[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":609},["ShallowReactive",2],{"guides":3},[4,209,429],{"id":5,"title":6,"body":7,"description":196,"extension":197,"eyebrow":198,"heading":199,"meta":200,"navigation":201,"order":202,"path":203,"seo":204,"stem":205,"summary":206,"updatedAt":207,"__hash__":208},"guides\u002Fguides\u002Fapple-screen-time-limits.md","The Apple limits every Screen Time app lives with",{"type":8,"value":9,"toc":182},"minimark",[10,14,17,20,25,33,36,39,43,50,53,57,64,67,71,82,85,89,96,99,103,106,114,118,121,125,132,135,139,142,149,153,156,163],[11,12,13],"p",{},"Every app blocker on the App Store is built on the same Apple frameworks — Screen Time, Family\nControls and Device Activity. That is what makes the blocking real: iOS does the shielding, so it\nholds when the app that set it is closed.",[11,15,16],{},"It also means every one of these apps inherits the same constraints. They are not bugs, and no\namount of engineering removes them. An app can only be honest about them or quiet about them.",[11,18,19],{},"Here is the full list, and what each one actually costs you.",[21,22,24],"h2",{"id":23},"an-app-never-learns-which-apps-you-blocked","An app never learns which apps you blocked",[11,26,27,28,32],{},"When you choose apps in the Screen Time picker, iOS does not hand the app a list of names. It hands\nback an ",[29,30,31],"strong",{},"opaque token"," — a sealed reference that can be passed back to iOS to say \"shield this\",\nand cannot be opened to read what it points at.",[11,34,35],{},"So a block shows a count and Apple-rendered icons rather than a list of names. It reads as a\nmissing feature, and it is the strongest privacy guarantee in the entire category: an app built\nthis way genuinely cannot know which apps you struggle with, because the system never says.",[11,37,38],{},"The same design is why no app can offer to search your apps by name, or tell you which app a shield\nbelongs to when one appears.",[21,40,42],{"id":41},"nothing-syncs-between-devices","Nothing syncs between devices",[11,44,45,46,49],{},"Those tokens are ",[29,47,48],{},"issued per device",". A token minted on one device is meaningless on another —\nit refers to nothing there.",[11,51,52],{},"This is worth being precise about, because it is stronger than \"this app has no sync feature\". Even\nif an app added a full sync backend tomorrow, it could not carry your app selections across. You\nwould still choose your apps again on the second device.",[21,54,56],{"id":55},"an-app-may-only-hold-20-active-monitors","An app may only hold 20 active monitors",[11,58,59,60,63],{},"iOS caps how many Device Activity monitors a single app can register at once, and that ceiling is\n",[29,61,62],{},"20",". It is not a pricing decision anybody made; it is the number the system enforces.",[11,65,66],{},"The practical consequence is worth watching for when you compare apps. An app advertising\n\"unlimited\" blocks is either counting something other than concurrent monitors, or letting the\ntwenty-first fail to arm. A block that does not enforce is worse than no block, because you plan\nyour day around it.",[21,68,70],{"id":69},"location-blocking-needs-always-and-ios-asks-twice","Location blocking needs \"Always\", and iOS asks twice",[11,72,73,74,77,78,81],{},"A block that switches on when you arrive somewhere has to run while your phone is in your pocket\nand the app is closed. iOS only wakes an app for a geofence crossing if it holds ",[29,75,76],{},"\"Always\"","\nlocation with ",[29,79,80],{},"precise"," accuracy. With \"While Using\", the block only changes state while the app\nis open on screen — which is exactly when you do not need it.",[11,83,84],{},"iOS also will not offer \"Always\" up front, deliberately. The first prompt offers only \"While\nUsing\". The next time you actually arrive at one of your places, iOS asks whether to upgrade, and\nthat second prompt is the one that matters. It is a privacy protection, and it means a location\nblock can look broken for a day before it starts working.",[21,86,88],{"id":87},"_64-scheduled-notifications-across-everything","64 scheduled notifications, across everything",[11,90,91,92,95],{},"An app may have only ",[29,93,94],{},"64 notifications scheduled at a time",". A handful of daily routines with\nseveral reminder times each reaches that ceiling faster than you would guess.",[11,97,98],{},"What happens at the limit is up to the app. iOS itself simply drops whatever does not fit. An app\nthat budgets its slots can protect the notifications that matter — a routine starting, or a warning\nthat a block has stopped enforcing — and trim repeat nudges first.",[21,100,102],{"id":101},"screen-time-access-can-be-switched-off-at-any-time","Screen Time access can be switched off at any time",[11,104,105],{},"It is a permission like any other, and revoking it stops all blocking instantly and completely.\nWithout it there is nothing to enforce any rule.",[11,107,108,109,113],{},"The failure mode to care about is not the stopping — it is ",[110,111,112],"em",{},"not being told",". Believing you are\nprotected when you are not is worse than knowing you are not, because you stop watching for it.",[21,115,117],{"id":116},"some-devices-cannot-grant-it-at-all","Some devices cannot grant it at all",[11,119,120],{},"A device managed by an employer or a school, some child accounts under Family Sharing, and devices\nwhere Screen Time has been restricted cannot grant the permission. Where the device is managed, the\nrestriction belongs to whoever manages it, and no app can request around it.",[21,122,124],{"id":123},"the-usage-report-is-sealed","The usage report is sealed",[11,126,127,128,131],{},"Your Screen Time usage report is drawn by ",[29,129,130],{},"Apple",", inside a separate view that an app can place on\nscreen but cannot read, copy, screenshot programmatically, or export.",[11,133,134],{},"That is a good design — it lets an app show you your own usage without ever being able to send it\nanywhere. The trade-offs are real though: a few seconds of loading while that separate view starts,\nand no way for the app to fold those numbers into anything else it calculates.",[21,136,138],{"id":137},"any-app-can-be-deleted","Any app can be deleted",[11,140,141],{},"No app on iPhone can prevent its own deletion, and deleting an app removes its blocks with it. Any\nproduct implying otherwise is overpromising.",[11,143,144,145,148],{},"This is the one that changes what these apps are ",[110,146,147],{},"for",". They are tools for someone who wants to\nspend less time on their phone — not locks to be imposed on someone who does not. If you want\nrestrictions that survive a determined moment, Apple's own Screen Time passcode is the right tool,\nand it works alongside a blocking app rather than instead of one.",[21,150,152],{"id":151},"why-motiv-publishes-this","Why Motiv publishes this",[11,154,155],{},"Every app in this category lives with the list above. We would rather you meet it here, calmly,\nthan discover it one item at a time and conclude the app is broken.",[11,157,158,159,162],{},"It also sets a fair test for comparing any of them, Motiv included: ",[29,160,161],{},"an app cannot be judged on\nwhether it has these limits, only on whether it tells you about them and handles them well."," A\n20-block cap shown honestly and a \"unlimited\" claim that silently fails are the same underlying\nconstraint, handled two different ways.",[11,164,165,166,171,172,176,177,181],{},"Motiv's ",[167,168,170],"a",{"href":169},"\u002Ffaq","FAQ"," answers these one at a time, and ",[167,173,175],{"href":174},"\u002Fhow-it-works","how Motiv works"," covers what it\ndoes inside them. If you want the mechanism rather than the constraints, ",[167,178,180],{"href":179},"\u002Fguides\u002Fhow-app-blocking-works-on-iphone","how app blocking actually\nworks on iPhone"," starts one step further back.",{"title":183,"searchDepth":184,"depth":184,"links":185},"",2,[186,187,188,189,190,191,192,193,194,195],{"id":23,"depth":184,"text":24},{"id":41,"depth":184,"text":42},{"id":55,"depth":184,"text":56},{"id":69,"depth":184,"text":70},{"id":87,"depth":184,"text":88},{"id":101,"depth":184,"text":102},{"id":116,"depth":184,"text":117},{"id":123,"depth":184,"text":124},{"id":137,"depth":184,"text":138},{"id":151,"depth":184,"text":152},"Opaque app tokens, no cross-device sync, a 20-monitor cap and a two-step location prompt. The iOS rules that shape every app blocker on the App Store.","md","Guide","What Apple's Screen Time will and won't let an app do",{},true,"1","\u002Fguides\u002Fapple-screen-time-limits",{"title":6,"description":196},"guides\u002Fapple-screen-time-limits","Most of what surprises people about an app blocker on iPhone is imposed by iOS, not chosen by the app. Here is the whole list, and what each one means in practice.","2026-08-13","RDdjeoNHqgC4nKnJt41Z2FHb--8VcSNm8TnxW3tFz3I",{"id":210,"title":211,"body":212,"description":422,"extension":197,"eyebrow":198,"heading":211,"meta":423,"navigation":201,"order":424,"path":179,"seo":425,"stem":426,"summary":427,"updatedAt":207,"__hash__":428},"guides\u002Fguides\u002Fhow-app-blocking-works-on-iphone.md","How app blocking actually works on iPhone",{"type":8,"value":213,"toc":414},[214,217,224,235,238,242,245,248,252,259,287,294,297,301,304,307,314,318,321,332,335,339,342,362,370,374,377,403],[11,215,216],{},"There are two very different things sold as \"app blocking\" on iPhone, and they behave nothing alike\nat the moment you actually need them.",[11,218,219,220,223],{},"The first is a ",[29,221,222],{},"reminder",". The app watches what you are doing and nudges you — a banner, a\ncountdown, a screen you can swipe past. It works while you are cooperating and does nothing when you\nare not, because the app doing the watching has no authority over anything.",[11,225,226,227,230,231,234],{},"The second is a ",[29,228,229],{},"shield",". The app hands your rules to iOS, and ",[110,232,233],{},"iOS"," covers the app. Nothing to\nswipe past, because the app you are trying to open does not open.",[11,236,237],{},"Only the second survives the moment it is built for. Everything below is about how that one works.",[21,239,241],{"id":240},"why-a-real-block-holds-with-the-app-closed","Why a real block holds with the app closed",[11,243,244],{},"Once a shield is on, iOS is enforcing it, not the app that set it. You can close that app, swipe it\nout of the app switcher, or leave it untouched for a week — the block holds, because nothing about\nthe enforcement depends on it running.",[11,246,247],{},"This is also the fastest way to test a blocker before you trust it. Set a block, force-quit the app\nthat set it, then try to open something you blocked. If the shield is still there, the enforcement\nis real. If it is not, you bought a reminder.",[21,249,251],{"id":250},"the-four-ways-to-start-one","The four ways to start one",[11,253,254,255,258],{},"Underneath, every block is a rule about ",[110,256,257],{},"when",". There are four shapes, and the useful ones are the\ntriggers you never have to remember to fire:",[260,261,262,269,275,281],"ul",{},[263,264,265,268],"li",{},[29,266,267],{},"Schedule"," — a recurring weekly window. Weekday mornings, or every evening after nine.",[263,270,271,274],{},[29,272,273],{},"Location"," — on arriving at, or leaving, a saved place. The office, or the gym.",[263,276,277,280],{},[29,278,279],{},"Usage limit"," — once you pass a daily time cap you set for that app.",[263,282,283,286],{},[29,284,285],{},"Instant"," — right now, for as long as you choose.",[11,288,289,290,293],{},"They combine, and that is where they stop feeling like a blunt instrument: a block that requires\nboth a schedule ",[110,291,292],{},"and"," a place only holds at the office on a weekday morning, and leaves the same\napps alone on a Sunday.",[11,295,296],{},"You can shield individual apps, whole categories, and websites.",[21,298,300],{"id":299},"what-happens-after-a-restart-or-an-ios-update","What happens after a restart or an iOS update",[11,302,303],{},"This is the failure nobody warns you about, and the one that quietly costs you months.",[11,305,306],{},"Restarts, iOS updates and permission resets can all clear the registrations an app holds with the\nsystem. The rule still exists in the app's own database, so the interface still shows a block — but\nnothing is registered with iOS any more, and nothing is being enforced.",[11,308,309,310,313],{},"The fix is for the app to check its own state against what iOS ",[110,311,312],{},"actually"," holds and repair the\ngaps, rather than assuming that what it registered once is still there. That is what Motiv does. It\nis worth asking of anything you are comparing, because the symptom is invisible: a block that\nsilently stopped meaning anything still looks exactly like a block.",[21,315,317],{"id":316},"getting-past-your-own-block-on-purpose","Getting past your own block, on purpose",[11,319,320],{},"A block you genuinely cannot escape becomes a block you delete in frustration at the worst possible\nmoment — and deleting the app takes every other block with it.",[11,322,323,324,327,328,331],{},"The design that survives contact with a real bad day makes escaping ",[29,325,326],{},"deliberate"," rather than\nimpossible. In Motiv, hitting a shielded app lets you through only after clearing friction you chose\nin advance: waiting out a countdown, writing down why you need it, typing an exact phrase, or\nentering a code from your authenticator app. Bypasses are capped per day, and the whole thing can be\nswitched off with a ",[29,329,330],{},"never bypass"," option.",[11,333,334],{},"The friction is doing something specific. You choose the rules while calm, and the distracted\nversion of you meets them later. That gap is the entire mechanism.",[21,336,338],{"id":337},"when-blocking-stops-what-to-check","When blocking stops: what to check",[11,340,341],{},"Almost always a permission, and a well-behaved app will have warned you already. In this order:",[343,344,345,351,356],"ol",{},[263,346,347,350],{},[29,348,349],{},"Screen Time access"," — iOS Settings → Screen Time. If it is off, nothing can be shielded at\nall.",[263,352,353,355],{},[29,354,273],{}," — a location block needs \"Always\" with precise accuracy to switch while the app is\nclosed. iOS grants this in two steps, and the second prompt only appears when you next arrive\nsomewhere, so this one is easy to have half-finished.",[263,357,358,361],{},[29,359,360],{},"Notifications"," — if these are off, you never received the warning that something stopped\nenforcing, which is why you are reading this instead of a push notification.",[11,363,364,365,369],{},"If all three look right, it is worth ",[167,366,368],{"href":367},"\u002Fsupport","asking for help"," rather than rebuilding your setup.",[21,371,373],{"id":372},"what-to-ask-of-any-blocker","What to ask of any blocker",[11,375,376],{},"Four questions, and they are all answerable in about five minutes with the app installed:",[260,378,379,385,391,397],{},[263,380,381,384],{},[29,382,383],{},"Does the shield hold with the app force-quit?"," If not, it is a reminder.",[263,386,387,390],{},[29,388,389],{},"What happens after a restart?"," Ask whether it re-checks its registrations, or assumes.",[263,392,393,396],{},[29,394,395],{},"What does it do when a permission is revoked?"," Silence is the wrong answer.",[263,398,399,402],{},[29,400,401],{},"How do I get past it on a genuinely bad day?"," \"You can't\" means you will delete it.",[11,404,405,406,409,410,413],{},"Motiv's answers are on ",[167,407,408],{"href":174},"how it works",", and the constraints every app in this category\nshares are in ",[167,411,412],{"href":203},"the Apple limits guide",".",{"title":183,"searchDepth":184,"depth":184,"links":415},[416,417,418,419,420,421],{"id":240,"depth":184,"text":241},{"id":250,"depth":184,"text":251},{"id":299,"depth":184,"text":300},{"id":316,"depth":184,"text":317},{"id":337,"depth":184,"text":338},{"id":372,"depth":184,"text":373},"Why a real block keeps holding with the app closed, the four ways to trigger one, what happens after a restart, and what to check when blocking stops.",{},"2",{"title":211,"description":422},"guides\u002Fhow-app-blocking-works-on-iphone","The difference between a blocker that holds and one that nags is which process is doing the enforcing. Here is what is happening underneath, and how to tell the two apart.","CcNGaf71-TQfa9pd3forTFHC7ykdkm1JqusVZg4JyAA",{"id":430,"title":431,"body":432,"description":601,"extension":197,"eyebrow":198,"heading":431,"meta":602,"navigation":201,"order":603,"path":604,"seo":605,"stem":606,"summary":607,"updatedAt":207,"__hash__":608},"guides\u002Fguides\u002Ffocus-app-privacy.md","What a focus app can see about you",{"type":8,"value":433,"toc":594},[434,437,440,447,451,454,461,464,468,471,502,506,509,512,519,527,531,534,544,550,553,557,560,586],[11,435,436],{},"A focus app asks for a strange amount of trust. To do its job it wants to know which apps you can't\nleave alone, when you reach for your phone, and — if you use location rules — where you are all day.",[11,438,439],{},"Almost no other category asks for that combination. It is worth knowing what is actually being\nhanded over, and the useful distinction is not between apps that promise more or less. It is between\na promise and a structure.",[11,441,442,443,446],{},"A promise is a sentence in a policy: ",[110,444,445],{},"we don't sell your data",". It can be true today and untrue after\nan acquisition, and you cannot check it. A structure is an arrangement where the data was never\ncollected, so there is nothing to sell, leak, subpoena or change your mind about. Only the second\nsurvives the company.",[21,448,450],{"id":449},"what-ios-refuses-to-tell-any-app","What iOS refuses to tell any app",[11,452,453],{},"The most important privacy guarantee in this category is not offered by the apps at all — it is\nimposed on them.",[11,455,456,457,460],{},"When you choose apps to block, iOS hands the app an opaque token rather than a name. The app can\npass it back to say \"shield this\" and cannot open it to read what it points at. ",[29,458,459],{},"No app built on\nScreen Time knows which apps you selected",", whatever its policy says, because the system never\ntells it.",[11,462,463],{},"That is worth holding onto, because it means one of your most revealing pieces of information — the\napps you personally cannot put down — is protected by the operating system rather than by anybody's\ngood intentions. It is also why no such app can list your blocked apps by name, and why a product\nclaiming to is doing something other than what it appears to.",[21,465,467],{"id":466},"the-questions-worth-asking-instead","The questions worth asking instead",[11,469,470],{},"Since app selections are safe by construction, the meaningful questions are about everything else:",[260,472,473,479,485,491,497],{},[263,474,475,478],{},[29,476,477],{},"Is there an account?"," An account implies a server, and a server implies a copy of your data\nsomewhere you cannot see. No account is a stronger statement than any policy sentence.",[263,480,481,484],{},[29,482,483],{},"Where are saved places stored?"," Location rules mean street addresses. Coordinates are among the\nmost sensitive data on a phone.",[263,486,487,490],{},[29,488,489],{},"What is in an analytics event?"," \"Anonymous analytics\" is not one thing. Event names and counts\nare very different from task titles and place names.",[263,492,493,496],{},[29,494,495],{},"Is analytics on by default?"," Under UK and EU rules, non-essential analytics need affirmative\nopt-in. An app that starts with it on has made a decision about you.",[263,498,499],{},[29,500,501],{},"Can you delete everything, and does it actually go?",[21,503,505],{"id":504},"motivs-answers","Motiv's answers",[11,507,508],{},"There is no account and no Motiv backend, so your routines, tasks, blocks, saved places and Focus\nScore have nowhere to be sent. They are on your device.",[11,510,511],{},"Two things do involve Apple, on Apple's own terms: an App Store purchase, and Apple Maps if you\nsearch for a place to use in a location rule.",[11,513,514,515,518],{},"Analytics and crash reporting are separate choices, both ",[29,516,517],{},"off"," until you deliberately switch them\non, in onboarding or in Settings. When on, what is sent is deliberately narrow — event types,\ncounts, durations, app version, device model. Never task titles, notes, place names, coordinates, or\nwhich apps you blocked. Either can be withdrawn at any time, which stops the provider immediately and\nclears anything queued on the device. Motiv also keeps a local record of the choices you have made,\nso you can see exactly what you agreed to and when.",[11,520,521,522,526],{},"The ",[167,523,525],{"href":524},"\u002Fprivacy","Privacy Policy"," sets out every category in detail.",[21,528,530],{"id":529},"the-trade-off-stated-plainly","The trade-off, stated plainly",[11,532,533],{},"Local-first has a real cost, and an app that only tells you the upside is selling you something.",[11,535,536,539,540,543],{},[29,537,538],{},"There is no backup."," No account means no cloud copy, which means if you delete Motiv or move to a\nnew phone, your setup is something to rebuild rather than restore. Worth knowing ",[110,541,542],{},"before"," you delete\nthe app to test something.",[11,545,546,549],{},[29,547,548],{},"Nothing syncs."," Every device is a separate setup. For app selections this is not even a choice —\nthose opaque tokens are issued per device, so a token from your old phone means nothing on the new\none, and no sync feature could carry them.",[11,551,552],{},"That is the honest trade for a product with nothing to breach. We would rather you weigh it than be\nsurprised by it.",[21,554,556],{"id":555},"checking-any-apps-answer-yourself","Checking any app's answer yourself",[11,558,559],{},"You do not have to take anyone's word for it, including ours:",[260,561,562,568,574,580],{},[263,563,564,567],{},[29,565,566],{},"Read the App Store privacy label"," before installing — it is the developer's own declaration, and\n\"Data Not Collected\" is a specific claim they are accountable for.",[263,569,570,573],{},[29,571,572],{},"Look for the opt-in."," Find the analytics toggle and see what state it starts in.",[263,575,576,579],{},[29,577,578],{},"Look for the deletion path."," A real one clears everything and says what it cleared.",[263,581,582,585],{},[29,583,584],{},"Ask what happens to your data if the company is acquired."," Where there is no server, the answer\nis \"nothing\", and that is the whole point of the arrangement.",[11,587,588,589,591,592,413],{},"More on what Motiv does with what it holds is in ",[167,590,175],{"href":174},", and the\nsystem-level constraints behind all of this are in\n",[167,593,412],{"href":203},{"title":183,"searchDepth":184,"depth":184,"links":595},[596,597,598,599,600],{"id":449,"depth":184,"text":450},{"id":466,"depth":184,"text":467},{"id":504,"depth":184,"text":505},{"id":529,"depth":184,"text":530},{"id":555,"depth":184,"text":556},"An app blocker watches when you reach for your phone and where you are. What that means, what leaves the device, and how to check any app's answer for yourself.",{},"3","\u002Fguides\u002Ffocus-app-privacy",{"title":431,"description":601},"guides\u002Ffocus-app-privacy","This category asks for more sensitive permissions than almost any other. Here is what is actually being asked for, and how to tell a structural privacy guarantee from a promise.","TROMcEn2O_KRqNPjmEFRbyWj98bf8huFmjTIKvxl8dQ",1787603526460]