Vigiai

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How to block Instagram on iPhone (and use the pause to pray)

To block Instagram on iPhone without installing anything, use Screen Time: Settings → Screen Time → App Limits → Add Limit. Below are the steps, what that limit does not solve and how to use the pause to pray.

Step by step with Screen Time

  1. Open Settings → Screen Time and turn on Screen Time if it is off.
  2. Tap App Limits → Add Limit.
  3. Pick the Social category or just Instagram, then tap Next.
  4. Set the daily time (for example, 30 minutes) and, if you want, the days of the week.
  5. Turn on "Block at End of Limit" and tap Add.
  6. So the limit cannot be undone on the spot, set a Screen Time passcode different from your iPhone passcode.

What the iPhone limit does not solve

When time runs out, iPhone offers "Ignore Limit". In practice one tap undoes the block. The limit also only kicks in after you have already spent the time in the app, and it does not change what comes before the feed.

Turning the block into a pause to pray

A simple rule works better than willpower: before opening Instagram, a short prayer. It can be the Our Father, a psalm or a minute talking to God in your own words.

  • Choose the two or three apps that steal the most time.
  • Set the length of the pause: 1, 3 or 5 minutes.
  • Only open the app after praying; mark the days you kept it.

Vigiai does this for you: it uses Apple Screen Time to lock the apps you choose and only opens them after you pray, with Catholic or Protestant prayers.

I want to pray before the feed

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