Articles on: Troubleshooting

Detox is blocking an app I didn't mean to block. How do I fix it?

Fastest fix: add the app to iPhone Settings → Screen Time → Always Allowed. It will bypass every block, Detox's included, going forward.


Why it's blocked: the app is almost always part of a category you selected in Apple's picker (Social, Entertainment, etc.). Selecting a category blocks every app Apple classifies inside it, including apps you may not have realized were there. Two ways to fix this below; the in-app version of these same steps is at Detox → Settings → Problems with blocks? → App blocked by mistake?.


Option 1: add the app to iOS Always Allowed


The fastest fix is to tell iOS itself to never block this specific app, regardless of what any app (including Detox) does:


  1. Open iPhone Settings → Screen Time → Always Allowed.
  2. Tap Choose Apps.
  3. Find the app you want never blocked and add it to the list.


Once an app is in Always Allowed, it bypasses every Screen Time block, including Detox's. Reserve this for apps you genuinely always need available (messaging, navigation, a phone-call app); don't use it for content apps you'd just end up scrolling on.


Option 2: change your Monitored Apps selection


If the wrongly-blocked app is in your monitored category but not one you'd want to always allow, you can refine your Monitored Apps to be more specific:


  1. Open Detox → Settings → Monitored Apps → Modify.
  2. Tap Open picker to open Apple's Family Activity Picker.
  3. Unselect the category that contains the wrongly-blocked app.
  4. Add back the individual apps from that category that you do want blocked.


This is more granular but takes a bit more setup. The benefit is that the unwanted app stops appearing in any of your blocks.


See How do I block specific apps and websites? for the full picker walkthrough.


When the in-app guide is more reliable


The 3-step guide inside Detox always reflects the current iOS path (Apple's settings menus do shift between iOS versions). If you're following the steps above and something doesn't match what you see, open the in-app guide for the up-to-date version.



  • How do I block specific apps and websites?
  • Detox isn't blocking my apps. How do I fix it?
  • What can't Detox do?


Updated on: 23/05/2026

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