NOTE: This tip only applies to iOS versions 15 and older. In iOS 16+, we can fully block all apps without needing this extra step. For more information, see How to Block Apps on iOS.
If most of your app blocks are working on iPhone or iPad (using iOS 15 and below), but you're still having trouble with certain apps, it may because these apps use a type of connection that is harder to break with our app blocker. These blocks sometimes won't kick in until several minutes into a session, or may require extra steps to get blocks working.
Airplane Mode Fix
Here's a quick tip to make sure your blocks kick in immediately: Just turn Airplane Mode on and off again. Toggling Airplane Mode will clear out some caches on your phone and break the constant connection these apps use, which will then block your apps. Your feeds will not refresh and you will see network connection error messages.
Another tip: for apps that require a log-in, you can log out of the app, start a blocking session, and then turn Airplane mode on and off again — you will be unable to log back in for the rest of your block session.
If possible, we recommend waiting a few minutes into a session before opening these hard-to-block apps. Continually refreshing the app will make it difficult for the blocks to kick in.
Automating Airplane Mode
Evan, one of our users, offers this idea for automating the toggling of Airplane mode using Shortcuts on iOS:
On your iPhone or iPad, open the Shortcuts app
Tap "Automation," then "Create Personal Automation"
Choose "Time of Day" and set it to the beginning of your Freedom session, then tap Next
Tap "Add Action" and then "Scripting"
Add "Set Airplane Mode," "Wait," and then "Airplane Mode" again, making sure it says "on" the first time and "off" the second time.
6. Tap "Next" and then "Done." Airplane mode should now be toggled automatically at the time you set!
Having trouble?
If you're having any difficulty, please feel free to contact us. We're happy to help!