How to block short-form video on iPhone and Android
Updated 4 August 2026
To block short-form video you have three realistic options: turn the feed off inside each app, block the whole app with the tools already on your phone (Screen Time on iPhone, Digital Wellbeing on Android), or use a third-party app that decides when the block lifts. The built-in tools block by app, not by feature, so blocking Instagram to stop Reels also blocks your messages. That trade-off is why most people give up after a week.
Turn the feed off inside the app
This is the least disruptive option and the first thing to try, but the coverage is uneven.
- YouTube Shorts can be hidden from the home feed for 30 days. Tap the three dots next to the Shorts row and choose to hide it. It comes back on its own, so set a reminder.
- TikTok has a daily limit and a screen time break reminder under Settings, Screen time. Both live inside the app, which means the app can also help you dismiss them.
- Instagram Reels has no off switch. The closest thing is turning off suggested content in Settings, which thins the feed without removing the Reels tab.
- Facebook is the same. Reels can be marked as not interesting one at a time, which changes recommendations rather than removing the surface.
If the app itself is the problem, in-app settings will not solve it. Every one of these switches is controlled by the app you are trying to use less.
Block the app on iPhone with Screen Time
- Open Settings, Screen Time.
- Tap App Limits, Add Limit.
- Pick the individual apps rather than the whole Social category. The category sweeps in apps you actually need.
- Set the daily limit and turn on Block at End of Limit.
- Set a Screen Time passcode that is not your unlock code.
Without the passcode step the limit is a suggestion: the block screen has a button that grants fifteen more minutes.
Block the app on Android with Digital Wellbeing
- Open Settings, Digital Wellbeing and parental controls.
- Tap the usage chart, find the app, and tap the hourglass to set an App timer.
- For a stricter block, use Focus mode and add the app to the distracting list.
Focus mode is the stronger of the two, because pausing it takes more taps than dismissing a timer. Samsung, Xiaomi and OnePlus ship their own version of the same idea on top of Digital Wellbeing.
Why these blocks stop working after a week
Built-in limits fail for a predictable reason. You set them, and you can also remove them, in the same number of taps, at the exact moment you are least inclined to keep them. Lifting the block costs nothing, and nothing replaces the ten minutes you were about to spend scrolling.
Make the time something you earn back
Sprout takes the other approach. You set a daily limit for the apps that take too much of your time, and when the limit runs out those apps are blocked. Getting more time is not a button. You earn minutes back by doing something else: a set of pushups, a few pages of a book, a focus session, a chore. The block lifts because you did something, not because you tapped ignore.
That is the mechanic in one sentence: screen time is a budget you top up with real-life activity.
What to do first
- Pick one app, not five. The one you open without deciding to.
- Set a daily limit at roughly half of what you currently spend on it.
- Make lifting the block cost something: a passcode you do not memorise, or an activity you have to complete.
- Check the number after a week and adjust once.
Try the earn-your-time approach
Sprout blocks the apps you choose once your daily limit runs out, and gives minutes back only when you complete an activity: exercise, reading, a focus session, a chore. There is no button that grants more time. Free to start, on iPhone and Android.