How to Block Apps During School Hours on iPhone (2026)

To block apps during school hours on an iPhone, set a Screen Time Downtime schedule for the school day on weekdays and choose which apps stay Always Allowed, such as Phone, Messages and anything the school requires. With a Screen Time passcode, the other apps stay locked until school ends.

Below are the free built-in steps, the catches to know about, and a simpler way if you also need a separate bedtime.

Before you start

• Family Sharing helps. If your child is in your Family Sharing group (Settings → [your name] → Family), you can set everything from your own iPhone under Settings → Screen Time → [child's name].
• Check the school's policy. Some schools collect phones or ask for them to stay off. Blocking apps is still useful for break times, bus rides and the walk home.
• Decide what stays open. Make a short list with your child: calls to family, maps, a calculator, a dictionary, the school's own app.

Block apps during school hours with Screen Time (free)

1. Turn on Screen Time for your child

1. Open Settings → Screen Time on your iPhone.
2. Tap your child's name under Family (or open Screen Time on the child's phone if you're not using Family Sharing).
3. Turn Screen Time on if it isn't already.

2. Set Downtime for the school day

1. Tap Downtime and turn on the schedule.
2. Choose Customize Days.
3. For Monday to Friday, set the start to when school begins and the end to when it finishes, for example 8:30 to 15:30.
4. For Saturday and Sunday, turn the schedule off or set your weekend rules.
5. If you see an option to block the device at Downtime, make sure it's on, so your child can't just dismiss the limit.

3. Choose Always Allowed apps

1. Go back and tap Always Allowed.
2. Add the apps your child genuinely needs during school, such as Phone, Messages, Maps or a school app.
3. Remove anything you don't want available, like games or video apps.

4. Limit who they can contact

1. Tap Communication Limits.
2. Under the Downtime setting, choose Specific Contacts or contacts only, so school-hours messaging is limited to family.

5. Lock the settings

1. Tap Use Screen Time Passcode (or Lock Screen Time Settings) and set a code your child doesn't know.
2. Under Content & Privacy Restrictions → App Store Purchases, set Deleting Apps and Installing Apps to Don't Allow so the rules can't be dodged with a new or reinstalled app.

That's it: on school days, everything except the Always Allowed apps stays locked during class time.

The catches with using Downtime for school

Screen Time works, but school hours expose a few limits:

• One Downtime window per day. If you use Downtime for school, you can't also use it for a separate bedtime on the same day without stretching one long window. Many families end up choosing between the two. Our bedtime and Downtime guide covers night-time options.
• Holidays and sick days. Downtime doesn't know when school is off. You'll need to change it for holidays, then remember to switch it back.
• Lunch and breaks. There's no simple way to open a short gap in the middle of a Downtime window.
• Homework time. After school, you might want apps locked until homework is done. Screen Time doesn't have a "homework first" rule.
• Workarounds. Kids share tricks quickly. See how kids bypass Screen Time and, if blocks seem to be ignored, Screen Time not working.

What about App Limits?

App Limits set a daily allowance per app or category, for example one hour of social networking a day. They don't follow a schedule, so a child could use the full hour at 10 a.m. App Limits work best alongside Downtime, not instead of it. More detail in how to set Screen Time limits.

A simpler option: Skydo School Mode

Skydo is an iPhone parental control app built on Apple's own Screen Time technology, so blocked apps genuinely don't open; iOS enforces it.

School Mode blocks apps during school hours except the ones you allow, and runs automatically on school days. Because it's separate from bedtime, you can have a school schedule and a night schedule without squeezing both into one Downtime window.

Other features that help on school days:

• Homework Mode: apps unlock for a set time after homework is done.
• Block whole categories in a tap, such as all social media, plus specific apps.
• Change school hours from your own phone. Pair once with an 8-character code (no accounts), then adjust school hours, limits or bedtime from your iPhone. Changes reach your child's phone in seconds.
• Arrival alerts: add school as a Place and get a notification when your child arrives or leaves. See get notified when your child arrives at school.
• Prevent deleting or installing apps, protected by a parent PIN and Face ID.

What to know first: Skydo needs to be installed and set up on your child's iPhone (iOS 26.5 or later), and which apps are blocked is chosen on the child's phone. The download is free, but protection needs a Skydo Premium subscription, and one subscription bought on the parent's phone also unlocks the child's phone.

Tips that make school-hours rules stick

1. Agree on the list together. Kids accept rules more readily when they helped decide what stays open.
2. Keep an emergency route. Phone calls to family should always work.
3. Test it on a school morning. Try opening a blocked app at 9 a.m. to confirm it really locks.
4. Review after two weeks. Add the school app you forgot, remove the game that slipped through.
5. Explain the why. "Your phone is for after school" lands better than a silent lock. Our first phone rules for kids guide can help frame it.