How to lock apps
at night on iPhone
and Android

To block or lock apps at night on an iPhone, use Screen Time: schedule a nightly window (Screen Time Schedule in iOS 27, Downtime in earlier versions), choose which apps stay allowed, and lock the settings with a Screen Time passcode. On Android, open Digital Wellbeing and put Focus mode on a schedule, which pauses the apps you pick until it ends; Bedtime mode only quiets the phone. Both take a few minutes to set up, and both are easy to undo at midnight, which is what the second half of this guide is about.

One distinction makes the rest easier to follow. Some settings silence apps: notifications stop, but the apps still open when you tap them. Others block apps, so they won't open until the block ends. If you set up a sleep mode and still scrolled at midnight, nothing was broken. It was never built to stop you.

This guide is about your own phone. If you want to lock a child's phone at night, use Screen Time through Family Sharing on iPhone or Google Family Link on Android; there's a short answer in the questions at the end.

Block apps at certain times on iPhone

In iOS 27, Apple rebuilt Screen Time: the nightly schedule now sits under Screen Time Schedule, and Time Allowances take the place of App Limits. If your iPhone still shows Downtime and App Limits, follow the second set of steps instead.

On iOS 27: set a Screen Time Schedule

A schedule decides which apps you can use at different times of the day. From Apple's iOS 27 guide:

1. Open the schedule. Go to Settings, tap Screen Time, then Screen Time Schedule. If asked, turn on App & Website Activity first.
2. Turn it on. Turn on Schedule, tap Add Schedule, and choose the days it covers.
3. Set up your night window. Tap a time window, rename it to something like Night, and set when it starts and stops.
4. Leave the tempting categories out. Each window shows which Time Allowance categories, such as Entertainment, Games and Social Media, are available during it. For the night window, leave out the ones that keep you up.

To cap those categories during the day too, use Settings, Screen Time, Time Allowances, and turn on Match Screen Time Schedule so the allowances follow your windows. One catch: Apple says the new schedules and allowances need iOS 27, or the matching version, on all your Apple devices.

On iOS 26 and earlier: Downtime and Block at Downtime

Looking for iPhone Downtime? These steps come from Apple's iOS 26 guide:

1. Turn on Screen Time. Go to Settings, tap Screen Time, then App & Website Activity, and turn it on.
2. Schedule Downtime. Tap Downtime, turn on Scheduled, choose Every Day or Customize Days, and set the start and end times.
3. Make it a real block. Set a Screen Time passcode (see below), then turn on Block at Downtime.

That last step matters. With Block at Downtime on, restricted apps can't be opened; they appear dimmed with an hourglass icon. With it off, you see a reminder that it's downtime but can keep using the apps. App Limits (Screen Time, App Limits, Add Limit) are similar: Apple notes that by default, limits can be ignored once they're reached.

Choose what stays allowed

On either version, Settings, Screen Time, Always Allowed is where you pick the apps and people that stay available at any hour. Apple's own example is family members or the Health app, for emergencies.

Lock it with a Screen Time passcode

Without a passcode, anyone holding the phone can switch all of this off, including you at 11:40 p.m. On iOS 27, go to Settings, Screen Time, Manage Screen Time, Lock Screen Time Settings, and enter a four-digit code (Apple's passcode guide). On iOS 26, Lock Screen Time Settings is further down the main Screen Time page.

The trick that makes it work: let someone you trust type the code, and don't watch. Screen Time Passcode Recovery lets the code be reset with the Apple Account entered when it was set up, and Apple notes that this may be a different account from the one on your phone. If the point is that you can't undo the lock yourself, decide together whose account that is.

Sleep Focus vs Downtime

These two get mixed up all the time, and the difference is the whole point. Sleep Focus filters notifications and calls: the phone goes quiet, but an app still opens when you tap it, and Sleep Focus turns off from Control Center in two taps. Downtime with Block at Downtime on stops restricted apps from opening at all, and in iOS 27 a Screen Time Schedule decides which apps you can use in each window. Use Sleep Focus for quiet and Screen Time for the block. They work well together.

To set up Sleep Focus, open the Health app, tap Browse, then Sleep, and set your bedtime, wake-up time and alarm. You can add a wind-down period from 15 minutes to 3 hours before bed, and Sleep Focus begins when wind-down starts (Apple's sleep guide). Under Settings, Focus, Sleep, you can choose who can reach you and switch to a calmer Home Screen page.

Block apps at certain times on Android

Android's tools live in Digital Wellbeing, and Google's help page notes that some steps vary by device. Samsung's names follow.

Focus mode on a schedule: the actual block

1. Open Focus mode. Go to Settings, Digital Wellbeing, Focus mode.
2. Pick the apps to pause. While Focus mode is on, you can't use them and won't get their notifications.
3. Put it on a schedule. Tap Set a schedule so it turns on by itself each night.

App timers and the App limits PIN

App timers cap an app by the day, not the clock: Settings, Digital Wellbeing, App timers, then Set timer. When time runs out, the app closes and its icon dims until timers reset at midnight. Some phones also offer an App limits PIN (Digital Wellbeing, App limits, App limits PIN), so only someone with the PIN can change your limits.

On Samsung Galaxy phones

Samsung moved bedtime settings to Settings, Modes and Routines, Sleep (formerly Bedtime mode), where you set a sleep schedule and turn on Do not disturb under Stay focused (Samsung's guide). For an actual block, Samsung's custom modes can turn on automatically and include Restrict app usage under Stay focused.

Does Android Bedtime mode block apps?

No. Bedtime mode quiets the phone: on a schedule or while it charges, it can turn on Do Not Disturb, switch the screen to grayscale, keep the always-on display dark and dim the wallpaper. It doesn't pause apps. The Digital Wellbeing tool that does is Focus mode, which keeps the apps you pick closed while it runs, with a Take a break button to unpause them for a while. To set up Bedtime mode, go to Settings, Digital Wellbeing, Bedtime mode, Bedtime routine; on newer Android versions it may sit under Settings, Modes, Bedtime. Run the two together: Bedtime mode for quiet, Focus mode for the block.

The honest part: why built-in app blocks are easy to override

Everything above works on the night you set it up, at 9 p.m., feeling motivated. The trouble is the version of you at 11:40, holding the phone, slightly too awake. Built-in tools are designed to be reversible by the phone's owner, which is fair for a setting, and exactly why they give way at night.

• Limits are reminders by default. Apple says Screen Time limits can be ignored once reached, and without Block at Downtime, downtime is a screen you tap past.
• Quiet modes switch off in seconds. Sleep Focus turns off from Control Center or the Lock Screen; Bedtime mode, and on some phones Focus mode, sit in Quick Settings.
• The off switch is built in. Android's Focus mode has Take a break and Turn off now, and Google explains how to delete an app timer to use the app before midnight.
• You know your own passcode. A code you chose is a code you can type at midnight, and if recovery uses your own Apple Account, you can reset it.

None of this makes the tools useless. A pause before an app opens is sometimes enough. But if your blocks only hold on the nights you didn't need them, the fix is rarely a stricter setting. It's moving the off switch out of reach.

How to lock your phone at night so it stays locked

Let someone else hold the code

On iPhone, ask a partner, housemate or friend to set your Screen Time passcode. On Android phones with an App limits PIN, the same idea works: Google advises not sharing the PIN once it's set, which here simply means the other person keeps it. Choose someone easy to reach by day and hard to persuade at night.

Put distance between you and the phone

A phone charging in another room can't be scrolled from your pillow, whatever its settings say, and a simple alarm clock replaces it as your alarm. We cover why distance beats willpower in how to stop using your phone before bed. Sleep specialists point the same way: the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the CDC both suggest turning off electronic devices at least 30 minutes before bedtime.

Lock yourself out with a lock box

If you want to lock yourself out of your phone at night, not just some apps, a timed lock box is the bluntest option: the phone goes in, the lid locks, and it stays shut until the timer ends. It works because there's no setting to change. The tradeoff is real, though: you can't answer a call from inside a box, so keep another way to be reached and a separate alarm. It suits the evenings you know will be hard better than every night.

When a dedicated blocker helps

Built-in tools are good at setting a block and weak at keeping one. A dedicated blocker earns its place when the setup isn't your problem and the override is. Look for three things: it turns on by itself, it leaves calls, messages and your alarm alone, and its way out is deliberate rather than one tap away. The questions we use to choose a screen time tool help here too.

Common questions

Why does Screen Time not block apps?

Usually because it's set to remind rather than block. On iOS 26 and earlier, downtime and App Limits can be ignored until you set a Screen Time passcode and turn on Block at Downtime. Also check that App & Website Activity is on and the app isn't in Always Allowed. On iOS 27, the new schedules need version 27 software on all your Apple devices.

Can I block apps at night without a passcode?

Yes, but the block will be soft: without a passcode, whoever holds the phone can change the settings, and on Android, Focus mode has Take a break built in. If you'd rather not use a code, physical distance or a timed lock box gives you a lock no setting can undo.

What happened to Downtime in iOS 27?

iOS 27 organizes Screen Time around Screen Time Schedules, which set when apps are available, and Time Allowances, which set how long. To block apps at night, make a night window that leaves out the categories you want blocked. If you still see Downtime, use the iOS 26 steps above.

How do I lock my child's phone at night?

On iPhone, set up Screen Time through Family Sharing (Settings, Family, your child's name, Screen Time), and Apple says the parent sets the child's passcode on their own device. On Android, Google Family Link has a Downtime schedule under Screen time, Schedules, and calls stay available during it.

Lock your apps tonight: a five-step setup

1. Pick your block time. Start it a little before you want to be asleep, not when you get into bed.
2. Schedule the block. A Screen Time Schedule or Downtime on iPhone, Focus mode on Android.
3. Choose what stays open. The people who might need you, and anything you'd want in an emergency.
4. Hand over the code. Let someone you trust set the passcode or PIN.
5. Charge it somewhere else. The block is the backup. Distance is the plan.

Then give it a week. The first night proves the settings work; the fifth, when you're tired and the phone is across the room, shows whether the setup does. If the evening itself needs reshaping, our guide to building a night routine that actually sticks is a good next read.