How to block an app on iPhone

Semo is an iPhone app that blocks distracting apps by asking an AI question that quotes your own reason back to you. Pick the app. Each guide has Screen Time steps for that icon, what its own limit does, an example reason, and what Semo does and does not do.

How do I block one app on an iPhone?

It depends on the icon you actually open. These guides use the same family of iPhone controls, App Limits on iOS 26 and Time Allowances on iOS 27, but each page says what that app's own timer does and what a limit cannot split. Semo is not a harder lock than a passcode someone else holds. It is not on the App Store yet. Price shown in the app.

Last checked 31 October 2026 against Apple's Screen Time guides and the public descriptions named on the page. We review these notes at least every 90 days.

Published 19 October 2026. Updated 31 October 2026. We review facts on this page at least every 90 days (next review due by 29 January 2027).

Apps

Also on this site

Guides, including the two essays already published.
Comparisons with Opal, one sec, Apple Screen Time and LOCKR.
Alternatives: ScreenZen, Jomo, Freedom, Clearspace and Brick.

Questions

Do these pages share one set of Screen Time steps?

The Apple controls are the same family: App Limits on iOS 26 and Time Allowances on iOS 27. Each page says where that app sits, what a limit cannot split inside the app, and what the app's own timer does. Read the page for the icon you actually open.

Does Semo replace Screen Time?

Semo is an iPhone app that blocks distracting apps by asking an AI question that quotes your own reason back to you. These pages also tell you how to use the iPhone's own limits. We have no published results. Price shown in the app. Semo is not on the App Store yet.