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What can I do on the Blocks page?

The Blocks page is where you create, edit, and manage every block in Detox. The page is laid out as three cards, one for each block type, plus a small header at the top with two utility buttons.

The Blocks page is not where you choose which apps a block covers. You pick that when you set up each block, through a Which apps? step. It is also not where you see your screen time or trends, those live on the Home and Progress tabs.

If you meant something else: choose or manage the sets of apps each block covers → see What are App Groups?. Change the apps and websites Detox can monitor → see How do I block specific apps and websites?.

The three block cards

The body of the page is three cards stacked top to bottom:

Auto Block: "Monitor your apps and get blocked when you're stuck doomscrolling." Tap to create or edit your Auto Block configuration, or open the active sheet when it's running.
Scheduled Blocks (N): "Set specific days and times to automatically block your apps." Tap to open the list of all your schedules, where you can create a new one, edit existing ones, or open the active schedule's details.
Block Now: "Block your apps for a set duration." Tap to start a new Block Now session, or open the active session sheet if one is already running.

Each card shows the block type's icon and a brief status. When the block is running, the card displays its current state and a countdown:

Monitoring appears on the Auto Block card when monitoring is active but nothing has fired yet.
Blocking appears when the block is currently shielding your apps, with a countdown to when it ends.
On Break appears when you've paused (taken a break or snoozed) the active block, with a countdown to when the break ends.
Pending unlock appears on a Scheduled Block or Block Now card whose end time has passed but is set to Manual Unlock, prompting you to tap Unlock.

If the block has nothing going on, the card shows a default Tap to set up style of state with no badge or countdown.

The `Scheduled Blocks (N)` count

The number in parentheses on the Scheduled Blocks card is the total number of schedules you have, including active, upcoming, disabled, and any you ended early. It doesn't filter to just the ones currently running, so Scheduled Blocks (4) may mean you have one active and three on standby.

Choosing which apps a block covers

When you set up an Auto Block, a Scheduled Block, or a Block Now, Detox asks Which apps?. Your Auto Block always uses your initial group. For a Scheduled Block or a Block Now, you pick either an App Group you've created or Just these apps, a one-off set for that single block. You can't save or start the block until you've chosen. See What are App Groups? for how groups work.

How many blocks you can have

You can have up to 10 blocks total across your Auto Block and your Scheduled Blocks. Block Now and screen-time tracking don't count toward that number, so you can always start a Block Now session even at the cap.

There's no rule against running blocks at the same time. A Block Now session can start while a Scheduled Block is active, and the only limits on Block Now are that you can run one Block Now session at a time and you have to pick which apps it covers. There is no schedule-based lockout on starting a Block Now.

Header buttons

The page header has the title Blocks and two small buttons in the top-right:

The gear icon: Block notifications

The gear icon opens a Block notifications sheet where you can configure three optional notifications:

Auto Block pre-warning: get a notification before Auto Block actually fires. You set the trigger ratio: 50%, 75%, or 90% of your continuous-use threshold. For example, if your threshold is 10 minutes and you pick 75%, you get the warning at 7m30s. This section is disabled if your Auto Block threshold is under 2 minutes (the warning would arrive too close to the block to be useful).
Scheduled block reminder: a notification 5 minutes before each scheduled block starts, so you can wrap up what you're doing.
Scheduled block start notification: a notification at the exact moment a scheduled block begins blocking.

Each is independent: toggle on or off whichever you want. The sheet saves with a green checkmark in the header; a grey X discards your changes. Once you've made changes, the sheet becomes sticky (you can't accidentally swipe it away) so unsaved edits don't get lost.

The reload icon: troubleshooting

The reload icon opens the same 5-step troubleshooting guide you can reach from Settings → Problems with blocks? → Apps not blocked?. Use it from here if blocking isn't working and you want the quickest path to the fix steps. The full walkthrough is documented in Detox isn't blocking my apps. How do I fix it?.

Where to go from the Blocks page

The Blocks page is for creating and managing blocks. For things you can't do here, switch tabs from the nav bar at the bottom:

To see your current daily screen time and active block at a glance, go to the Home tab.
To see longer-term trends (weekly, monthly, lifetime), go to the Progress tab.
To change which apps and websites are monitored, manage your App Groups, or reach urgent unblock and other troubleshooting, go to the Settings tab.

Updated on: 23/06/2026

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