How to limit a phone from downloading apps

To enable these restrictions, you will need to use the Screen Time feature of your iPhone available in iOS 12 and newer. To do so, follow these steps:. If you choose the Apps section, you can limit them by their age rating. If you want to prevent downloading and installing any new app to your iPhone, you can set thatup in Screen Time as well. You can also disable deleting apps in a similar manner.

On the same menu, choose not toallow deleting apps. Plus, you can prevent in-app purchases for any downloaded apps. If you are addicted to your phone or want to limit how distracting it can be, I highly suggest taking a look at the following self control apps! With Flipd, users are encouraged to limit their phone use and remain more aware of their surroundings. Flipd has several useful Mindful Moment categories including ones for work, sleep, study sessions, and minute blocks of time which is apparently the amount of time researchers suggest you should really be disconnected, or something like that.

Additionally, the Flipd app also lets users completely lock their phone and prevents the use of any apps or notifications for predetermined amounts of time:.

Finally, Flipd also lets users play relaxing sounds and explore their featured content, which currently includes sessions of self care or meditation. Ultimately self control apps like Flipd are what you make of them, but they can certainly help you start the new year off on the right track!

Flipd is great for: People who need a straightforward way to limit their phone use. Learn more about Flipd on their website! Out of all the self control apps I looked at, Forest was my second favorite app behind Flipd and I almost decided to keep it installed.

Unlike many self control apps that just use timers to limit phone use, Forest incorporates gamification elements into the mix. The more time you spend off of your phone, the more your tree will grow. Eventually, you can even earn coins as your tree matures and a new sapling is planted:.

The Forest app has some other cool features like a statistics dashboard, and you can also build your own forest with all of the different trees you plant and nurture. However, the coolest feature Forest offers is the fact that when users with the pro version of Forest spend their virtual currency on trees, Forest actually donates some of their revenue to real life tree planting organizations. To date, this initiative has lead to almost , trees being planted, which is pretty cool for a simple app!

Forest also has a Google Chrome extension that allows users to blacklist certain websites, so this could be helpful if you want a productivity tool for your laptop or desktop. Price: Free for the features you need, but planting real trees requires you to have the pro version.

Forest is great for: People who want to limit their phone use in a fun way. Learn more about Forest on their website. With Offtime, users can block calls, texts, notifications, and completely pause phone usage altogether. This app does let you create VIP contacts that can bypass their blocking system, which is smart, and you can also track your usage data and set personal goals. One cool feature I should also mention is the Offtime activity log function.

If you are truly addicted to your phone and struggle with FOMO the fear of missing out , Offtime actually logs everything that happened while you were away. Offtime is great for: People who want to use the activity log feature or have VIP contacts.

Learn more about Offtime on their website. While a lot of self control apps use brute force blocking to make users limit their phone use, AppDetox takes a more clinical approach and relies heavily on custom rule sets.

With AppDetox, users can create time limits for individual apps on their smartphone, and the app will notify users if they are breaking any of their rules. Appdetox is great for: People who need a rule based approach to limit their phone use. If asked, enter your passcode. Choose a setting and set to Don't Allow.

Allow built-in apps and features You can restrict the use of built-in apps or features. Enter your Screen Time passcode. Tap Allowed Apps. Select the apps that you want to allow. Prevent explicit content and content ratings You can also prevent the playback of music with explicit content and movies or TV shows with specific ratings. To restrict explicit content and content ratings: Go to Settings and tap Screen Time. Choose the settings that you want for each feature or setting under Allowed Store Content.

Prevent web content iOS and iPadOS can automatically filter website content to limit access to adult content in Safari and other apps on your device. Follow these steps: Go to Settings and tap Screen Time.

Tap Content Restrictions, then tap Web Content. Scroll down to Siri, then choose your settings. Scroll down to Game Center, then choose your settings.

Allow changes to privacy settings The privacy settings on your device give you control over which apps have access to information stored on your device or the hardware features.

To allow changes to privacy settings: Go to Settings and tap Screen Time. Tap Privacy, then choose the settings that you want to restrict. Allow changes to other settings and features You can allow changes to other settings and features, the same way you can allow changes to privacy settings.

Go to Settings and tap Screen Time. Under Allow Changes, select the features or settings that you want to allow changes to and choose Allow or Don't Allow.