To block social media on your kid's iPhone for free, open Screen Time, add a one-minute App Limit to the entire Social category with "Block at End of Limit" turned on, then stop new app installs and block the websites (instagram.com, tiktok.com, snapchat.com, youtube.com) in Safari. Protect it with a Screen Time passcode. This guide covers each step for Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube, the gaps to watch for, and a stricter option.
First: choose your approach
Before you touch any settings, decide what "blocked" means in your house. There are roughly three levels:
- Fully blocked. No social media apps at all, which is common for younger kids or a first phone.
- Some apps blocked, some limited. For example, TikTok and Instagram blocked, YouTube allowed for 30 minutes a day.
- Time-limited. Social media allowed, but only for a set time and never after bedtime.
Screen Time can do all three. Knowing which one you want makes the setup much quicker, and gives you a clear rule to explain to your child.
Set up Screen Time so it can't be switched off
- With Family Sharing (recommended): add your child in Settings → [your name] → Family, then manage everything from your own phone in Settings → Screen Time → your child's name.
- Without Family Sharing: on your child's phone, open Settings → Screen Time and set a Screen Time passcode ("Use Screen Time Passcode" or "Lock Screen Time Settings"). Pick a code your child has never seen you type.
Method 1: Block social media with Screen Time (free)
Step 1: Limit the whole Social category
- Go to Settings → Screen Time (tap your child's name if you're on your own phone).
- Tap App Limits → Add Limit.
- Tick the Social category. This covers apps Apple classes as social networking, which typically includes Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok.
- Tap Next, set the limit to 1 minute, and switch on Block at End of Limit.
- Tap Add.
Step 2: Check YouTube and other apps separately
Apple decides which category each app belongs to, and not every app your child uses socially is in Social. YouTube, for example, may be listed under Entertainment or another category. Messaging apps with feeds and group chats can sit elsewhere too.
- Go back to App Limits → Add Limit.
- Search for or browse to the app, such as YouTube.
- Set either a 1-minute limit to block it, or a longer daily limit (say 30 or 60 minutes) if you want to allow some use.
Look at your child's home screen and recent activity in Screen Time to spot any apps you missed.
Step 3: Stop new social apps being installed
A category limit doesn't stop your child from downloading a different app that isn't in your list yet.
- Open Content & Privacy Restrictions and switch it on.
- Tap App Store Purchases.
- Set Installing Apps and Deleting Apps to Don't Allow.
Step 4: Block the social media websites
Every major platform works in a browser. Close that gap:
- In Content & Privacy Restrictions, open App Store, Media, Web & Games → Web Content.
- Choose Limit Adult Websites.
- Under the never-allowed list, add each site: - instagram.com - tiktok.com - snapchat.com - youtube.com (only if you're blocking YouTube completely) - facebook.com, x.com, reddit.com or others your child uses
This setting also filters adult sites, covered in how to block adult websites on iPhone.
Step 5: Add a bedtime with Downtime
Even if you allow some social media, nights are where it does the most damage to sleep. Set Downtime for the evening and keep only Phone, Messages and anything essential in Always Allowed. See the bedtime and Downtime guide.
The weak spots in this setup
Done carefully, the steps above work. But there are a few things that commonly go wrong:
- Category gaps. Apps land in categories you didn't expect, so one stays open.
- Approving more time by reflex. Your child can ask for more time when a limit hits. One quick tap on your phone lifts the block for the day.
- A known passcode. Once the Screen Time code is out, so is every rule.
- Many separate settings. App Limits, App Store Purchases and Web Content each need setting up, and missing one leaves a gap.
Our guide to how kids bypass Screen Time goes through the usual tricks and how to close them, and Screen Time not working covers settings that seem to reset.
Method 2: Block all social media in one tap with Skydo
Skydo is an iPhone parental-control app built on Apple's own Screen Time technology (Family Controls). When it blocks Instagram or Snapchat, iOS itself refuses to open them. There's no VPN or profile your child can delete to get around it.
How it helps with social media
- Block the whole social media category in a tap, or pick individual apps like Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube.
- Block specific websites in Safari, alongside filtering adult content in Safari and search.
- Prevent installing and deleting apps, so a new social app can't slip in.
- Daily time limit and bedtime if you'd rather allow some social media at set times.
- School Mode blocks apps during school hours on school days, except ones you allow. Homework Mode unlocks apps for a set time after homework.
- Parent PIN plus Face ID, so watching you type a code isn't enough.
- Blocked-attempts count and a weekly report, showing whether your child keeps trying to open blocked apps.
Control from your own phone
Pair your phone with your child's using an 8-character code. No accounts are needed. From your phone you can change bedtime, limits and school hours, or pause all apps for 30 minutes, and the change arrives on your child's phone in seconds. Which apps are blocked is chosen on the child's phone. More in how to control your child's iPhone from your phone.
Before you install
Skydo needs to be installed and set up on your child's iPhone, running iOS 26.5 or later. The app is free to download, and switching protection on needs a Skydo Premium subscription, monthly or yearly. One subscription bought on your phone also unlocks your child's phone. There are no ads and no data selling.
Talking to your kid about it
Blocking social media works best when it isn't a surprise. A few things that help:
- Explain the why. Sleep, focus, and the pressure of feeds are reasons kids can understand, even if they disagree.
- Agree what changes the rule. An age, a school term or a show of responsibility gives them something to work towards.
- Keep communication open. Make sure they can still message and call family and close friends.
- Review regularly. Loosening limits over time builds trust, and a plan agreed together is easier to keep.
For more on setting expectations, see first phone rules for kids. If TikTok is the main concern, our TikTok-specific guide goes into more detail.