Block YouTube

YouTube raises a problem TikTok doesn’t: some of what you do there is useful. A tutorial, a course, a bike repair — and, inside the same app, a Shorts feed that works exactly like TikTok’s. Block it thoughtlessly and you lose the useful half; block nothing and you keep the half that costs.

Separating deliberate from reflex

No system can block a section inside an app: not iOS, not Android, so no blocker either. You cannot shut Shorts while keeping long videos. What you can do is move deliberate use somewhere other than the app:

• App locked, site open. Anything you look for on purpose gets watched on youtube.com in the browser — no infinite feed on launch, no reflex tap from the home screen.
• A generous exchange rate instead of a total block: at ×3, twenty minutes of walking reopens an hour.

On iPhone, Apple’s picker also offers websites: if the browser becomes the new hole in the net, youtube.com can join the selection. On Android, blocking covers apps only for now.

Blocking the whole category in one gesture

YouTube is rarely alone: it shares the evening with Netflix, Twitch, Prime Video. The system picker offers whole categories — “Entertainment” puts them under one key, including apps you install later. In Tempo the number of blocked apps and categories is unlimited, free version included: blocking is not the paid part.

What unlocking costs

Every real minute of activity credits screen minutes, at the rate you set. While the balance is positive, YouTube opens normally; watching drains it by the minute; at zero the app shuts again — on iPhone, iOS enforces the re-lock with Tempo closed. On a 44-minute session measured on device, 43 minutes were debited: the count follows the system’s own Screen Time, not an estimate.

With no watch, your steps are the currency: a thousand steps are worth about ten minutes of walking. And workouts entered by hand in Health or Health Connect are left out — they fund nothing.

The limit worth knowing

Tempo only works on the phone it’s installed on. The TV, the laptop, the tablet in the living room are outside its reach. If most of your video watching happens somewhere other than that phone, Tempo isn’t the tool: it counts that phone’s screen time, and it’s better to know that before installing than after.

Frequently asked questions

Can I block Shorts and keep the rest of YouTube?

No: neither iOS nor Android can block a section inside an app. The block covers YouTube as a whole. The sensible workaround is to keep youtube.com in the browser for deliberate viewing, and put the app under lock.

How do I block every video app at once?

The system picker offers whole categories, not just apps: choosing “Entertainment” puts YouTube, Netflix and Twitch under the same key. That’s free and uncapped in Tempo.

What if I watch YouTube on my TV or laptop?

Tempo doesn’t see them: it only works on the phone it’s installed on. That’s a real limit, and the reason Tempo counts that phone’s screen time rather than your video time in general.