Articles on: Using Detox

What are App Groups?

App Groups let you save more than one set of apps and websites, so different blocks can cover different apps. You create and manage them in the Settings tab, under Monitored Apps. Each group is a named set with its own emoji, and when you start a Scheduled Block or a Block Now, you choose which group it blocks.

An App Group is a set of apps, not a block on its own. You still create an Auto Block, a Scheduled Block, or a Block Now; App Groups just let each one target a different set of apps instead of every block sharing one list. It is also not the same as a category (like Social or Games), which is a single item you can add inside a group from Apple's picker.

If you meant something else: a recurring time-window block → see What are Scheduled Blocks?. Block apps right now for a set time → see What is Block Now?. The always-on background block → see What is Auto Block?.

Your initial group

Before App Groups, you had one list of monitored apps. That list is now your initial group, shown as "Your initial group" (or "My apps" if you have not named it). Nothing changed about what it blocks. It is simply the first group, and your Auto Block uses it.

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.

Creating a group

Open Detox and go to the Settings tab.
Tap the Monitored Apps card. This opens your list of groups.
Tap New Group.
Give it an emoji and a name, like 🎮 Games or 📱 Social.
Add what it should block:
- Apps, categories, and websites through Apple's picker, the same picker you already use for monitored apps.
- Custom Websites you type in yourself.
- The Block Adult Websites toggle, which now applies per group.
Save. A group needs at least one app, category, or website before you can save it.

Each group keeps its own apps, custom websites, and adult-filter setting. Editing your initial group's apps takes effect right away on any block currently using it.

Choosing a group when you block

When you create a Scheduled Block or a Block Now, Detox asks Which apps? and you pick one of:

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 you can save or start the block. Your Auto Block always uses your initial group, so to change what Auto Block watches, edit that group.

Choosing a different group per schedule is what lets you block different apps at different times. See Can I block different apps at different times? for a full walk-through.

Limits to know

You can have up to 10 blocks total across your Auto Block and your Scheduled Blocks. Block Now and screen-time tracking do not count toward that number.
You have one Auto Block, tied to your initial group. More Auto Blocks are marked Coming Soon in the app and are not available yet.
Deleting a group also deletes the Scheduled Blocks and the Auto Block attached to it. Detox warns you and names how many before you confirm. Your initial group cannot be deleted (see above).

Screen time with more than one group

With a single group, screen-time tracking stays tied to your Auto Block, the same as before. Once you create a second group, a separate Screen Time section appears in your Settings tab, so tracking is no longer pinned to one group. See How does Screen Time tracking work? for the details.

What App Groups don't do

They don't give you more than one Auto Block yet. The Auto Block stays single and tied to your initial group.
They don't show per-group time. Detox reports your overall screen time, not a breakdown of how long you spent on each group.
They don't sync between devices. Groups, like the rest of your block setup, are configured per device.

Updated on: 23/06/2026

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