Games · iPhone
How to block games on iPhone
Mobile games are built by people whose job title is retention. The loop is designed to be hard to leave and it is very good at its job.
Three ways, honestly compared
You’ve probably tried the first two already.
Uninstalling loses your progress, so you do not. Instead you promise yourself one round.
Screen Time
Free, already on your phone
- How
- Settings › Screen Time › App Limits › add games › set a limit.
- How long it holds
- Until the limit appears and offers you “Ignore Limit”. You chose the passcode, so you know the passcode.
Fine until you really want back in.
Delete games
Free, and immediate
- How
- Hold the icon, remove the app, sign out on the web too.
- How long it holds
- About four days, for most people. Reinstalling takes seconds, and your account is exactly where you left it.
You have to decide again every morning.
Warden
Free to try
- How
- Pick games, set the hours, choose one person to hold the key.
- How long it holds
- Until your rules say otherwise, or until the person you chose agrees to let you out early.
The only one that still holds at eleven at night.
Four steps, once
Blocking games with Warden
Setup takes about two minutes. The last step is the one that matters. After it, you can’t unlock early on your own.
- 1
Give Warden Screen Time access
iOS asks once. Warden uses Apple’s Screen Time framework to put the shield up, and can’t block anything without it.
- 2
Choose games
Pick games from the system app picker. iOS hands Warden an opaque token, so the app never learns which apps you chose.
- 3
Set the hours or the daily limit
Give games a schedule, a daily allowance, or both.
- 4
Choose your Keyholder
Send one person a link. Once they accept, getting out early is their call.
A routine that works
After the work is done
Every day · until 8pm
Games open in the evening and not before it.
- What your Keyholder sees
- Your streak. Nothing else.
- What Warden sees
- Not that it was games. iOS never says.
- If nobody answers
- It stays blocked.
- In an emergency
- Override works instantly, offline, no approval.
Common questions
Blocking games, answered
Can I block every game at once?
Yes. iOS exposes whole categories as well as individual apps, so Games can be shielded as one thing, including games you install later.
Does a category get its own time limit?
It shares one. A category is a set iOS will not list for you, so everything inside it draws on a single pooled allowance. Individual apps can each have their own minutes.
What if a game is how I wind down?
Then give it a window rather than a ban. A boundary you can live with is the only kind that lasts.
Blocking something else
