Disclosure: Reset is ours. This post is from the people who make it.
In short
iPhone has had app limits for years. Everyone with a scrolling problem has also tapped "Ignore Limit for Today". Here's what actually holds, what Apple allows, and where the last two gaps are.
Why the built-in limit doesn't work for you
Screen Time's app limits are designed for parents managing children. When you set one for yourself, the block comes with an "Ignore" button, because you're the adult on the account. A limit you can dismiss at 11 p.m. with one thumb isn't a limit. It's a suggestion.
What a real block looks like
Apple lets third-party apps use the same Screen Time system, through frameworks called Family Controls and Managed Settings. When an app like Reset blocks Instagram, three things happen:
- The icon disappears from the Home Screen and search.
- If you get to it anyway (a link, Siri, Spotlight history), a full-screen Screen Time shield appears instead of the app.
- The block is held by iOS, not by the app. Force-quitting Reset changes nothing.
Crucially, there is no "Ignore" button on that shield. The block ends when the timer ends, when you end it inside Reset, or, if you've turned on the friend lock, when your friend's code arrives.
Step by step
- Allow Screen Time. Reset asks once. iOS shows a system dialog. This is what lets Reset ask iOS to hold the door; Reset never sees what you use.
- Tap the apps. Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X, Reddit, Snapchat and friends are one tap each. For anything else, "More" has a longer list, or use Apple's picker for whole categories (Social, Games, Entertainment) and websites.
- Pick a length. Thirty minutes to try it. "Until morning" for bed. "Until unlocked" if a friend holds your key.
- Block now. The door shuts. Go do the thing.
The two doors Apple leaves open
Be honest with yourself about these, because at midnight you'll find them.
Door one: revoking access. iOS Settings → Screen Time → Apps with Screen Time Access lists Reset with a switch. Turning it off lifts every block. The fix is Apple's own: set a Screen Time passcode and have someone else type it, so you can't. Reset's "Make it stick" guide walks through it.
Door two: deleting the app. Deleting Reset removes its blocks. During a friend-locked block, Reset asks iOS to refuse deletion, which iOS honours. Outside of a locked block, the Screen Time passcode trick covers it too (Content & Privacy Restrictions → Deleting Apps → Don't Allow).
Close those two and there is no thumb-sized escape hatch left. That's the point.
What about the browser?
Blocking the Instagram app and then opening instagram.com in Safari is the oldest trick there is. Apple's picker has a Websites section; add the sites you'd sneak to. Reset shields them in Safari and in browsers that respect Screen Time.
One more thing: block less, more often
People who set a 24-hour block on day one usually end it by dinner and feel worse. Start with an hour at the time of day you actually lose. Finish it. Do it again tomorrow. The count of finished blocks matters more than the length of any one of them.
Sources
- Apple Developer Documentation: FamilyControls, ManagedSettings, DeviceActivity.
- Apple Support: Use Screen Time on your iPhone or iPad; set a Screen Time passcode.