How to block Netflix

Netflix isn’t scrolled, it’s chained: the next episode starts on its own, and “one more” isn’t a decision, it’s the absence of one. Three ways to shut the app on the phone, with the steps of each and the button that gets around it — plus the setting that matters most, which isn’t a block.

First: turn off autoplay

Before any block, one account setting removes most of the problem: on netflix.com, Account → Profiles → your profile → Playback settings, untick “Autoplay next episode”. It applies to every device, TV included, which none of the methods below does: they only work on the phone.

1. On iPhone, with Screen Time

1. Open Settings, then Screen Time.
2. Tap App Limits, then Add Limit.
3. Search for Netflix in the field at the top of the list and tick it — or tick the whole Entertainment category to take YouTube, Twitch and Prime Video with it. Then Next.
4. Set the time. For a full block, choose 1 minute, the smallest allowed.
5. Make sure Block at End of Limit is on, then Add.

For a time window rather than a duration — no Netflix after 10 pm — Downtime (in the same menu) shuts the app on a schedule.

Once the limit is hit, the icon greys out and the app opens on a screen that offers Ignore Limit — “One More Minute”, “Remind Me in 15 Minutes”, “Ignore Limit for Today”. A block you lift with a thumb isn’t one. To close that door: Settings → Screen Time → Lock Screen Time Settings, and a four-digit passcode typed by someone else. The limit resets every night.

2. On Android, with Digital Wellbeing

1. Open Settings, then Digital Wellbeing & parental controls.
2. Tap the chart at the top, or Show your data.
3. In the list, tap the hourglass to the right of Netflix.
4. Pick the shortest time offered, then OK.

When the time is up, the app shows “App paused” until midnight. The workaround is two taps away on that same screen, and Digital Wellbeing has no passcode to protect it from you; the only lock is Family Link, meaning another account manages yours. For a list of apps on a schedule, Focus mode, on the same page, does the job — with the same “Take a break” button. On Samsung the page is called “Digital Wellbeing and parental controls”, under “App timers”.

3. With Tempo: shut by default, reopened by moving

Both system settings leave an “ignore” button. Tempo replaces that button with a condition: the app stays shut while your screen-minute balance is at zero, and that balance only fills by moving — running, walking, the gym, cycling, at the exchange rate you chose.

1. Install Tempo from the App Store or Google Play.
2. On first launch, allow Health (to read your workouts and steps) and Screen Time (to block). On Android the permissions are called “usage access” and “display over other apps”; Tempo says where to find each one.
3. Tick Netflix in the list of apps to lock — or the whole Entertainment category, future apps included.
4. Pick your rate: an episode is 45 minutes, so at ×2 a twenty-five-minute workout pays for one. The free cap of 60 minutes a day limits spending to one and a half.
5. That’s it. The app shuts at once, and reopens as soon as the balance is positive.

There is nothing to unlock, and nothing to ignore either: the only key is the sensor. A workout typed by hand into Health or Health Connect credits nothing. The minutes you spend inside drain the balance, and at zero everything shuts again — on iPhone, iOS does that on its own, with Tempo closed for hours. The balance is shared across every locked app. In the free version, spending is capped at 60 screen minutes a day: past that, what you earn waits for tomorrow. With no watch, a thousand steps are worth about ten minutes of walking, and the simulator on the home page runs the numbers with yours.

The notification catch

A blocked app keeps notifying: those banners come from the system, not the app, and none of the three methods has a say over them. A notification calling you towards a shut app is the worst of both worlds — so if the app goes under lock, the very next setting to change is its notifications, in your phone’s settings.

Frequently asked questions

How do I turn off autoplay on Netflix?

From a browser: netflix.com → Account → Profiles → your profile → Playback settings, then untick “Autoplay next episode”. The setting applies to every device on that profile.

What if I watch Netflix on my TV?

None of the three methods sees it: they only work on the phone. Tempo counts that phone’s screen time, not your series time in general. The autoplay setting, on the other hand, applies everywhere.

Does Netflix reopen on its own once I’ve earned minutes?

Yes. There is nothing to unlock: as soon as your balance is positive, every blocked app opens normally. Credit lands even without opening Tempo, at the end of a workout or as your steps add up.

Does it work without a watch?

Yes: your phone’s steps become the currency, and Tempo then sets a floor so walking alone still funds something.