Articles on: Using Detox

How do I block specific apps and websites?

You choose which apps and websites Detox can block by building App Groups, in the Settings tab under Monitored Apps. A group is a named set of apps, categories, and websites. When you start a block, you pick which group it covers, so different blocks can target different apps.

This is not one shared list anymore. There used to be a single Monitored Apps list that every block drew from. Now Monitored Apps opens a list of groups, and each block points at a specific group. Your old single list still exists as your initial group (shown as "Your initial group" or "My apps"); it did not disappear, it became the first group.

If you meant something else: saving and managing multiple sets of apps → see What are App Groups?. Block different apps at different times of day → see Can I block different apps at different times?. One-off blocking right now → see What is Block Now?.

Where to find your apps

Open Detox, go to the Settings tab, and tap Monitored Apps. This opens your list of groups, not a single picker. From there you can:

Tap a group to edit the apps, categories, and websites inside it.
Tap New Group to create another set.

The standalone App Groups card folded into here, so Monitored Apps is now the one place you manage every group.

What lives inside a group

Each group holds its own apps, categories, websites, custom websites, and adult-filter setting. Open a group to edit any of these:

Apps, categories, and websites through Apple's picker, the full-screen Family Activity Picker. You can select individual apps (Instagram, TikTok, Safari), whole categories (Social, Games, Entertainment), or websites from Apple's catalog. Use the search bar at the top to find something fast.
Custom Websites you type in yourself, for sites that are not in Apple's picker. Type the domain (youtube.com, tiktok.com) and add it.
The Block Adult Websites toggle, which turns on iOS Screen Time's built-in adult-content filter. Apple decides what counts as adult content; you do not curate a list.

These settings are per group, not global. Turning on the adult filter or adding a custom website in one group does not change any other group.

Why can I only add websites, not apps?

You tapped Modify on the wrong card. When you open a group, there are two cards with a Modify button:

The first card shows your apps, categories, and websites (or No apps selected). Its Modify opens Apple's full-screen picker, where you add apps, categories, and websites.
The second card, the one for Custom Websites (it shows No custom websites at first), only takes websites you type in manually, never apps.

If the screen you landed on only lets you add websites, you are in Custom Websites. Go back and tap Modify on the first card to open Apple's picker and pick your apps.

Your initial group

Your old monitored-apps list is now your initial group. Nothing changed about what it blocks. It is simply the first group, and your Auto Block is tied to it. To change what Auto Block watches, edit your initial group.

Editing your initial group takes effect right away on any block currently using it. So if a block is live and you add an app to that group, the new app is blocked immediately.

Your initial group cannot be deleted for now. That limit is temporary and will change in a later update. You can rename it and edit its apps at any time; you just cannot remove it yet.

Choosing a group when you block

When you start a Scheduled Block or a Block Now, Detox asks Which apps? and you pick either:

A group you have created, or
Just these apps, a one-off selection for that single block that is not saved as a group.

You have to choose before Save or Start becomes available. Your Auto Block always uses your initial group, so it does not ask. For the full picture of how groups work across every block type, see What are App Groups?.

Custom Websites and the adult filter, in practice

Custom Websites and the adult filter are blocked across all browsers whenever a block using their group is active. iOS does not track screen time on these the same way it tracks apps, so they cannot trigger Auto Block on their own from continuous use. They get blocked because another block in their group is running.

Practical consequence: if you want Auto Block to fire when you spend too long on reddit.com, adding reddit.com as a Custom Website will not do it. Add the Reddit app (or reddit.com from the picker's website list) through Apple's picker in your initial group instead, so Apple's Screen Time API can track the time.

Why is a website blocked in Safari but not in Chrome or Brave?

Because it was added only through Apple's picker, which covers Safari alone. To block a website in every browser (Chrome, Brave, and any other), you have to add it as a Custom Website: open the group, go to Custom Websites, and type the domain (youtube.com) in yourself. Once it is a Custom Website, the block applies in every browser while a block using that group is active.

This is not a bug and not a Screen Time connection problem, so resetting Screen Time will not fix it. A website stays limited to Safari only when it was picked through Apple's picker instead of being added as a Custom Website.

What Detox can see, and can't

Apple's privacy model hands Detox opaque tokens for your selection, not names. So:

A group shows you counts like 5 apps, 2 categories, 3 websites, never which specific apps or sites.
Only you can see the full contents, by opening the Apple picker inside that group.
Detox cannot read your selection from outside the picker, and we cannot share or export it.

This is why support cannot tell you "you have Instagram blocked" or fix a group remotely. Only you can see and edit what is inside each group.

Why is there a delay before I can change my Monitored Apps?

When a block is currently running on that group, Detox makes you wait out a short countdown before it unlocks editing. You'll see a Take a breath before editing... screen with a number counting down; when it reaches zero, the group opens for editing as usual, and your changes apply right away.

The countdown length is the same waiting delay you set on that block. It reuses the delay Detox already shows before a Pause or a Snooze takes effect, so if you set a 30-second delay on your Auto Block or a Scheduled Block, you wait 30 seconds here too. If you never changed it, the wait is only a few seconds. To make it shorter or longer, change that block's Pause or Snooze delay.

This wait only happens while a block is actively covering that group. When no block is running on the group, you can change it immediately, with no countdown.

How do I stop myself from editing my apps to get around a block?

Turn on Strict Mode for the Scheduled Block or Block Now that covers the group. While that block is active, that group is read-only: you cannot remove or change the apps inside it until the block ends. See What is Strict Mode? for everything else it locks.

The Take a breath before editing... countdown is not this lock. It is only a short delay and always lets you through once it finishes, so it won't stop you removing an app in a moment of weakness. Strict Mode is what actually keeps the group closed.

Strict Mode is available on Scheduled Blocks and Block Now, but not on Auto Block. If your only block is an Auto Block, there is no in-app editing lock for it; the tamper-resistant layer is the iOS Screen Time Passcode, which locks Screen Time settings device-wide so Detox can't be disabled or deleted. See How do I use iOS's Screen Time Passcode to lock Detox?.

Updated on: 23/07/2026

Was this article helpful?

Thank you!