minulo is an iPhone app that opens Instagram and YouTube with Reels and Shorts hidden for free while DMs and normal videos keep working, which covers the one thing the usual bedtime habits don't touch: the feed itself. The built-in way to actually stop the apps at night is Screen Time Downtime with Block at Downtime, and it blocks your Instagram DMs along with Reels. (I'm the developer of minulo.)
The iPhone steps below come from Apple's iPhone User Guide (iOS 26 and iOS 27), checked on October 23, 2026. Menu names can change with updates. These are practical steps, not medical advice.
What the habits do, and where they stop
Grayscale
Settings › Accessibility › Display & Text Size › Color Filters, turn on Color Filters and choose Grayscale. Apple notes that color filters change how images and videos look. Night Shift doesn't switch it off, so you can use both.
Where it stops: nothing is blocked. Reels play in gray.
A quiet Home Screen for Sleep Focus
Settings › Focus › Sleep, then choose a Home Screen page to show while the Focus is on. Pick one without Instagram, TikTok or YouTube.
Where it stops: the apps are still in the App Library and search. It removes the icon you tap out of habit, nothing more.
A sleep schedule with wind down
In the Health app, tap Browse › Sleep and set a bedtime and wake up time. Wind down can start 15 minutes to 3 hours before bedtime, and Sleep Focus begins with it.
Where it stops: Sleep Focus filters notifications and calls. It doesn't stop apps from opening, and you can turn it off in Control Center.
Charging outside the bedroom
This does more than any setting, because there's nothing within reach to tap. If you can't, at least put the phone across the room.
Where it stops: if your phone is your alarm, you need another alarm clock. And some nights you'll want the phone in bed anyway, to reply to someone.
When you need a real stop
Settings › Screen Time › Downtime › Scheduled, set a passcode and turn on Block at Downtime. Blocked apps are dimmed with an hourglass and won't open. It works on whole apps, so Instagram DMs stop too. On iOS 27 the same idea is Screen Time Schedule.
Steps in minulo
The habits make the phone less tempting. minulo hides Reels and Shorts themselves.
- Install minulo, tap Add a service and add Instagram and YouTube.
- Tap the gear next to Instagram and turn on Hide the Reels tab and Hide Explore, or turn on Every tab but DMs so only DMs and notifications are left.
- Tap the gear next to YouTube and turn on Hide the Shorts shelf and Hide the Shorts tab.
- When you get into bed, open the Block tab and lock the official Instagram, TikTok and YouTube apps with Screen Time. Tapping their icons shows a block screen instead of the feed.
If you also use Downtime, add minulo to Always Allowed so it stays open for messages.
Limits
- The official apps don't change. Reels and Shorts are hidden only inside minulo.
- Free locks last up to 2 hours per block. A nightly schedule that starts by itself, longer blocks and Hard Mode are minulo Pro.
- No notifications from a locked app. minulo sends none of its own.
- Posting Stories, voice messages and calls aren't available in minulo's Instagram.
- iPhone and Mac only. The Mac version works in Safari and Chrome. No Android version yet.
Summary
Grayscale, a quiet Home Screen and wind down make the phone duller and harder to reach, and charging in another room helps most. None of them removes Reels or Shorts once you open the app. Downtime does stop the apps, DMs included. To keep messages and drop the feeds, use minulo, where hiding is free, and lock the official apps at bedtime.
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