How to set it up on iOS 27 and iOS 18 to 26, and why the limits you set for yourself keep slipping.
By Jacob Gade Hartmann · Checked against Apple's iPhone User Guide on November 3, 2026
To limit apps on iPhone: open Settings › Screen Time and turn on App & Website Activity. On iOS 27, set a daily time under Time Allowances (for example for Social Media) and quiet hours under Screen Time Schedule. On iOS 18 to 26, use App Limits and Downtime. Then lock it with a Screen Time passcode, because without one a limit can be ignored once it's reached. For a limit on yourself to hold, let someone else choose the passcode.
"By default, Screen Time limits can be ignored once reached."
Apple, iPhone User Guide
Screen Time is built for two people
Screen Time expectsSomeone who sets the limit
Holds the passcode, approves "more time" from their own phone.
and
Screen Time expectsSomeone who lives with it
Asks for more time, and waits for a yes.
On your own iPhone, you're both.
It was designed around a parent and a child. When you limit yourself, the person who can lift the limit is the same tired person who wants one more minute. That's why it slips, not because you're weak.
Set it up for yourself.
Apple rebuilt Screen Time in iOS 27. Check Settings › General › About if you're not sure which version you have.
iOS 27
Time Allowances and Screen Time Schedule. Needs version 27 on all your Apple devices.
A daily time for social apps
Settings › Screen Time › turn on App & Website Activity.
Tap Time Allowances.
Set a time for Social Media, or make your own category under Manage Categories.
Hours when apps rest
Tap Screen Time Schedule › turn on Schedule › Add Schedule.
Choose days and times, and the categories that rest.
Under Always Allowed, keep Phone and Messages open.
Lock it
Passcode & Management › Lock Screen Time Settings, and enter a four-digit code twice.
iOS 18 to 26
App Limits and Downtime.
A daily time for social apps
Settings › Screen Time › App & Website Activity › turn it on.
Tap App Limits › Add Limit.
Choose Social, or tap it to pick single apps › Next › set the time › Add.
Hours when apps rest
Tap Downtime › Scheduled, and set the days and times.
Under Always Allowed, keep Phone and Messages open.
Lock it
Tap Lock Screen Time Settings and set a code.
Turn on Block at Downtime, and Block at End of Limit on each limit.
Five ways it leaks, and the fix.
1
Ignore Limit
Without a passcode, the limit screen lets you carry on.
Fix: set a passcode and turn on blocking at the end of the limit. Without the code, there's no carry on. From Apple's guide
2
You know the code
A passcode you chose yourself stops nobody at 1 am.
Fix: let a partner or friend type a code you don't see. Turn on Passcode Recovery with your Apple Account, so a forgotten code isn't a lockout. From Apple's guide
3
The website
Instagram, TikTok and Facebook all work in Safari.
Fix: on iOS 27, a Time Allowance also covers the websites an app declares as its own. On iOS 18 to 26, add instagram.com and the others under Websites in the same limit. From Apple's guide
4
Delete and reinstall
A fresh install has been reported to come back without its limit.
Fix: Screen Time › Content & Privacy Restrictions › iTunes & App Store Purchases › Deleting Apps › Don't Allow. Reported by users, not confirmed by Apple for iOS 26 and 27
5
Change the clock
Limits run on the phone's time, and moving the time zone has been reported to reset them.
Fix: keep Date & Time on Set Automatically, and lock changes in Content & Privacy Restrictions. Reported by parental-control makers, not confirmed by Apple
6h 20m
a day online for 18 to 24 year olds in the UK, most of it on a phone.
Ofcom, Online Nation 2025. All adults: about 4.5 hours.
What Screen Time can't do.
It works on whole apps. It can't take Reels out of Instagram and leave your messages, because to iOS, Instagram is one thing.
So people block the whole app, lose their group chats, and turn the limit off by Friday.
Off the Hook is built on the same Screen Time. It keeps the real Instagram locked, and gives you a calm version with your friends and DMs, without Reels or Explore.
Your plan is the person holding the passcode. A break opens the real app for 5 to 30 minutes. On Medium and Hard, anything that loosens your plan starts tomorrow.
Because limits can be ignored once reached, by default. To block an app when the time runs out, you need a Screen Time passcode. On your own phone that only helps if someone else chooses it.
Can Screen Time limit only Instagram Reels?
No. Screen Time works on whole apps, categories and websites. It can't limit one part of an app, such as Reels, while leaving messages open. Instagram has no setting for it either. See Instagram without Reels.
Where did App Limits and Downtime go in iOS 27?
Apple's iOS 27 guide describes Time Allowances, time per category, and Screen Time Schedule, time windows when apps rest. They need iOS 27 or later on all your Apple devices.
What if I forget my Screen Time passcode?
You can reset it with your Apple Account through Screen Time Passcode Recovery, if you turned it on when you set the code.
Does Screen Time block Instagram in Safari?
On iOS 18 to 26, a limit on the app doesn't cover instagram.com unless you add the website. On iOS 27, a Time Allowance also covers websites the app declares as its own.
How much screen time is too much?
There's no single number for adults. A better test is whether the time crowds out things you care about: sleep, people, the plans you keep postponing. Cutting back by an hour a day led to lasting change in one study, while quitting outright didn't last as long. More in how to stop doomscrolling.
Off the Hook
