There are three layers of app blocking on iPhone, and most parents only find the weakest one. Use them in this order.
1. Content & Privacy Restrictions (the strongest). Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions. Turn it on, set a Screen Time passcode (use one your child does not know and do not reuse the device passcode), then go to Allowed Apps to hide built-ins like Safari or the camera, and App Store, Media, Web & Games to set age ratings, block in-app purchases, and require a password for installs.
2. App Limits (per-app time budgets). Settings > Screen Time > App Limits > Add Limit, pick categories or specific apps, set the daily allowance. When the limit hits, the app greys out with a "Ask For More Time" option — which routes to your device if you have Family Sharing set up correctly.
3. Ask to Buy + Family Sharing (stops new installs). With the child in your Family group and Ask to Buy enabled, every install needs your approval, so a blocked app cannot simply be replaced with a similar one. This closes the loophole that defeats most app-blocking setups.
Four failure modes worth knowing:
- Deleting and reinstalling an app resets its usage clock — App Limits alone will not stop that; Content & Privacy Restrictions will.
- "Ignore Limit" for the day is easy to grant and easy to abuse; check Screen Time weekly from your own device.
- If your child knows the Screen Time passcode, everything above is optional for them. Change it and keep it on your Apple Account.
- Blocking Safari does not block web access in other apps. Use Content & Privacy > Web Content to restrict adult sites.
For Android siblings, the equivalent is Google Family Link; for Windows and Macs in the house, a monitoring dashboard covers app inventory and web history in one place — that is the Ultimate Phone Spy side of the setup (view installed apps, web history).