Is there an app to lock your phone at night?

No app can lock your whole iPhone at night, but several can lock the apps that keep you up. Apple doesn't let apps lock the device itself. What an app can do is pause the apps you choose through Apple's Screen Time, from a time you set until morning, while calls, alarms and anything you leave unblocked keep working. Screen Time does this for free: Screen Time Schedule on iOS 27, Downtime with Block at Downtime on iOS 26 and earlier. Apps such as Bedline, Sunbreak and Opal add other things: you can pick single apps and choose how you get out early.

Key takeaways

• No iPhone app locks the whole phone. Night "lock" apps pause chosen apps through Screen Time, and you can still use your phone for anything you leave out.
• Start with the free option: a Screen Time Schedule on iOS 27, or a daily Downtime schedule with Block at Downtime on iOS 26 and earlier.
• Choose an app by how you get out of a block at 1 a.m.: a passcode, a timed emergency unlock, an email to a friend, or a mode its maker says cannot be turned off.
• Bedline pauses only the apps, categories and websites you pick, from your Bedline (the time you mean to put the phone down) until your wake-up, on the nights you schedule. Pausing apps needs a Premium plan.
• Test any lock once while you are awake, and check that your alarm, calls and messages still get through.

Can an app lock your whole iPhone at night?

No. When a developer asked whether the Screen Time API could lock and unlock the device, an Apple engineer answered on Apple's developer forums that "locking and unlocking the device is not possible via the Screen Time API". Blockers that use Screen Time work through that API, so they can't lock the screen itself.

What they can do is block apps: a blocked app won't open until the block ends. The Phone app, your alarm and every app you didn't choose work as usual. For most people that is the point. The phone stays an alarm clock and a way to be reached, and only the apps you scroll stop opening.

If you want the phone out of reach entirely, no app will do it. Charging it in another room will.

What does Screen Time already do for free?

Screen Time is built into every iPhone and can block apps at night on a schedule, at no cost. The setting depends on your iOS version. Check it under Settings > General > About.

On iOS 27, Apple's guide to Screen Time Schedules and Time Allowances gives these steps:

1. Open Settings, tap Screen Time, tap Screen Time Schedule, then turn on Schedule.
2. Tap Add Schedule, choose the days, and confirm.
3. Tap the time window, set it to start when you want the phone down and stop when you get up, and choose which Time Allowance categories stay available in it.
4. Leave Social Media, Entertainment and Games out of the night window. If you see no categories, create them under Screen Time > Time Allowances > Manage Categories.

On iOS 26 and earlier, Apple's guide to Screen Time schedules describes Downtime:

1. Open Settings > Screen Time, tap App & Website Activity, and turn it on.
2. Tap Downtime, turn on Scheduled, choose Every Day or Customize Days, and set the start and end times.
3. Turn on Block at Downtime. Apple's guide says you can choose it once you set a Screen Time passcode.

Apple says that without Block at Downtime, you see a reminder that it's downtime and can keep using the apps. With it on, they appear dimmed with an hourglass and can't be opened. During Downtime, only calls, messages and the apps in Always Allowed stay available. Apple's iOS 27 guide says Always Allowed apps work regardless of any schedule there too.

The catch is that these settings work broadly. A schedule window blocks a whole category and Downtime blocks almost everything. If you set the passcode yourself, you also know it at 1 a.m. How to block apps at night on iPhone covers both versions in more detail, and Downtime vs App Limits explains when a limit fits better than a schedule.

Which apps lock your phone at night, and how do they differ?

Night-blocking apps differ in three ways: what they block, when the block ends, and how you can get out of it early. The descriptions of the other apps come from each maker's own website: this compares what their makers say they do, not a test of each one.

• Bedline is built for one nightly block. You set your Bedline and your wake-up, with different weekend hours if you like, and pick specific apps, whole categories or websites. At your Bedline, Screen Time pauses them until you wake up. If you need your phone, you hold a button to confirm an emergency unlock. It lasts as long as you chose in Settings (30 to 120 minutes, an hour by default) or until your wake-up if that comes first. Then the apps pause again on their own. You can change or switch off tonight only without touching your routine. It needs iOS 18 or later, and pausing apps needs a Premium plan.
• Sunbreak says on its website that it locks the apps you choose at bedtime and unlocks them with the real sunrise at your location. It says there is "no bypass button" and that if you break bedtime, the friends you named get an email. It also says calls, alarms and messages work normally and that the app is iOS only for now.
• Opal says on its website that it blocks the apps of your choice on your phone or desktop. Its Focus Timer locks you in until the timer runs out, and its Hard Mode means "you can't turn Opal off". It's available on iPhone, Mac and Android.
• one sec says on its website that it interrupts social media, apps and websites before they open, for example with a deep breath. It can also block distracting apps on a schedule.

Option	What it blocks	When the block ends	How you get out early	Cost
Screen Time Schedule (iOS 27)	Whole categories outside the window	At the window's stop time	Change the setting (guarded by a Screen Time passcode, if set)	Free
Downtime with Block at Downtime (iOS 26 and earlier)	Everything except calls, messages and Always Allowed	At the end time you set	Screen Time passcode	Free
Bedline	The apps, categories and websites you pick	At your wake-up	A timed emergency unlock you hold to confirm	Premium plan to pause apps
Sunbreak	The apps you choose	At sunrise where you are	No bypass button, its site says; breaking bedtime emails your friends	Not stated on its site
Opal	The apps you choose	When a timer or rule ends	Its site says Hard Mode cannot be turned off	Not stated on its homepage
one sec	Interrupts, or blocks on a schedule	When the schedule ends	A pause before opening, by design	Not stated on its homepage

How do you choose the right one?

Choose by the way you usually break your own rule, not by the longest feature list.

• You want it free and you're fine blocking whole categories: use a Screen Time Schedule on iOS 27, or Downtime with Block at Downtime on iOS 26 and earlier.
• You want only a few apps paused, and the night to end when you get up: Bedline pauses the apps you pick from your Bedline to your wake-up, with a timed emergency unlock instead of a passcode (Premium plan).
• You give in when nobody is watching: Sunbreak says it emails a friend if you break bedtime. With Screen Time, you can ask a partner to set a passcode you don't know.
• You want the hardest lock you can get: Opal says its Hard Mode can't be turned off. Read its terms first, because a lock you can't lift is also a lock you can't lift in an emergency.
• You don't want a block, just a pause before you open an app: one sec's interruptions are built for that.

None of these is impossible to get around for the person who set it up. Screen Time permission can be withdrawn in Settings, and an app can be deleted. A block works by making the late-night tap slower and more deliberate, not by making it impossible.

How do you set up an app to lock your phone at night?

The setup is much the same in any Screen Time app, and it takes a few minutes:

1. Pick the end first. Set the block to end when you actually get up, so the apps stay paused while your alarm goes off and through any snoozes.
2. Pick the start. Set the time you want the phone down, not the time you hope to fall asleep.
3. Choose the apps. List the two or three apps you actually lose your nights to. A whole category, such as Social, is the quickest way to cover them.
4. Allow Screen Time access. The app asks for permission to use Screen Time. With Bedline, Apple never tells the app which apps you chose.
5. Keep what you need. Your alarm and calls aren't blocked unless you add them. Leave out any app you might need in an emergency, such as a messaging app your family uses.
6. Test it while awake. Set the block to start in a few minutes, try to open a blocked app, then set your real times.

Apple's Sleep Focus is not a lock. Apple's Sleep Focus guide says it reduces distractions before and during bedtime, for example by filtering out notifications and phone calls. Every app still opens. It works well alongside a block, not instead of one.

FAQ

Is there a free app to lock your phone at night?

Yes. Screen Time is built into iPhone and costs nothing. On iOS 27, use a Screen Time Schedule whose night window leaves out the categories you want blocked. On iOS 26 and earlier, use Downtime with Block at Downtime turned on, which needs a Screen Time passcode.

Can I lock myself out of my phone at night?

Not the whole phone. Apple doesn't let apps lock the device, so an app can only block the apps you choose. To make the block hard to undo, ask someone else to set your Screen Time passcode, or charge the phone outside the bedroom.

Will I still get calls and alarms if apps are locked at night?

With Screen Time Downtime, Apple says calls, messages and Always Allowed apps stay available. Apps that block only the apps you choose, such as Bedline, leave the Phone app and the alarm alone. Test your setup once while awake to be sure.

Can I lock my iPhone at a certain time automatically?

You can block apps at a certain time automatically, but not the whole iPhone. A Screen Time Schedule on iOS 27, Downtime on iOS 26 and earlier, or a Screen Time app all start and end the block on the times you set, every day you choose.

Does Sleep Focus lock apps at night?

No. Apple describes Sleep Focus as filtering notifications and phone calls before and during bedtime, and every app still opens when you tap it. To stop apps from opening, you need a Screen Time schedule, Downtime or a Screen Time app.