iPhone Setup
The iPhone is often the easiest loophole. The goal is to make the phone useful without leaving every distracting app one tap away.
1. Decide what the phone is for
Write down the jobs your phone must do: calls, messages, maps, banking, camera, travel, authentication, music, or work apps. Everything else should earn its place deliberately.
2. Enable supervised mode
For a serious anti-bypass setup, use Techlockdown and enable supervised mode on the iPhone. Supervised mode makes it possible to apply stronger device restrictions than normal Screen Time alone, which helps prevent quick edits, removals, or workarounds when motivation is low.
This step should be done carefully, because supervising a phone can require resetting or reconfiguring the device depending on the method used. Back up anything important first, then follow Techlockdown's current instructions for enabling supervised mode and applying restrictions.
3. Use Techlockdown for the hard layer
Use Techlockdown to block categories, adult content, distracting websites, app installation routes, and settings that would otherwise let you undo the setup. The goal is not just to hide distractions, but to make the common bypass paths unavailable.
The two most effective Techlockdown tools for most people are app blocking with approved apps only and a website blocklist. Together they close the two main loopholes: installing alternative apps and accessing blocked content through the browser.
4. Add ScreenZen for daily friction
Download ScreenZen and use it as a second layer for apps and behaviors that need more flexible control. ScreenZen can add pauses, limits, and extra friction for apps that are not fully blocked but should not be opened reflexively.
This combination gives the setup two jobs: Techlockdown and supervised mode make the core restrictions difficult to bypass, while ScreenZen helps shape daily app use with softer limits.
Screen Time can still be disabled through the Settings app, which undermines any limits set through ScreenZen. See the blog post How to set up iPhone Screen Time so it can't be disabled for the workaround.
5. Hand off the password
If you want the setup to be difficult to bypass, do not keep the restriction password available during normal use. Store it with a trusted person, a sealed note, or another friction-based method that gives you time before changing the rules.
6. Review regularly
A strict setup should still be livable. Review it after a week, then monthly. Keep what works, remove what is theatrical, and close any loopholes you actually used.