The best app blocker for iPhone depends on how you slip: 7 compared

October 25, 2026 · 9 min read

For a block you can't cancel, look at Opal's Deep Focus or Freedom's Locked Mode. For a pause that breaks the habit of opening apps on autopilot, one sec or ScreenZen. Foqos is free and unlocks with a physical NFC tag. Plan7 blocks apps during the focus blocks of a week it builds for you. If your hours never change, Apple's Screen Time may be all you need.

Three ways an iPhone app blocker stops you

Before you compare features, decide which kind of slip you're fixing. The apps below use one of three approaches, and a few mix them.

1. A hard block on a schedule. The app won't open during set hours. This works when you know when you need to focus and you keep breaking your own rules. The question to ask is how easy it is to switch off.
2. A pause before opening. The app still opens, after a breath or a wait. This works when you open Instagram without deciding to. It doesn't stop a determined binge.
3. A block tied to something outside the app. A physical tag, or a plan. Foqos ends a session when you tap an NFC tag you left in another room. Plan7 blocks during the focus blocks of your week, so the times follow your plan.

The seven at a glance

1. Opal: the strictest schedules

Opal's App Store listing says you can block apps and websites "at a specific time of day throughout the week", set daily usage limits that block an app once you hit them, and put working hours, sleep and routines on a calendar that blocks automatically. Its Deep Focus level "won't let you cancel or bypass at all". Opal's site adds a Hard Mode ("You can't turn Opal off") and says it's available on iPhone, Mac and Android. The iPhone app needs iOS 18 or later. It's free to download with in-app purchases, and the listing doesn't say which features need Pro.

• Better than Plan7 at: a block you truly can't get out of, per-app daily limits and a Mac app.
• Pick it if you already know your focus hours and you keep overriding softer blockers.

2. Freedom: one block across every device

Freedom blocks "apps, websites, or the entire internet", on macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, Chromebook and Linux. Its iPhone listing says you can schedule blocks "now, later, or create recurring blocks" and sync a session to "your phones, tablets, and computers", with no limit on devices. Locked Mode "prevents quitting a Freedom session". The listing offers a 7-day free trial of Freedom Premium, and the site says a basic version is free. Texts and calls are never blocked.

• Better than Plan7 at: covering your laptop too, so you can't just move the scrolling to another screen.
• Pick it if you work at a computer and the phone is only half the problem.

3. one sec: a breath before every open

one sec "DELAYS access to distracting apps instead of blocking apps completely", per its App Store listing. A Shortcuts automation shows a deep-breath animation when you open an app you set up. Its Re-Intervention throws you out after a set time (the listing's example is 5 minutes) and makes you go through the pause again. Using it with one app is free; more apps need one sec pro. The one sec site adds full blocks during a session or scheduled time, apps for iOS and Android, and a browser extension for Windows, macOS and Linux. The App Store version runs on iPhone, iPad and Mac.

• Better than Plan7 at: cutting habit-driven opens all day long, including outside any focus time, and it's free for your worst app.
• Pick it if your problem is reaching for the phone without thinking, more than long sessions.

4. ScreenZen: free, with a wait that grows

ScreenZen's App Store listing describes a delay before an app opens, which can get longer each time you open it, short check-in windows so you don't get sucked in, a daily goal per app that can turn into a block, and strict blocks for time ranges or after a number of opens. Rules can differ by day and time, and a lock keeps you from changing the settings when you want to open an app. The app is free; its only in-app purchases are tips. It runs on iPhone and iPad from iOS 16.4, and on Mac.

• Better than Plan7 at: price (free), and fine control per app and per day.
• Pick it if you want a capable blocker without paying and don't mind setting the rules yourself.

5. Foqos: a physical key, free and open source

Foqos is a "free, open-source iPhone app blocker with NFC and QR code unlocking" that uses Apple's Screen Time APIs to block apps and websites. You start a session by tapping an NFC tag, scanning a QR code or barcode, or with a timer. With strict unlock rules, only the tag or code you approved can end it, so if the tag lives in the kitchen, you walk to the kitchen. The README says there is "no account requirement, no tracking, no ads, and no subscription". Get it from the App Store; it needs iOS 17.6 or later, and you supply the tags.

• Better than Plan7 at: cost (free) and physical friction that a tap on the screen can't undo.
• Pick it if you want a hard stop you set up once and a phone that stays in another room.

6. Plan7: blocking that follows a planned week

Plan7 is a weekly planner first. You give it one goal for the next 30 days, what can't move, what you protect and your sleep, and it builds the week. Through Apple's Screen Time it pauses the apps you chose during focus blocks, fixed commitments and bedtime, even with Plan7 closed, and unlocks them when the block ends. Apple keeps the list private: Plan7 knows how many apps you picked, never which. If you need one anyway, you breathe for seven seconds and it opens for 5, 15, 30, 45 or 60 minutes. Zen Week hides the chosen apps all day for seven days, with three five-minute passes.

• Limits: iPhone only (iOS 16.4 or later), with no Mac, iPad, Android or web version, so it can't block your laptop. No free plan: it's a monthly or annual subscription, and the App Store shows the current price. There's always a way out (the seven-second breath, or ending Zen Week early), so it's softer than Opal's Deep Focus. Website blocking and per-app daily limits aren't among its features.
• Pick it if your focus hours change from day to day and you also want help deciding what those hours should be. See every feature.

7. Screen Time: the free one already on your iPhone

Apple's Screen Time can close apps at set hours and cap daily use. On iOS 27 these are called Screen Time Schedule and Time Allowances; on iOS 26 and earlier they're Downtime and App Limits. Without a Screen Time passcode, getting around them takes one tap. Our guide to why Downtime lets apps open covers the switches that make it stick.

• Better than every app here at: price, and it's already installed.
• Pick it if your focus hours are the same every weekday and you'll let someone else hold the passcode.

A fixed schedule vs a planned day: one Tuesday

Here is what changes when the blocking follows the plan. Say a schedule-based blocker locks Instagram from 9:00 to 12:00 every weekday, but this Tuesday a meeting moved and your deep work ended up in the afternoon.

On days like this the fixed schedule blocks the 90 minutes you didn't need and leaves the two hours you did wide open. If your days look the same each week, the fixed schedule wins on simplicity. Our guide to blocking apps during focus time shows how to set up the built-in tools.

Which one to pick

Two of these can run side by side. A pause app like one sec handles the reflex opens all day, while a schedule or a plan handles the hours that matter. If you're also comparing planners, all our comparisons are on one page.

Questions people ask

Keep reading

• How to block apps during focus time on iPhone: built-in options vs a time-blocking app
• An Opal alternative for iPhone that plans the week before it blocks apps
• A one sec alternative for when a pause isn't enough