Shopping apps are built so you buy before you've thought about it. A notification about a price drop, a countdown on a deal, an "only 3 left" label, and a saved card that pays in one tap. Black Friday and Cyber Monday push all of this harder than any other time of year.
Screen Time can block shopping apps and websites without installing anything. This guide sets it up, removes the one-tap payment, and locks the settings with a passcode you don't know. If you still want something after the wait, you can buy it. Most of the time, you won't.
Step 1: Set a temporary Screen Time passcode
Go to Settings > Screen Time > Lock Screen Time Settings and set a simple passcode like 1234. You'll replace it in Step 6. You need one now because the Block at End of Limit toggle only appears once a passcode exists.
Step 2: Turn off shopping notifications
Most impulse purchases start with a notification. Go to Settings > Notifications, open each shopping app, and turn off Allow Notifications. Unsubscribe from the marketing emails too, or filter them out of your inbox.
Step 3: Block the shopping apps
The App Store age rating doesn't help here, because shopping apps have low ratings. Use an App Limit instead.
- Go to Settings > Screen Time > App Limits > Add Limit.
- Open Shopping & Food and select the apps you want to block, such as Temu, Shein, Amazon, AliExpress, eBay or Vinted. Selecting the whole category also blocks food delivery and grocery apps, so pick individual apps if you need those.
- Set the time to 1 minute to block them completely. If you need Amazon for everyday things, give it a separate limit of a few minutes a day instead.
- Turn on Block at End of Limit. Without it, you get a One More Minute button you can keep tapping.
Step 4: Block the shopping websites
Once the apps are blocked, the websites are the next place you'll go. Go to Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions > App Store, Media, Web & Games > Web Content, choose Limit Adult Websites, and under Never Allow add the sites you shop on. For example:
temu.com,shein.com,aliexpress.comamazon.comoramazon.co.uk,ebay.comorebay.co.uk- Any fashion, beauty or electronics sites you buy from often
The block applies in every browser on the phone. If you gave Amazon a daily allowance in Step 3, leave it off this list.
Step 5: Remove saved cards
A saved card is what makes a purchase take two seconds. Removing it means you have to find your wallet and type in the card number, which gives you time to decide whether you want the thing.
- Remove your card from your account in each shopping app or site you still use.
- Go to Settings > Apps > Safari > AutoFill and remove any saved cards, or turn off Credit Cards.
Step 6: Replace the passcode with one you don't know
You know 1234, so right now you can undo all of this in a few seconds, and a countdown timer on a deal is exactly when you'll want to. Replace it with a passcode you don't know. WaitToUnlock generates a random passcode, walks you through entering it under Change Screen Time Passcode without learning it, and only reveals it after a 6-hour wait. If you still want something after 6 hours, buy it. Many deals with a countdown timer run again later anyway. Having someone you trust set the passcode works too.
Then close the recovery loophole: iOS lets you reset a Screen Time passcode with your own Apple Account unless you set things up carefully. Here's how to disable that.
Keep a deliberate way to buy things
You'll still need to buy things. Keep a running list in the Notes app, and buy from your laptop once a week. Shopping from a list on a bigger screen, at a time you chose, is much slower than tapping a notification on your phone, and that's the point.
If you've deleted the apps instead of blocking them, block app installs so they can't come back.
Common questions
How do I block shopping apps on iPhone?
Go to Settings > Screen Time > App Limits > Add Limit, open Shopping & Food, pick the apps, set the limit to 1 minute and turn on Block at End of Limit. Then add the shopping websites to the same limit or to the Never Allow list.
Can I block Amazon but still use it sometimes?
Yes. Give Amazon an App Limit of a few minutes a day instead of 1 minute, or block it on your phone and only buy from your laptop, where it's slower and more deliberate.
Why doesn't the App Store age rating block shopping apps?
Shopping apps have low age ratings, so an age limit that blocks gambling or adult apps leaves them alone. Use App Limits and the website block list instead.
How do I stop myself turning the block off?
Protect Screen Time with a passcode you don't know. Use WaitToUnlock or have someone you trust set it, and remove your own Apple Account from passcode recovery.