iPhone app limits: how to set them and why they get ignored

To set an app limit on iPhone, go to Settings → Screen Time → App Limits → Add Limit, choose the app, set the daily time and tap Add. The limit resets every night at midnight. The setup takes a minute. Making the limit hold is the harder part.

Set an app limit step by step

1. Open Settings and tap Screen Time. Turn it on if it is off.
2. Tap App Limits, then Add Limit.
3. Open a category such as Social and tick the individual apps, or select the whole category.
4. Tap Next and set the time per day. Customize Days lets you give weekends a different amount.
5. Tap Add.

To limit a website, scroll to the bottom of the app list and add it under Websites.

What happens when time runs out

Five minutes before the end you get a notification. Then the app icon dims and opening it shows a "Time Limit" screen with an Ignore Limit button. Tapping it offers:

• One More Minute
• Remind Me in 15 Minutes
• Ignore Limit For Today

That last option is why most people stop noticing their limits after a week or two. The screen becomes one more thing to tap through.

Make the limit harder to ignore

• Set a Screen Time passcode. Settings → Screen Time → Lock Screen Time Settings. Then turn on Block at End of Limit for each limit. Extra time now needs the code.
• Do not be the one who knows the code. Ask someone you trust to type it in. If you set it yourself, it is only a small delay.
• Limit the category, not just one app. Otherwise you move from one feed to the next.
• Add the website too. A blocked app is easy to replace with the browser version.

When limits do not seem to work

• Share Across Devices is on and another device is using the time. Check Settings → Screen Time.
• The app is listed under Always Allowed. Remove it there.
• The limit was set on a category the app does not belong to. Add the app by name.
• After an iOS update a limit can occasionally stop applying. Deleting and recreating it usually fixes that.

Limits versus Downtime

A limit is a budget ("45 minutes a day"). Downtime is a schedule ("nothing after 22:00"). They work well together: a budget for the day and a closed window at night. All the options are compared in how to block apps on iPhone.

A limit that stays closed

Verge is built around the part Screen Time leaves open. You set a daily limit for the apps you choose, get alerts at 80 and 100 percent, and when the limit is reached the apps stay blocked until tomorrow. With Strict Mode there is no "ignore for today". Streaks reward each day you stay under, and a partner streak means someone else notices when you do not.