Almost everyone who tries Screen Time App Limits has the same week. You set a cap on the apps that take up your evenings, feel briefly in control, and within a few days you're ignoring the limit without thinking. By the end of the week you've decided the feature doesn't work and you go looking for something stronger.
The feature does work. The blocking part is solid. What trips people up is the set of override buttons Apple puts between you and the block, and the fact that you know the passcode that opens it. Once you know the three gaps, you can close them in about five minutes.
Gap one: the "One More Minute" button
When an App Limit hits, iOS shows a lock screen with a "One More Minute" option. Apple added it for a reasonable case: you're mid-sentence in an email or about to lose a level in a game, and you want a moment to finish cleanly before the app closes.
The trouble is what happens when you're not finishing anything. You tap "One More Minute," keep scrolling, and a minute later you tap it again. People learned long ago that you can force-quit the app, reopen it, and get a fresh grace period. The limit becomes a button you tap every sixty seconds.
There's no setting anywhere in iOS to delete that button on its own. But you can make the limit skip it. Go to Settings › Screen Time › App Limits, tap the limit, and turn on Block at End of Limit. Now when the time runs out the app just locks, with no one-minute extension offered.
Gap two: the "Ignore Limit" prompt
Block at End of Limit gets rid of the easy extension, but the lock screen still has a way through: a prompt that asks for your Screen Time passcode. Type the four digits and the app opens for the rest of the day.
This is the main problem. If you set the passcode yourself, you know it. At the exact moment you're tired and want to keep scrolling, the only thing between you and the app is a code you can type from memory, so the block lasts about two seconds.
To even reach this point you need a Screen Time passcode set at all. Plenty of people never set one, which means the whole system can be switched off in a couple of taps. Set one under Settings › Screen Time › Lock Screen Time Settings. That stops you from simply turning the system off. It does not, on its own, stop you from entering a code you know, which is the bigger problem.
Gap three: you know the passcode
None of the settings can fix the last gap. Every block on your phone ends with a passcode, and you're the person who typed that passcode in. Block at End of Limit, Downtime, and content restrictions all depend on four digits you have memorised.
This is why switching to a paid blocker rarely helps for long. Opal, Freedom, and one sec all have the same problem. You can end the session, because you set it up, so you do. The off switch moves to a nicer screen, but you still control it.
If you want App Limits that genuinely hold, the fix follows straight from the problem: make the passcode something you don't know.
How to make App Limits actually stick
Do the two quick settings first, because they remove the easiest bypasses:
- Turn on Block at End of Limit for every limit that matters, so there's no "One More Minute" to tap.
- Set a Screen Time passcode and, while you're in there, set Downtime for the hours you keep slipping, like the last hour before bed.
Then deal with the part that everyone skips. The single most effective change is to stop being the one who knows the passcode. The simplest version costs nothing: ask a partner, a flatmate, or a friend to type a code into your phone that you never see. Now "Ignore Limit" doesn't work for you, because there's no number in your head to enter. Getting past the limit means actually texting that person and asking, which is enough friction to stop most late-night impulse unlocks before they start.
If handing the code to someone feels awkward, or there's nobody you'd want holding it, WaitToUnlock does the same job without a person in the loop. It sets a random Screen Time passcode you never see, then only shows it to you after a wait of several hours. The limits you set stay set, because in the moment you want to override them, you simply can't.
The short version
App Limits fail because they offer you three bypasses and you keep taking them. Switch on Block at End of Limit to remove the one-minute button, set a Screen Time passcode so the system can't just be switched off, and then make sure you don't know that passcode. Once you can't type it from memory, the limit you set at noon still holds at midnight.
Frequently asked questions
Why do Screen Time App Limits stop working after a few days?
Because iOS offers three ways past a limit: the "One More Minute" button, the "Ignore Limit" prompt, and the fact that you know your own passcode. Once you learn these overrides, you use them without thinking.
What does Block at End of Limit do?
It removes the "One More Minute" extension, so the app locks the moment the limit runs out instead of offering a repeatable grace period. Turn it on under Settings › Screen Time › App Limits.
How do I stop myself from using Ignore Limit?
Ignore Limit only works if you know your Screen Time passcode. Have someone else set it, or use a tool like WaitToUnlock to hold a passcode you don't know and only release it after a wait.