Quiet Wall

App blockers for iPhone, from gentle to strict

Quiet Wall ·

Every iPhone app blocker is built on the same Apple framework. What differs is how a block starts and how hard it is to end. Eight of them, grouped.

One of the apps below is ours. It is marked as ours, and the list is grouped by how strict each blocker is rather than ranked. Every price and platform comes from the app's own App Store page, with the date it was checked.

How app blocking works on an iPhone

Apple lets one app block others only through its Screen Time framework, so every blocker here is built on the same thing. That is why a blocked app looks much the same in all of them, and why none of them can do anything Apple does not allow. What differs is how a block starts, how hard it is to end, and what else comes with it.

The free one that is already there

Screen Time · iPhone, iPad, Mac · Free; built into iOS, iPadOS and macOS

Apple's own, in Settings. Reports time spent in apps and websites, pickups and notifications; gives app categories a daily time allowance and sets schedules for when apps are available.

Daily time allowances and schedules, set in Settings. It works, and it is easy to tap past, which is the gap every paid blocker is built to close.

support.apple.com · details as of 22 October 2026

Blockers you can still talk yourself out of

Opal · iPhone, Mac, Android · Free; subscriptions from $4.99 a week to $99.99 a year

Blocks chosen apps and websites on a schedule, in timed sessions or after daily limits, using Apple's Screen Time API. Shows usage stats, a score and a leaderboard with friends.

Sessions, schedules and daily limits, with a score and friends on top. A good first blocker for someone who wants structure more than a lock.

opalapp.com · details as of 22 October 2026

Jomo · iPhone, Mac · Free; Jomo Plus $5.99 a month, $29.99 a year or $99.99 once

Blocks chosen apps, app categories and websites during focus times you schedule, with optional breaks, and shows screen-time statistics. Uses Apple's Screen Time API.

Schedules with breaks built in, for iPhone and Mac. Blocks are planned around rather than fought.

jomo.so · details as of 22 October 2026

AppBlock · iPhone, iPad, Android, Chrome · Free; Premium from $4.99 a month or $29.99 a year; $89.99 once

Blocks chosen apps and websites at once or on schedules set by time, location or Wi-Fi, and can limit how long apps are used. A strict mode stops the blocks being switched off.

Schedules by time, place or Wi-Fi, and a strict mode for when the schedule alone is not enough.

appblock.app · details as of 22 October 2026

Blockers that are hard to end

Freedom · iPhone, iPad, Mac, Windows, Android, Chrome · Free; Premium from $8.99 a month or $39.99 a year; $199 once

Blocks chosen apps and websites, or the whole internet, during sessions started by hand or on a schedule and synced across devices. Locked Mode stops a running session from being quit.

Locked Mode means a running session cannot be quit, on any of the devices it syncs across.

freedom.to · details as of 22 October 2026

Brick · iPhone, Android · App free; the Brick device costs $59

A free app and a small device sold separately. Tapping the phone on the device blocks chosen apps, and only tapping it again unblocks them. Has schedules and a few emergency unblocks.

The block lives in a physical object: tap the phone on it to block, and you need the device again to unblock. Leave it at home and the block comes with you to work.

getbrick.com · details as of 22 October 2026

A pause, not a block

ScreenZen · iPhone, iPad, Mac, Android, Windows · Free; optional tips from $5 to $40

Adds a wait before a chosen app opens, which can grow with each open. Sets daily goals per app, and can block apps for set times, after a number of opens or past a Screen Time limit.

A wait before an app opens, which grows the more often you open it, with stricter blocking available. Free, apart from optional tips.

screenzen.co · details as of 22 October 2026

Blocking for ten minutes at a time (ours)

Quiet Wall · iPhone · Free; Extras $4 a month, $25 a year or $50 once

A timer for doing nothing: a reminder arrives, the phone goes across the room, and a sound ends the session. Each session is logged as a brick on a wall. Extras can block other apps during a session.

Quiet Wall is not a day-long blocker. With Extras it shuts the rest of the phone for the length of a session: ten minutes or so of looking at a wall, with the phone across the room. The block lifts when the sound does.

apps.apple.com · details as of 22 October 2026

How to choose

What is the best app blocker for iPhone?

Start with Screen Time, which is free. If you keep ending blocks early, pick one that is hard to end, such as Freedom's Locked Mode or Brick.

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