Restrict my iPhone, please.

August 4, 2023 2:26 PM

I want my iPhone to be like an old, non-net connected cell phone twenty-two hours a day, and like the distraction machine it is for the other two. Basically.

There are times when it is really useful to have the entire internet in your hand but many, many more when it just doesn't help. Is there an app that will turn my phone 'off' - and of course because I'm talking about issues of self-control, habit changing and etc, it would be best if I could only change this with great effort. In fact it might be best if someone else would program the limits, and I would not be able to change them myself. Because I will change them myself and it will all be for nought.

I'm looking for an App that restricts my phone's net capabilities to a limited time per day.

posted by From Bklyn to Computers & Internet (5 answers total)

Well, this is pretty much what the built-in Screen Time feature is for. Generally it’s used for one’s kids’ devices but I don’t think there’s any reason you couldn’t use it to restrict your own phone. You could have someone else set the Screen Time password and not tell you what it is (although if they don’t live with you that might prove awkward when you do need something enabled or a limit changed).
posted by staggernation at 2:36 PM on August 4, 2023 [3 favorites]

The official way to do this would be to create a "Focus" mode that hides all of your nonessential apps and disables notifications. It would not take a lot of effort to switch out of this mode though—you'd have to rely on the deliberate step it takes to remind you that you don't actually want to do that.

You can also use Screen Time to limit access to apps to a certain amount of time per day. It can be disabled with a code, which you either trust yourself with (again, acknowledging the friction as a barrier) or give to someone else.

To be a little more stringent, you could look into using parental controls with a trusted person acting as your "parent."

The nuclear option: use guided access to restrict your phone to literally just the phone app. This would require you or a trusted person to enter a code every single time you want to use another part of the phone (until it's manually re-enabled).
posted by Ryon at 2:38 PM on August 4, 2023 [2 favorites]

I’m a big fan of Freedom myself.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 4:11 PM on August 4, 2023

Response by poster: I, a bit of a Luddite, will have to look more closely at screen time settings… I have not checked it out in years.
posted by From Bklyn at 3:36 PM on August 5, 2023

Apple's customer support 800 number will walk you through the process. Link to their support page.
posted by conrad53 at 5:13 PM on August 5, 2023