I feel that iOS should offer the option to block certain apps upon request, and for a requested amount of time. That is, I want to be able to make my smartphone a little dumber for an amount of time of my choosing (to combat addiction).
iPhone SE, iOS 18
That would be the role of Screen Time restrictions.
You can easily do that with focus settings and schedules or scheduled downtime in screen time.
Thanks for that tip. However, from what I can see and what I find online, this feature does not allow me to do what I want to do.
Let me give a simple example:
Arriving at work (let’s say), I want to be able to block the use of (let’s say) Instagram for (let’s say) 4 hours. In the sense that it would be impossible for me to open that app during the that period.
How would I do that via your suggested approach?
The only way you're going to accomplish that in a way that completely prevents you from accessing it would be to have someone else set up the restrictions and not tell you what the passcode is.
Or leave the phone in your car instead of taking it into work with you. Or just leave it at home.
As long as you control the device, you can not prevent yourself from doing things. You can deter yourself, but that's it. This is a matter of self discipline, not a technology problem.
Well, I disagree. The technology I ask for seems pretty straightforward, and I think there would be a huge demand for it. I furthermore think Apple should provide that technology as a part of its CSR-policy…
OK. You disagree. Good for you. Since you're apparently the expert, you don't need our input.
Good luck.
Can I make iPhone dumber for a couple of hours?
