in, how many times you unlock your device, which apps you use first after unlocking, and which apps send you the most notifications (and thus force you to look at your phone).

This historical information provides a good overview of how you use your phone so you can make informed choices in the menus below. If you have multiple Apple devices, tap Devices at the top right to filter just one of them. Switch between Week And Day breakdowns at the top, using the arrows to go back or forward in time.

Before setting up any of Screen Time’s modes, you need to define which apps will remain available during restrictions. Select Always allowed to choose from your list of installed applications. Then using the Contacts The drop-down list will allow you to choose whether you can speak to any phone number or only a list of your choice.

Downtime is the first option to limit your usage. When enabled, you can only access the apps you selected above and phone calls from the contacts you set. Toggle it manually here, or use Program to personalize when it activates on a daily basis. You will receive a warning five minutes before downtime is activated.

Application Limitations are the other major way to reduce phone use. Choose Add a limit to see a breakdown of your apps by category, like Social, Games And Entertainment. Use the bubbles on the left side to apply a limit to all apps in a group, or expand the drop-down list to select them individually. There is also a Websites button if you want to go beyond apps.

Next, choose the maximum time you want to spend on your selected apps each day. As for downtime, Customize days helps to set a different schedule on weekends. When you get within a few minutes of your daily limit, your phone sends a reminder. Repeat the steps above with different app groups if you want different timings for each.

If you try to use an app outside of the allowed list when Downtime is enabled, or if you open an app after its time has run out, you’ll see a screen saying you’ve reached your limit. You can choose Ignore the limit to use it for another minute, 15 minutes, or to completely ignore the restriction for today. Consider hiding addictive apps for another layer of separation.

Enable Share on multiple devices to keep your limits synced across all iPhones, iPads, and Macs using your Apple account. If this option is disabled, you will need to configure each of your devices individually.

While we’re focused on reducing your own screen use, it’s worth knowing that Screen Time is also the perfect place to set restrictions on a child’s iPad or iPhone. If you’re in an Apple Family Sharing group, you’ll see your children’s names at the bottom of the Screen Time page; tap one to configure their commands.

A few screen time options apply primarily to children rather than adults, although you may still enjoy them. Screen distance tells you if you’re holding your phone too close to your face, while still Communication limits has an option to prevent communication with people outside of your contact list. Notably, contact restrictions only work for Apple’s first-party apps like Phone, Messages, and FaceTime. They will not work for third-party messengers like WhatsApp.

THE Communications security The cursor can detect when an explicit image is sent or received and provide guidance on that material. Finally, the Content and Privacy Restrictions The section provides sliders to disable features or prevent settings from being changed. For example, you can disable features like Apple Wallet, prevent a child from installing apps, or lock permissions settings like location.

Your child can ask for your approval to bypass many restrictions, like downloading from the App Store at an age limit or using other apps during downtime. Even if you don’t have your own Apple device, you can configure the controls however you want on your child’s device. Once you are satisfied, use the Lock screen time settings to create a Screen Time-specific PIN that prevents a child from changing these options.

Depending on what you’re looking for, Screen Time can serve as a gentle reminder to stop using certain apps or as a harsh way to make you turn off your phone. Maybe seeing a quick reminder to stop using an app is enough for you, but without setting a password, there’s nothing stopping you from repeatedly bypassing the limits.

With a Screen Time password set, you can completely block apps when their limits are reached. If you want to get more serious, try asking a friend to set a screen time PIN that they’ll only give you in an emergency. Or, as this Stack Exchange thread suggests, ask a friend to set a PIN that you copy and lock behind a complicated password kept in an inconvenient place. This way you can unlock it if you really need to, but you probably won’t want to put in the effort. Combined with iPhone Focus modes to suppress excessive notifications, you’ll easily master using your phone.