The best app blockers for iPhone that actually work

Every app blocker promises the same thing: less time in the apps that eat your day. They differ in one way that matters. What happens at the moment you want to open the app anyway? Some ask you to wait. Some say no. Some make you pay.

We make one of these apps, PushPact, so weigh our view with that in mind. We’ve tried to describe every option fairly, including when ours isn’t the right fit.

Three kinds of app blocker

• Pauses. A short delay or a breath before the app opens. Great for breaking autopilot, easy to tap through when you really want in.
• Walls. The app is blocked for a set time or until a condition is met, and getting around it takes real effort.
• Trades. The app opens when you do something first. PushPact is this kind: push-ups buy screen time.

The options, compared

Apple Screen Time

Already on your iPhone. App Limits cap daily time per app or category and Downtime blocks everything you don’t allow on a schedule. The catch is the “Ignore Limit” button: one tap and you’re back in. Turn on Lock Screen Time Settings with a passcode someone else sets and it becomes much stronger. Start here before paying for anything. Our Screen Time guide walks through the setup.

one sec

one sec puts a short breathing exercise in front of the apps you choose, then asks whether you still want to open them. It’s good at the problem most people actually have: opening an app without deciding to. If you do decide, it lets you in, which is the point and also the limit.

ScreenZen

ScreenZen also adds a wait before an app opens, asks if it’s important, and can limit how many times a day you open it. It’s flexible and gentle. Like any pause, it relies on you meaning it when it asks.

Opal

Opal blocks apps on a schedule or for focus sessions, with strict sessions that are deliberately hard to end early. It suits people who want the phone out of the way during work or study hours. The wall is real, so plan your sessions with care.

Brick

Brick is a small physical device. Tap your phone on it to block your chosen apps, and tap it again to unblock them. Leave the Brick at home and the apps stay blocked while you’re out. It’s a strong wall because it lives outside the phone, and that’s also why it can be inconvenient.

PushPact

PushPact uses Apple’s Screen Time to keep the apps you pick locked until you do your push-ups. The camera counts every rep on the phone, and half reps don’t count. 10 push-ups open your apps for 15 minutes, and keeping your daily pact opens them till midnight. You can change both numbers, set daily time limits on top, and do it with friends in a crew.

Where it differs: a pause or a wall only ever says no. PushPact says yes, at a price, and the price makes you stronger. Most of the time you’ll see the lock and walk away. When you don’t, you’ve done ten push-ups. It’s iPhone only, and it’s not for you if push-ups aren’t something you can do.

How to choose

1. Do you open apps without deciding to? Start with a pause (one sec, ScreenZen).
2. Do you know you’re scrolling and keep going? You need a wall (Opal, Brick, a Screen Time passcode someone else holds) or a trade (PushPact).
3. Do you quit tools that only say no? Try a trade. Earning the time feels very different from being refused it.

Still deciding? Read how a push-up app blocker works, or start with the built-in fixes in how to stop doomscrolling.