How to block apps on iPhone: 6 ways for iOS 27 and iOS 26

Which method should you use?

On an iPhone, "block" can mean four different things: the app is unavailable at certain hours, it stops working after a daily budget, it needs Face ID to open, or it is gone. Each tool below does one of these. Pick by the problem you actually have.

All methods except the last one are built into iOS and free. Apple reorganized Screen Time in iOS 27, so the steps below are given for both iOS 27 and iOS 26, following Apple's iPhone User Guide for each version.

1. Block apps at set times with a schedule

A schedule is the closest thing iOS has to "no apps after 10 PM". Outside the hours you set, apps work as usual. Inside them, only what you allow stays available.

iOS 27: Screen Time Schedule

1. Open Settings → Screen Time → Screen Time Schedule and turn on Schedule.
2. Tap Add Schedule and pick the days of the week.
3. Tap the time window to rename it and set its start and stop times.
4. Tap the Time Allowance categories that should be available in that window. Each window shows icons for the categories you can use in that part of the day.
5. Check Settings → Screen Time → Always Allowed. Apps and contacts listed there stay available regardless of schedules and allowances.

Source: Apple, Set Screen Time Schedules and Time Allowances (iOS 27).

iOS 26: Downtime

1. Open Settings → Screen Time → App & Website Activity and turn it on if it is off.
2. Back in Screen Time, tap Downtime → Scheduled. Choose Every Day or Customize Days and set the start and end times. For a one-off break, tap Turn On Downtime Until Tomorrow instead.
3. If you have a Screen Time passcode, turn on Block at Downtime in the same screen.

Without Block at Downtime, iOS 26 shows a reminder that it's downtime, and you can choose to keep using the app. With it, restricted apps can't be opened and appear dimmed with an hourglass icon. iOS also sends a reminder five minutes before scheduled downtime begins. Source: Apple, Set schedules with Screen Time (iOS 26).

2. Set a daily time limit

Limits suit apps you want to keep, just less of. Instead of a clock time, you set a budget for the day.

iOS 27: Time Allowances

1. Open Settings → Screen Time → Time Allowances.
2. Drag the slider to set your total time for the day.
3. Under Time Allowances, tap a category, such as Social Media, Entertainment or Games, and set its own budget. To add a category, tap Manage Categories, then the add button.
4. Turn on Match Screen Time Schedule if the allowances should follow the time windows of your schedule.

Apps in a category work until they reach the category's allowance or your daily total. Apple also notes that when an app declares an associated website, the Time Allowance applies to both, which closes the "just open it in the browser" route for those apps.

iOS 26: App Limits

1. Open Settings → Screen Time → App Limits and tap Add Limit.
2. Select one or more categories. To limit a single app, tap the category name and select the app.
3. Tap Next and set the time allowed. Use Customize Days if weekends should be different.

One catch: by default, Apple says, Screen Time limits can be ignored once reached. If you keep tapping past your limit, the fix runs through a Screen Time passcode, covered next.

Make schedules and limits harder to skip

A schedule you can switch off in two taps is a suggestion. A Screen Time passcode has to be entered before the Screen Time settings you chose can be changed.

• iOS 27: Settings → Screen Time → Passcode & Management → Lock Screen Time Settings, then enter a four-digit code twice.
• iOS 26: Settings → Screen Time, scroll down, tap Lock Screen Time Settings, then enter a four-digit code twice.

The weak spot is that you know your own code. If that defeats the point, ask someone you trust to type it in for you. Apple also offers Screen Time Passcode Recovery after you create the code, which lets you reset a forgotten passcode with your Apple Account. Sources: Apple, Screen Time passcode (iOS 27) and Screen Time passcode (iOS 26).

3. Turn off Apple's built-in apps and features

Content & Privacy Restrictions handle the apps and features that come with iOS, such as Camera or AirDrop. Apple describes this setting for built-in apps only, so use the other methods for apps you downloaded.

• iOS 27: Settings → Screen Time → Content & Privacy Restrictions → Other Features, then block the apps and features you don't want.
• iOS 26: Settings → Screen Time → Content & Privacy Restrictions, turn the switch on, tap Allowed Apps & Features, then turn off the apps you want to restrict.

On iOS 26, a turned-off app isn't deleted. It is hidden from the Home Screen until you turn it back on. Sources: Apple, Block features or content with Screen Time (iOS 27) and Block apps, app downloads, websites, and purchases (iOS 26).

4. Lock or hide an app with Face ID

Touch and hold the app icon, tap Require Face ID (or Touch ID or Passcode), then choose to lock the app or to hide it as well. A locked app asks for Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode every time it opens and locks again after you quit it. A hidden app moves to a Hidden folder at the bottom of App Library. Apps that come with the iPhone can't be hidden.

This is a privacy feature, not a focus tool. It keeps other people out, but your own face opens the app in a second. If the person you want to keep out of the app is you, use a schedule, a limit or an app blocker. Source: Apple, Lock or hide an app on iPhone.

5. Remove the app from your Home Screen or delete it

• Remove from Home Screen: touch and hold the app, tap Remove App, then Remove from Home Screen. The app moves to App Library and still works from there. It is a small hurdle, but it takes the icon out of your daily path.
• Delete: touch and hold the app, tap Remove App → Delete App, then confirm. The app and its data are removed from the iPhone. Data the app stored in iCloud is not deleted.

Deleting is the most complete block and also the easiest to undo: you can reinstall any app you downloaded before from the App Store, as long as it is still available. It works for apps you don't need at all, less so for apps you need at work but want out of your evenings. Source: Apple, Remove or delete apps from iPhone.

6. Use an app blocker for focus sessions

The built-in tools are good at routines: the same schedule and the same limits every day. They are less handy for "block these apps for the next hour, starting now", and on iOS 26 a limit can be waved away unless a passcode backs it up. An app blocker covers that case.

Here is how it works in Unsway, the app we make:

1. Choose the apps, app categories and websites that distract you. You pick them in Apple's Screen Time picker.
2. Start Quick Focus for 30 minutes, 1 hour, a custom time, or until you turn it off.
3. Try to open a blocked app and you get a block screen instead, with your own note or photo if you added one.

Two features target the weak spots of the built-in tools. Locked Mode is a block you can't end early: the session runs until the timer reaches zero. Schedules start blocks automatically by day of the week, including ones that run past midnight. The apps and websites you select are stored on your iPhone as private system tokens and are not sent to analytics.

Unsway is a free download with an optional subscription. The free version includes one focus mode and unlimited Quick Focus sessions. Unsway Pro adds more modes, automatic schedules, Locked Mode and full progress insights, with a monthly plan or an annual plan that starts with a 7-day free trial.

How to make a block stick

• Start with one to three apps. Open your Screen Time report, look at where the time and pickups go, and block those first. A short list is easier to keep than a long one.
• Block by the clock, not by willpower. Put a schedule on the hours you already know are hard, like the first hour of work or the hour before bed.
• Keep Always Allowed short. Calls, messages, maps and anything you need in an emergency. Every extra app on that list is a way around the schedule.
• Block the website too. When an app is blocked, its website is the next tap. On iOS 27, Time Allowances cover websites that an app declares. In Unsway, add the website to the same focus mode as the app.
• Turn on Share Across Devices. Your Screen Time limits and schedules then apply to your iPhone, iPad and Mac signed in to the same Apple Account. On iOS 27 it is under Settings → Screen Time → Manage Screen Time; on iOS 26, directly in Settings → Screen Time.
• Make undoing slower than giving in. A Screen Time passcode that someone else knows, or Locked Mode for a session you don't want to end early.

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