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How AppLimit works — blocking, schedules, focus sessions, goals and history, purchase, and privacy. iOS 17+, iPhone.

What AppLimit is

AppLimit is a screen-time app for your iPhone. Pick the apps and sites that distract you, set limits and schedules, run focus sessions, and see where your time goes.

It is built on four promises:

  1. It blocks what you chose, and keeps blocking.
  2. It never nags you into a subscription.
  3. Your usage data never leaves your phone.
  4. The trial is the whole app — seven days, everything on.

AppLimit is a free download with a 7-day trial where everything works. There is no account, no advertising, and no paywall on the history you've already built. After the trial, your history and existing schedules stay available. A single one-time purchase only unlocks creating or changing things (see Purchase & unlock).

AppLimit is local-first. Blocking, schedules, sessions, goals, and history all happen on your phone. The only thing the app ever downloads is nothing — there is no server to call. The App Store handles the one purchase; everything else works offline.

What's included

  • Per-app blocking — choose exactly which apps and sites get limited. Everything else keeps working. Details: Blocking.
  • Persistent rules — block rules hold without opening the app every day. When a limit hits, iOS enforces it.
  • Schedules — different rules at different times, switched automatically. Details: Schedules.
  • Focus sessions — timed work sessions with real breaks. Details: Focus sessions.
  • Goals and streaks — a daily goal for the time you want back, with streaks that reward consistency. Details: Goals & history.
  • Usage history — every tracked day, on your phone, exportable as CSV.
  • Threshold notifications — a warning before the limit hits, never a surprise.
  • Home-screen widget — today's blocking state and usage at a glance.
  • Screen Time permission — one grant through Apple's own picker. Your usage data never leaves your iPhone.
  • Trial and unlock — 7 days of everything, then one $3.99 payment, once. Details: Purchase & unlock.

Requirements and limits

  • Needs: iOS 17.0 or later, and Apple's Screen Time permission (granted in the app through the system picker).
  • Devices: iPhone in portrait.
  • Offline: everything except the App Store purchase works with no internet.
  • What AppLimit is not: not parental-control software — it manages your own focus on your own device, not someone else's. Not a website filter for Safari alone, not a keystroke or content monitor, not an account-based service. And not a subscription.

Accessibility

  • VoiceOver announces blocking state, timer state, and goal progress; decorative art is skipped.
  • Text size scales up to the largest iPhone text settings.
  • Blocking and timer states are shown with both an icon and words — never color alone.
  • Buttons meet Apple's recommended minimum tap size.
  • Reduce Motion is respected.

Where to go next

The table of contents on the left walks through the app section by section. Getting started is the best first stop. The FAQ and Troubleshooting pages cover the common questions, and Support is one tap away.