How to Block Apps & Limit Time Spent on Apps?

Apps can be fun, educational and engaging, but they can also become distracting. Mobicip allows you to choose the apps your children can use and how long they can use them on their devices.

Block Apps

With Mobicip, you can block specific apps or even entire app categories.

To block individual apps:

1. Open the Mobicip parent app or login on the web.
2. Choose your child and go to Rules > Apps. 
3. Search for the app you want to block and select the Store.
4. Tap the app and choose Block.

What happens on your child’s device: 

• iOS: The blocked app disappears from your child’s device.
• Android: A “Blocked by Mobicip” screen appears when your child opens the app on their Android device.

To block app categories:

Mobicip allows you to block and limit the time spent on three specific app categories completely - Social Media, Entertainment, and Games.

1. Open the Mobicip Parent app or login on the web.
2. Choose your child and go to Rules > Apps > Categories. 
3. Select the category you want to block or limit.

4. Tap Block or Add Limit.

   

What happens on your child’s device:

• iOS: All apps under the blocked category will appear greyed out and cannot be opened.
• Android: A “Blocked by Mobicip” screen appears when your child opens the app under the blocked category.

Limit Apps

You can now limit the amount of time your child spends on individual apps — yes, you read that right! Set healthy limits so your child can enjoy their favourite apps without spending too much time on them.

How App Limits Work

On Android:

You can set a time limit on any listed app or search the Play Store to add a limit to a new one. All apps installed on your child’s Android device can be limited. Any app your child has used at least once on their device will automatically appear in the Apps list. 

To set a limit:

• Go to Rules > Apps on the parent app.
• Choose an app from the list or search for the app in the Play Store.
• Select the app and tap Add Limit.
• Set the daily time limit.

• Tap Apply.

  

When the time is used up, Mobicip automatically blocks the app until the limit resets the next day.

On iOS:

You can set time limits on any app installed on your child’s iOS device from the parent app. Please note Apple allows tracking and limiting the time only on apps that use the internet (network apps).

How it works:

• Any network app your child has used at least once will automatically appear in the Apps list.
• You can set a time limit for those apps or search the App Store to add a limit to a new one. The limits will apply when your child starts using the app.
• Limits on apps that don’t use the internet (non-network apps) may not work accurately because Mobicip cannot track the usage data.

To set a limit:

1. Go to Rules > Apps.
2. Choose an app from the list or search for the app in the App Store.
3. Select the app and tap Add Limit.
4. Set the daily time limit.

When the time is used up, Mobicip will automatically block the app until the limit resets the next day.

Please check out this article to learn how to set up schedules for your child.