App blocking
Is there an app blocker that cannot be bypassed on iPhone?
No iPhone app blocker is unbypassable, and Apple's documentation says why. The ladder of friction that does exist, what each rung costs, and how to pick.
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Writing about screen time, app blocking and habits
Guides on blocking apps, cutting screen time and building habits on iPhone, from the studio that makes Habit Hound. Plain writing, no invented numbers.
How to
How to stop doomscrolling on iPhone, without deleting your apps
Deleting the app does not break a reflex. Five iPhone settings that remove the triggers behind doomscrolling, from grayscale to habit-gated unlocking.
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Habits
Reading more and scrolling less: how to make the trade concrete
Read more fails because it has no trigger, no unit and no cost for skipping. Scrolling has all three. A contract you can keep, with or without an app.
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Screen time
Screen Time in iOS 27: what changed, and what did not
Downtime and App Limits became Schedule and Time Allowances in iOS 27. What Apple changed, what it left alone, and what to check after updating.
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How to
What to do when Screen Time limits stop working
Screen Time limits not working on iPhone? Find the cause: a missing passcode or switch, a platform rule, or knowing your own code. Then fix each one.
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Screen time
Why an app blocker asks for Screen Time access, and what it can actually see
What an iPhone app blocker gets when you grant Screen Time access, what Apple's framework hides from it, how to take it back, and what to check first.
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How to
How to block whole app categories on iPhone, not one app at a time
Block Social, Games or Entertainment in one rule on iPhone with Screen Time, the four catches that quietly undo it, and where a paid blocker helps.
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How to
How to block apps during work hours on iPhone
Block distracting apps from 9 to 5 on iPhone with Screen Time Downtime, App Limits and a third-party schedule. Focus modes silence, they do not block.
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Screen time
Why you can't block just Reels or Shorts on iPhone, and what works instead
Screen Time shields whole apps, categories and websites, never one tab. Why Reels and Shorts cannot be blocked alone on iPhone, and the levers that work.
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Comparison
Habit tracker or app blocker: which one do you actually need?
A habit tracker can only ask. An app blocker can only refuse. How each one fails on iPhone, what habit-gated blocking adds, and how to pick between them.
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Screen time
How to use Screen Time on yourself, as an adult
Screen Time makes you both the parent and the child of one passcode. Four rungs of self-blocking on iPhone, what each one costs, and where each breaks.
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Habits
Why streak apps stop working by week two
A habit streak pays you a little every day and charges you everything the day you miss. Why that flips around week two, and what to build instead.
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Comparison
Best app blockers for iPhone in 2026
Fourteen iPhone app blockers sorted by how their friction actually works, prices checked September 2026. Written by the people who make one of them.
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How to
How to block apps on iPhone until your tasks are done
Four ways to keep apps locked until your to-do list or habits are done on iPhone, what Screen Time can and cannot do, and how to pick between them.
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Screen time
How to block Instagram and TikTok at night on iPhone
Set a nightly block for Instagram, TikTok and the rest on iPhone, with Screen Time Downtime and with a third-party blocker. Includes the failure modes.
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Screen time
How Screen Time app blocking really works on iPhone
What Screen Time actually does when it blocks an app, why Ignore Limit undoes your limits, and the 15-minute floor that shapes every iPhone app blocker.
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