PlainLock is a deliberately simple screen-time self-control tool. Block the apps that steal your time. When the impulse hits, it puts up just enough resistance and gives you a line or two.
No dashboard. No badges. It does one thing: add just enough friction where you are most likely to lose control.
Choose days and times. When the time comes, it locks. Work hours, the hour before bed, you decide.
Monday to Friday, 9:00–18:00, no social apps
Use up the minutes you set for the day and the apps stay blocked until tomorrow.
Instagram, 30 minutes a day
Put Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and X in one group with one shared limit. When it is gone, all of them lock. No app switching to keep scrolling.
The whole social shelf, 40 minutes shared
Really need temporary access? Tap “Open temporarily,” wait a few seconds, then decide again. The default is 5 seconds. You can raise it to 60, never lower it.
Fifty-eight lines of resistance and praise, with extra attitude late at night. Add your own lines too. The words you write to yourself work best.
“What time is it? Tomorrow-you is watching.”
See how often you were stopped and how often you held your ground each week. It all stays on your iPhone.
The block screen is its main stage. When it stops you, it has a few words to say:
“The algorithm does not miss you. It wants your attention.”
These are real lines from the app. One appears each time you are stopped.
When you hold your ground, it means it.
“Good. A little backbone.
These minutes are yours.”
Honesty is one of this app’s features. Every point below is also on the App Store page.
Not recommended. PlainLock is for adults who want to manage themselves.
For children, use Screen Time’s built-in parental controls. It has a passcode, can prevent app deletion, and can be managed remotely from your own device. Those built-in tools do this better than any third-party app, and they are free.
Because most of the time, you do not need an iron wall. You need a few seconds. An impulse has a short half-life. When the first tap is stopped, most of the urge to scroll fades on its own.
Someone who truly wants to get around it will. We cannot stop them, and we do not pretend otherwise.
An app that helps you use your phone less should not need you to keep using your phone to pay a monthly fee. One purchase, and it is done.
No. The app makes no network requests, has no account or analytics tools, and keeps your rules and record on your iPhone. Read the privacy policy.
No. PlainLock is for iPhone and requires iOS 17 or later. Leave total cross-device management to Screen Time’s built-in tools.
iOS runs the blocking schedule. Every app that uses this kind of system framework has the same limitation. PlainLock is not taking a nap.
One purchase. If you dislike being stopped, that is exactly why it works.
