Semo

How to block BeReal on iPhone

Semo is an iPhone app that blocks distracting apps by asking an AI question that quotes your own reason back to you. This page is only about BeReal.

How do you block BeReal on an iPhone?

It depends on what you mean by a block. Screen Time can limit BeReal, and you can ignore that limit if you know the passcode or never set one. Semo asks an AI question that quotes your own reason, and you can dismiss it. The steps on this page are Apple's. Semo is not on the App Store yet. Price shown in the app.

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

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

Block BeReal with iPhone Screen Time

BeReal is a social app, and the daily notification is the point of the product. A Screen Time limit on the icon also covers the time after you have posted, when you scroll friends. On iOS 26, select BeReal inside Social. On iOS 27 it shares Social Media. The posting window is not a category iOS understands.

iOS 26

  1. Limit BeReal as an app, not as a notification Settings, Screen Time, App Limits, Add Limit, Social, BeReal only. The daily banner is configured under Notifications, and it is a different screen.
  2. Decide if the post itself should still be possible If the limit is already used up when the BeReal time arrives, you cannot post either. Set the time with that in mind, or do not use an App Limit and mute the scroll another way.
  3. The late-post scroll is the same icon There is no second limit for "after I have posted". Remove BeReal from Always Allowed if you want any limit at all.

iOS 27

  1. BeReal spends the Social Media allowance Time Allowances do not have a row for a once-a-day camera. Set Social Media if BeReal is in that category, and check Manage Categories.
  2. The notification can still fire when the allowance is gone An alert can arrive after the app is blocked. You will see it and not be able to open the app, which may or may not be what you want at posting time.

Apple's steps: App Limits on iOS 26 and Time Allowances on iOS 27. A limit you set for yourself can be ignored if you know the Screen Time passcode, or if you never set one.

What BeReal's own limits do, and why they fail

BeReal's original idea, one post a day, is not a time limit. The app also has friends' posts, chat, and extra posts, and you can scroll those for as long as you like after the photo is sent. The notification tells you it is time to post. It does not tell you to leave. There is no switch that closes the app once your post is up.

An example reason

Written for this page. Not a quote from a user.

I open BeReal to post the one photo, and I stay to scroll everyone else.

How Semo helps with BeReal

That sentence is the reason to store. Semo blocks BeReal by asking an AI question that quotes it, including at the moment the notification made you open the app. It cannot detect that your post is already sent. The question asks. We have no published results.

Questions

If the product is one post a day, why limit it?

Because the time after the post is not limited by BeReal. Friends' posts and chat are still the app. If that scroll is not your problem, you do not need a limit.

Will Screen Time stop the BeReal notification?

An App Limit stops the app. The notification is under Settings, Notifications, BeReal. Turn that off separately if the banner is the habit.

Can I allow the posting minute and block the scroll?

Not with Screen Time. A written rule can say "post, then leave". The system cannot see whether you have posted.