An app blocker for kids that works because the whole family is in on it

If you are searching for an app blocker for your kid's iPhone, you probably have a specific moment in mind. Homework that takes three hours instead of one. A dinner where someone is under the table on TikTok. A bedtime that keeps sliding later.

This page covers two things: how to block apps using Apple's free built-in tools, and how BreakOff helps with the moments those tools are not built for. Use whichever fits. Plenty of families use both.

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Option 1: Block apps with Apple Screen Time (built in, free)

Every iPhone includes Screen Time, and with Family Sharing a parent can manage it from their own device. It is the right tool for rules that should always apply:

• App Limits: set a daily time allowance for a category (like Games or Social) or a specific app.
• Downtime: schedule hours when only allowed apps and contacts work.
• Content & Privacy Restrictions: block apps by age rating and require permission to install new ones.
• Ask to Buy: approve downloads and purchases before they happen.

You will find all of these in Settings > Screen Time on your child's iPhone, or under your child's name if you have set up Family Sharing. Apple's menu names change occasionally between iOS versions, so check Apple Support if something looks different.

Option 2: Block apps during shared breaks with BreakOff

Always-on limits are useful, but they tend to turn into a daily negotiation. "Just five more minutes" is a phrase every parent knows.

BreakOff works differently. Instead of a limit that one person sets on another, it creates a break: a set window where distracting apps are blocked and everyone, parents included, puts their phone down at the same time. When a kid sees their parent's phone go quiet too, the break feels less like a punishment and more like a family thing.

How it blocks apps: BreakOff uses Apple's Screen Time technology (Family Controls). You choose which apps and categories get blocked during a break, and they stay blocked until the break ends. Calls and the apps you choose to allow keep working.

How firm it is: you pick the mode.

• Flexible: a timer that can be ended early. A gentle start for younger kids.
• Locked: the break runs its full length, with an emergency escape.
• Physical: the break only ends when someone scans a QR code or taps an NFC tag. Leave the tag in the kitchen and the phone has to come back to the kitchen.

How it becomes routine: BreakOff's School Focus, Better Sleep, and Family Time Routines run automatically on the days and times you pick. Set it up once, sitting down with your kid, and it runs on its own after that.

How to set it up with your kid (not on them)

Blocking works best when kids understand it and have a say. A simple way to start:

1. Sit down together. Install BreakOff on their iPhone and yours.
2. Pick the apps together. Ask which apps make homework hardest. Kids are often surprisingly honest about this.
3. Pick the times together. Homework hour, dinner, the hour before bed.
4. Start with Flexible mode. Move to Locked or Physical once the habit sticks.
5. Take the same break yourself. This is the part that makes it work.

For whole-household breaks, Host (part of BreakOff Pro) lets everyone scan one QR poster to start the same break on their own phone. Families with teens 16 and older can also use Circles to invite each other to breaks.

Why "presence over restriction" matters for kids

Kids are not the enemy here, and neither are phones. Teens themselves often notice the upside of time away: in a 2024 Pew Research Center survey, 74% of US teens said not having their smartphone often or sometimes makes them feel happy, and 72% said peaceful (Pew Research Center).

BreakOff is built around that feeling. It does not read messages, report on browsing, or track location. It just clears the space. Every completed break counts as a mental win, and wins add up over time. A missed day never resets the count, so nobody gets punished for a rough week.

Which app blocker is right for your family?

• If you need always-on rules, age-based restrictions, or purchase approval: use Apple Screen Time with Family Sharing.
• If you need focused windows like homework, dinner, and bedtime, and you want the whole family taking part: use BreakOff.
• If you want both: they work fine side by side.

For more on the family side, see how BreakOff works as a family screen time app. And if you want ideas for what to do once the apps are blocked, try our list of phone-free family time ideas.