Phone Block

When you reach for your phone without deciding to, willpower is the wrong tool. A block works better. Beyond Alarm's Phone Block shuts the apps you pick (or, on Android, the whole phone) for a length you choose. You decide how hard it is to leave early, right down to Strict mode, which has no stop button and is free with one short ad.

What it does

Phone Block has its own tab in Beyond Alarm. Each block comes down to three choices:

• What to block. On Android: the whole phone, a saved block list, or apps you pick for this block only. On iPhone: a saved list or apps and categories you pick through Apple's Screen Time.
• How long. Quick choices from 15 minutes to 2 hours, or Custom for anything from 5 minutes to 8 hours.
• How strict. Regular mode lets you leave early after a short ad and a five-second hold. Strict mode has no stop button until the timer ends.

Nothing is pre-selected for strictness. You choose, so nobody ends up in a stricter block than they meant to start.

How it works

1. You start a block. Tap Block now, or tap one of your lists under Quick start to open the setup with that list already chosen.
2. Phone Block turns into the status page. It shows the countdown, the time it unblocks and every blocked app.
3. Blocked apps bounce. On Android, opening a blocked app brings up a card with the app's name and the time left, and sends you back to the home screen. On iPhone, Screen Time shields the app.
4. You can make it stricter, never weaker. Add Time adds 5, 15, 30 or 60 minutes. More Apps adds apps. On Android, Lock the Whole Phone widens the block to every app and keeps its strictness.
5. Leaving early depends on the level you chose. A Regular mode block has a Leave early button. You can end it, or, on an app block, unblock the apps for 5 to 10 minutes and let the block resume. Either way it costs a short ad and a five-second hold. A Strict mode block has no such button.
6. The timer ends it. Your apps come back on their own.

Calls always come through, and an alarm that's due during a block still rings.

Block lists

Save a set of apps once and block them with one tap after that. On Android, Beyond Alarm starts you with Social, Video, Games and Shopping lists, filled with whichever of those apps you have installed. Add your own with New under Block lists. Every saved list shows up as a tile under Quick start.

While a block runs, Focus home lets you view and edit your lists without ending the block.

Beyond Alarm

Beyond Alarm does this part for you: the alarm will not switch off until you have actually moved, and the apps you pick stay locked afterwards.

When to use it

• Study sessions and deep work: pick a length that matches your session.
• The scroll hours: the evening stretch where an hour disappears into short videos.
• Mornings: for a block that starts automatically when your alarm ends, use Morning Lockout instead.
• Time with people: dinner, a film, a walk. Lock the whole phone on Android and still take calls.

Set it up

1. Open the Phone Block tab and tap Block now.
2. Choose a length, or tap Custom.
3. Under What to block, choose Whole phone (Android), a saved list, or Pick apps. On iPhone, Pick apps opens Apple's Screen Time picker and asks for Screen Time access the first time.
4. Under How strict, choose Regular mode or Strict mode.
5. Tap Block for …. On Android, the first time, the app walks you through switching on its guard in Accessibility settings. That's what enforces the block.
6. If you chose Strict mode on the free plan, watch one short ad and the block starts.

Related

• Free Strict mode
• Whole-phone block on Android
• Daily Phone Block reminder
• Morning Lockout
• How to block apps while studying on Android
• The best app blockers for iPhone