How to block X (Twitter)

X gets read by reflex: a dead moment, a queue, and the “For you” feed is open before anything was decided. Three ways to shut the app — and the website, which here is the loophole — with the steps of each and the button that gets around it.

First: the app is only half the problem

X reads just as well in a browser as in its app, and x.com stays open when the app is shut. Blocking the app alone moves the habit to Safari or Chrome within two days. Each method below says what it does about the website. If you keep X for a specific reason — monitoring, a work account — the right setting isn’t a total block but an exchange rate that makes every opening deliberate.

1. On iPhone, with Screen Time

1. Open Settings, then Screen Time.
2. Tap App Limits, then Add Limit.
3. Search for X in the field at the top of the list, tick 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 the website too: Screen Time → Content & Privacy Restrictions → Web Content → Limit Adult Websites, then add x.com under “Never Allow”.

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 X.
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 X in the list of apps to lock. On iPhone, the same picker offers websites: add x.com to shut the browser too. On Android, blocking covers apps only for now.
4. Pick your rate: at ×1, ten minutes of walking buy ten minutes of feed.
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 block x.com in the browser?

On iPhone: Settings → Screen Time → Content & Privacy Restrictions → Web Content → Limit Adult Websites, then x.com under “Never Allow”. With Tempo, the website is added to your selection from Apple’s picker and reopens with your balance. On Android, neither Digital Wellbeing nor Tempo blocks a website for now.

Can I keep direct messages and block the feed?

No: both systems block a whole app, not one of its tabs. That’s true of every blocker. The sensible workaround is a generous exchange rate rather than a total block.

Does X 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.