What Screen Time controls
Screen Time works at the level of the whole app. Apple's documentation lists time allowances across app categories, schedules for different times of day, content and privacy restrictions, and the option to allow or block specific apps and websites.[1]
That is a good fit when the problem is total time. Set a limit on Instagram, and Instagram stops opening once you hit it. It is free, it covers every app on the phone, and it is the right tool for a child's device.
Where it stops
The same documentation doesn't list a control for anything inside an app.[1] Instagram is either available or it isn't. Reels, Explore and the algorithmic feed all come with it.
Screen Time also asks you to hold the line at the moment you hit a limit, which is the moment it is hardest to. The full explanation covers why a limit on its own rarely holds.
What DoomOff controls
DoomOff works one level down. For each of seven sites, it removes the specific mechanics that keep you scrolling:
- Instagram: Block Reels, Block Explore, Hide Stories, Hide Suggested & Ads, and a Following feed.
- YouTube: Hide Shorts, a Subscriptions home, and no suggested videos under a playing video.
- TikTok, X, Reddit: the Following feed by default, plus Hide Explore and Hide ads where the site has them.
- LinkedIn and Facebook: promoted and suggested posts gone, or Reels and Stories gone.
Messages, search, subscriptions and the people you follow keep working. Every toggle also has a plain block option, and a time limit per site.
Which one to use
Use Screen Time if you want a hard cap across every app, or you are setting up a child's phone. Use DoomOff if the problem is the feed, not the app. Use both if you want a cap and a calmer feed behind it.
DoomOff covers seven sites on iPhone and Android. It does not cover games, news apps or anything else, and it does not support iPad or Mac yet. It costs $4.99 a year in the US, with a one-week free trial.