What is Strict Mode?

Strict Mode is a per-block toggle on Scheduled Blocks and Block Now. It is not a global app-wide mode, and it does not apply to Auto Block (which has no Strict Mode option). When Strict Mode is on for a given block, it locks that block's settings, the apps it is blocking, and the uninstall ability for the duration of that block.

Strict Mode is for when you don't trust future-you. When you turn it on for a Scheduled Block or a Block Now session, you commit to a block you cannot weaken from inside the active window: the block's settings, the App Group it is blocking, and the ability to uninstall Detox are all locked until the block ends.

Strict Mode does not disable Urgent Unblock. The 24-hour emergency release in Settings remains available so you're never fully locked out.

If you meant something else: the always-on background block → see What is Auto Block?. pause an active block for a few minutes → see What are Breaks?. release every block right now in an emergency → see What is Urgent Unblock?. all the ways to keep yourself from escaping your own blocks → see How do I stop myself from getting around my own blocks?. some Home Screen icons went blank or white after a block started or ended → see Why are some of my app icons blank or white?.

How it works

Each Scheduled Block and Block Now has its own Strict Mode toggle. When you turn it on, the setting saves with the block; it kicks in the moment that block becomes active and lifts when the block ends. Other blocks (and your other apps) are unaffected.

While a Strict-Mode block is active, the following are locked:

The App Group the block is set to, including its apps, Custom Websites, and Block Adult Websites toggle (read-only). Each App Group keeps its own apps and settings, and the one this block uses can't be edited while the block is active.
The block's own settings: start/end time, days, Allow breaks toggle, max break duration, Ending Action
The Strict Mode toggle itself
The block's Deactivate and Delete buttons (you can't end this occurrence early)
The ability to uninstall Detox from your home screen

A banner appears at the top of the block's edit sheet: Strict mode is enabled. Settings cannot be changed while block is active.

Enabling Strict Mode

To turn it on for a block:

Open the block's Edit sheet (from the Blocks tab, or from the My current block widget when the block is active).
Find the Strict Mode toggle and tap it.
A confirmation appears explaining what Strict Mode does. Tap Enable Strict Mode to confirm.
Tap Save to commit the change.

If you're enabling Strict Mode on a block that's currently active, a different banner appears first: Strict mode will be enabled after saving. Settings will be locked. Once you tap Save, the lock takes effect immediately.

Turning Strict Mode off

You can change the Strict Mode setting on a block whenever the block is not currently running. Once a Strict Mode block goes active, the toggle is locked along with everything else, and you have to wait for the block to end before you can disable it.

This means: if you set up a Scheduled Block with Strict Mode and you want to relax it tomorrow, edit the block during one of its inactive windows (e.g., outside its scheduled hours), toggle Strict Mode off, and Save. The change applies to the next occurrence.

What still works during Strict Mode

Two escape valves are deliberately kept available even in Strict Mode:

Breaks: if you turned Allow breaks on when configuring the block, the Pause button still works during a Strict Mode block. Strict Mode locks the block's settings, not the breaks themselves.
Urgent Unblock: the emergency 24-hour-cooldown unblock in Settings still works in Strict Mode. It's the last-resort escape valve for when you genuinely need access.

Uninstall protection

When a Strict Mode block is active, Detox tells iOS to prevent uninstalling the app. The Detox icon stays on your home screen, but the standard delete action doesn't work. iOS itself enforces this through the Screen Time framework Detox is built on top of.

The lock is tied to the active block. When the block ends, uninstall is possible again until the next Strict Mode block starts. If you want a more permanent layer of tamper-resistance (one that doesn't depend on a Strict Mode block being active), see How do I use iOS's Screen Time Passcode to lock Detox? for how to set up iOS's own deletion lock.

What Strict Mode doesn't do

It doesn't apply to Auto Block. Auto Block has no Strict Mode toggle; if you want strict commitment, use a Scheduled Block or a Block Now session with Strict Mode on.
It doesn't lock permanently. Strict Mode only enforces during the active window of the block it's set on. There's no global always-on Strict Mode; it is a per-block setting by design.
It doesn't disable Urgent Unblock. The 24-hour emergency unblock is always available, by design, so you're never fully locked out.
It doesn't sync across devices. Strict Mode is configured per block, and blocks are per device.
It isn't why an edit made from a block screen didn't stick. Those app lists are view-only for everyone, with or without Strict Mode, and they say so on screen instead of showing a lock: see How do I block specific apps and websites?.

Updated on: 28/08/2026

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