How to Block Roblox, TikTok & YouTube on a Kid's iPhone
Apple Screen Time can block any app on your kid's iPhone in about two minutes. Here's the exact setup for the apps parents ask about most — and the three gaps that quietly undo it.
By Sebastian Cacchione · Maker of taskr
- Published
- Reading time
- 8 min read
Apple Screen Time can block any app on your kid's iPhone in about two minutes. The setup is easy. Making it stay blocked is the part most guides skip.
Roblox, TikTok, YouTube, and Snapchat are the four apps parents ask about most, and they are all blocked the same way. iOS does not have a “block this app” button, which is why this feels harder than it is — the tool you want is called App Limits, and it lives somewhere you would not think to look.
Below is the exact setup, followed by the three gaps that quietly undo it. If you have blocked an app before and found your kid on it anyway, skip to the gaps — one of them is almost certainly why.
Block a specific app on an iPhone: the actual steps
1. Set a Screen Time passcode first
Do this before anything else. Go to Settings → Screen Time → Lock Screen Time Settings and set a four-digit code. It must not be the phone's unlock passcode, and it should not be a birthday.
Without it, every limit you set has a polite Ask For More Time button that grants another fifteen minutes, and your child can approve their own request. This single step is the difference between a block and a suggestion.
2. Add an App Limit
Go to Settings → Screen Time → App Limits → Add Limit. You will see categories: Social, Games, Entertainment, and so on. You can select an entire category, or tap into it and choose only the app you care about — Roblox under Games, TikTok under Social, YouTube under Entertainment.
Picking the single app is usually the better move. Blocking all of Games to stop Roblox also blocks whatever else your kid plays, and broad blocks generate arguments that narrow ones do not.
3. Set it to one minute and block at the end
Set the daily allowance to the minimum, one minute, then turn on Block at End of Limit. The app now needs your passcode to open, all day, every day. There is no zero-minute option, which is why one minute is the standard workaround.
4. Block the website version
This is the step most guides omit, and it is the most common reason a block appears not to work. Roblox, TikTok, and YouTube all run in a browser. Blocking the app does nothing to the site.
Go to Content & Privacy Restrictions → Content Restrictions → Web Content → Limit Adult Websites, then add the domains under Never Allow: roblox.com, tiktok.com, youtube.com.
5. Turn off installing and deleting apps
Under Content & Privacy Restrictions → iTunes & App Store Purchases, set both Installing Apps and Deleting Apps to Don't Allow.
Deleting a limited app and reinstalling it is the oldest trick there is, and it takes about twenty seconds. Turning off deletion closes it.
The three gaps that undo all of this
If you have already done the setup and your kid is still on the app, it is nearly always one of these.
- No passcode, or a guessable one. Birthdays and
1234get guessed the first week. If your child has ever watched you type it, change it. - The browser is still open. Blocking the Roblox app while
roblox.comloads in Safari accomplishes nothing. - A second device. An old iPad in a drawer, a school Chromebook, or a sibling's phone all sit outside these settings. Screen Time is per device and per Apple Account.
Where Screen Time stops being the right tool
Everything above blocks on a schedule. Screen Time knows what time it is; it does not know whether the homework got done, whether the trash went out, or whether your kid has been at the dishes for an hour.
That gap is where most families end up doing the enforcement by hand — opening Settings, flipping a limit off as a reward, forgetting to flip it back. It works for about a week.
If what you actually want is Roblox comes back when the chore is done, that is a different mechanism. taskr uses Apple Family Controls, the same framework behind Screen Time, to tie the block to a chore instead of a clock: you pick the apps, the chore has a due time, and if it goes overdue those apps lock until your kid sends a photo of the finished chore and you approve it.
It runs alongside the limits you just set — the two do not conflict. There is a full walkthrough in how to block iPhone apps until kids do chores, and a straight comparison of what each tool covers in taskr vs. Apple Screen Time.
Quick reference
- Block an app: Screen Time → App Limits → pick app → 1 minute → Block at End of Limit
- Block its website: Content Restrictions → Web Content → Never Allow → add the domain
- Stop reinstalls: iTunes & App Store Purchases → Deleting Apps → Don't Allow
- Make it stick: Lock Screen Time Settings with a passcode only you know
- Tie it to chores: taskr, free on iOS
Frequently asked questions
How do I block Roblox on my child's iPhone?
Open Settings → Screen Time → App Limits → Add Limit, choose the Games category or select Roblox specifically, set the limit to one minute, and turn on Block at End of Limit. Then add roblox.com to Never Allow under Content Restrictions → Web Content, because Roblox is also playable in a browser. Finally, set a Screen Time passcode your child does not know.
How do I block TikTok on my kid's iPhone?
Same route: Settings → Screen Time → App Limits → Add Limit → Social, then select TikTok, set one minute, and enable Block at End of Limit. Add tiktok.com to Never Allow under Web Content so the site version is covered too. TikTok is also viewable through search results and shared links, so blocking the website matters more here than for most apps.
Can I block YouTube but leave school apps working?
Yes. App Limits are per app, so a limit on YouTube does not touch anything else. Avoid blocking the whole Entertainment category if your child uses it for schoolwork, and leave Messages, Phone, and any school app out of your limits. If you want a specific set of apps blocked only when a chore is late, that is what taskr does.
Why does my child's app still open after I blocked it?
Almost always one of three reasons: there is no Screen Time passcode, so the block was tapped away with Ask For More Time; the app was deleted and reinstalled, which resets its limit; or the child is using the website instead of the app. Setting a passcode, disallowing app installs and deletions, and blocking the matching domain closes all three.
Can kids get around Apple Screen Time?
Known workarounds exist and Apple patches them, but the everyday ones are the boring ones listed above rather than anything clever. Changing the device time, using a second device, and watching through a friend's account all still work, which is why Screen Time is best treated as a structure rather than a fence.
Is there a way to block apps automatically when chores aren't done?
Yes, but not with Screen Time alone — it blocks on a clock, not on whether a chore is finished. taskr adds that layer using Apple Family Controls: you pick which apps lock when a chore goes overdue, and they unlock when you approve a photo of the finished chore. It is free on iOS and runs alongside your existing Screen Time limits.
Keep reading
Apple Family Controls vs Screen Time: The Difference
Same iPhone, two terms, two different jobs. Here's the clearest explanation you'll find — written for parents, not developers.
Read article
How to Block iPhone Apps Until Kids Do Chores (2026 Guide)
Apple Screen Time blocks apps. It can't tell whether the chore got done. Here's how to bridge that gap — automatically, on iOS, without daily nagging.
Read article
How to Stop Screen Time Fights with Kids: 7-Day Plan (2026)
Tired of the daily phone argument? The fix is structural, not behavioral. Here's a 7-day plan that ends screen time fights for most iOS families.
Read article