minulo stops Reels and Shorts before bed while keeping your messages: it hides Reels and Shorts for free, and it can lock the official Instagram, TikTok and YouTube apps with Screen Time, free for up to 2 hours per block. A nightly schedule that starts by itself is part of minulo Pro. On iPhone, the only built-in setting that stops apps at a set time is Downtime with Block at Downtime, and it blocks your DMs along with Reels. (I'm the developer of minulo.)
The iPhone steps below come from Apple's iPhone User Guide and Shortcuts User Guide, checked on October 27, 2026. Menu names can change with updates.
What iPhone's own settings do, and where they stop
Downtime: locks at a set time, DMs included
- Open Settings, tap Screen Time, then Always Allowed, and add the messaging apps you need at night. Leave Instagram, TikTok and YouTube out.
- Go back, tap Downtime, turn on Scheduled and set the days and times.
- Turn on Block at Downtime. Apple says you can choose this once you have set a Screen Time passcode.
Apple's guide says that during downtime, only calls, messages and apps you choose to allow are available. With Block at Downtime off, you only see a reminder. On iOS 27 the same idea is called Screen Time Schedule. It works by Time Allowance categories, and Apple says it needs iOS 27 or later on all your Apple devices.
The catch is that Downtime works on whole apps. Instagram stays shut until morning, and so do your Instagram DMs.
Sleep Focus: quiet, but not locked
Apple says a Sleep Focus helps reduce distractions before and during bedtime: it can filter notifications and phone calls and tell others you're not available. It follows the sleep schedule you set in the Health app.
- Go to Settings, tap Focus, then Sleep.
- Tap Apps and leave Instagram, TikTok and YouTube out of the apps that can notify you.
- Choose a Home Screen page without those apps to switch to while the Focus is on.
That takes the apps out of sight. But Apple's guide doesn't say a Focus stops an app from opening. If you tap Instagram, it opens.
Require Face ID: a lock you can open yourself
Touch and hold an app on the Home Screen and tap Require Face ID. Apple says the app then needs Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode to open, and relocks when you quit. It's your own face, so it adds a step but doesn't stop you, and it isn't tied to a time. Apple also notes that children under 13 in a Family Sharing group can't lock or hide apps.
Shortcuts automations: on time, but nothing to lock with
A personal automation can run at a Time of Day. What I couldn't find in Apple's Shortcuts guide is an action that closes, locks or blocks another app. So an automation can fire at 11 pm, but it has nothing to keep Instagram shut with.
So for an automatic lock at night, the choice is Downtime or a blocker app.
How I lock the apps every night with minulo
A note before the steps: I'm Ayumu Kitabayashi, and I build minulo, so this part is the developer describing his own app.
- Install minulo and open the Block tab.
- Choose the official Instagram, TikTok or YouTube app and lock it with Screen Time. Apps you don't choose stay open. Tapping a locked app's icon shows a block screen instead of the feed.
- With minulo Pro, a schedule by day and time turns the block on by itself every night, and blocks can run longer than 2 hours.
- If you still need DMs at night, open Instagram inside minulo. Reels are hidden there, and DMs work.
On the free plan you start each block yourself, for example when you get into bed. Each free block lasts up to 2 hours, and you can start another as soon as one ends.
If you use Downtime as well, adding minulo to Always Allowed means you can still open it just to reply to messages.
Five limits of minulo
- The official apps don't change. Reels and Shorts are hidden only inside minulo.
- Free locks last up to 2 hours. To cover the whole night, start another block or use Pro.
- Nightly schedules are Pro. On the free plan you start every block yourself. Pro also adds Hard Mode and multiple block lists.
- No notifications while an app is locked. A locked official app sends no notifications until you unlock it, and minulo sends none of its own. On a night you're waiting for a message in that app, leave it unlocked.
- It's an iPhone app, with a Mac version too. The Mac version works in Safari and Chrome. There is no Android version yet.
Posting Stories, voice messages and calls aren't available either, and minulo is new, with few ratings so far.
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