How to Block Games on iPhone Permanently
Every game block you tried had an off switch you could reach: delete it and the cloud save brings it right back. This one does not. A passcode you never see, held by us, released only when the countdown you picked hits zero.
Watch the walkthrough (5:16)
The five settings
Every one of these lives in Settings, already on your phone.
The cloud save problem
You've deleted the game before. The cloud save brought it right back the next time you signed in, level and all. Tonight you're not looking for another delete you'll undo tomorrow. This video shows you how to lock a game off your iPhone permanently, using a passcode you will never see.
Why deleting, limits, and spending caps fail
Here's why the usual things fail. Deleting the game doesn't delete your progress, the cloud save is waiting the second you reinstall it. App limits sound strict until you notice Ignore Limit is one tap, every single day, forever. Spending caps stop the purchases, but you still lose the hours, the caps never touch your time. Notice the pattern. Every one of those manages the game. None of them removes it from your phone for good. That's the actual gap, and it's why the same game keeps coming back.
What Get0 actually is
Here's what this actually is. Screen Time and Content and Privacy Restrictions are already built into iOS, for free. Get0 doesn't install anything on your phone. It generates a four digit Screen Time passcode, speaks it to you one time, and you type it into iOS while you're listening. You never see the digits. Not on a screen, not in your account, not anywhere, until the day you ask for them back and the wait runs out. When you want it back, you request a release, and a clock starts: one, three, seven, fourteen or thirty days, whichever you picked when you locked it. Three things almost nobody else in this space says. One, we remove your own ability to turn the block off, because the code was never in your head to begin with. Two, we commit to an exact number of days before release, chosen in advance, no negotiating once it starts. Three, the one holding the key is not a person you can guilt, argue with, or wait out at 1am. It's a timer.
Turn on Screen Time
Let's do this on the phone. Open Settings. Scroll down and tap Screen Time. If it's off, tap Turn On Screen Time, then choose This is My iPhone. That's the whole first step, and it's just Apple's own feature, already sitting on your device, doing nothing until you tap it on.
Content & Privacy Restrictions
Inside Screen Time, tap Content and Privacy Restrictions, and switch it on. This one toggle is the gate for everything else you're about to set. Nothing is blocked yet. You're just opening the door to the settings that will block it.
App rating cap, installs and purchases off
Tap Content Restrictions, then Apps, and set the age rating cap below the game's own rating, most sit at 12+. That cap hides every app above it, not just this one. Then go to iTunes and App Store Purchases and set Installing Apps to Don't Allow, and set In-app Purchases to Don't Allow too. Hidden apps can't launch, rating cap or not, and a blocked install means the game can't come back even after a cloud save brings your progress with it.
Block Changes, the step people skip
Now scroll to Allow Changes, still inside Content and Privacy Restrictions. Set Passcode Changes to Don't Allow, and set Account Changes to Don't Allow. This is the step people skip, and it's the one that actually matters, because without it you can just sign out, make a new Apple account, and start over on a clean phone. This closes that door before you ever open it.
Use Screen Time Passcode
Last setting on the phone. Go back to the main Screen Time page and tap Use Screen Time Passcode. iOS will ask you for four digits. Don't type anything yet. This is the moment the whole video has been building to, and it happens on get0.ai, not on your phone. We'll do it together in a minute.
Share Across Devices, iPad and Mac
One more thing before we move on, if you also use an iPad or a Mac signed into the same Apple ID. Turn on Share Across Devices, back at the top of Screen Time, before you set the passcode. Do that, and the same restrictions and the same passcode apply everywhere you're signed in, not just this phone.
The blind passcode on get0.ai
Now go to get0.ai/start, on this phone or any device. You sign in with a magic link and pick a plan, seven dollars a month, seventy seven a year, or one seventy seven once. Then tap Play. The site speaks four digits out loud, one time. You will not see them written anywhere on the page, not now, not later. As you hear each digit, type it into the iOS keypad that's already open and waiting. Then it asks you to confirm, the same way: listen and type. If you miss a digit, you get one replay, that's the whole budget, so listen close. Once it's confirmed, Get0 walks you through a short checklist matching what you just set. Check each box, and the site marks the lock as active. That's it. You don't know the passcode. Nobody made you promise anything. The setting simply cannot be turned off by you anymore.
The wait: 1, 3, 7, 14 or 30 days
There is a way back, and it's honest about what it costs. On your account page, tap I need my passcode. That starts a clock, the exact number of days you picked when you set the lock: one, three, seven, fourteen or thirty. You can cancel that request any time before the clock runs out, right from the same page. If you let it finish, the code arrives by email the moment the wait ends. Support cannot shorten it. Not for an emergency, not for a good reason, not for any reason. If you lose the phone or wipe it during the cool off, the restriction goes with that device. Your account still holds your code and your history. Sign in on the new phone and lock it again with a fresh code right away, the old request keeps its clock. The wait isn't a bug in the product. The wait is the entire product.
Price and adding get0.ai to your home screen
Get0 dot ai slash lock slash games. Seven dollars a month, seventy seven dollars a year, or one hundred seventy seven dollars once, for good. It bills as Zero Software, so nothing on your statement says what you actually bought. This isn't going to make the hours you already lost come back. It just makes sure that reinstalling it tonight is not a decision you get to make alone anymore. Before you go, add get0.ai to your home screen so your account page is one tap away: tap Share, then Add to Home Screen.
Questions people actually ask
Can I get the code early?
No. The clock started the moment you locked and we email the code when it hits zero. Nothing shortens it, not support, not an emergency.
What happens if I lose my phone or reset it during the cool off?
The lock lives on that phone, so losing it or wiping it removes the restriction with the device. The countdown is tied to your account, not the phone, so it keeps running on its own. Sign in and lock yourself out again on the new one if you want a fresh restriction there too.
Does this block Game Center?
Hidden apps cannot launch, Game Center or not.
What about my kids' games on my phone?
Anything above the rating cap hides. Set the cap where it needs to be for your house.
I lost access to my email.
The passcode only ever goes to the email on your account, sent automatically the moment your countdown hits zero. There is no manual override and no way to redirect it, so losing access to that inbox before then means losing access to the code with it. Use an address you will still control when the countdown ends.
What shows on my bank statement?
Zero Software. Not Get0, not the name of the lock you bought.
What exactly do I get for the money?
A Screen Time passcode you never see, held by us, and a countdown that keeps you from turning it off in the moment. When it hits zero the code arrives by email. That is the whole product.
Is this an app I install?
No. Screen Time is already built into iOS. Get0 is a website that sets it up and holds the passcode, nothing sits on your phone.
What if I forget the passcode was set by Get0?
Your phone just shows the restriction is on. Sign in at Get0 with the account you used to set it up. Your countdown is on the account page, and the code arrives by email when it ends.
Can I change the cool off later?
Not on a lock that is already running, the length is fixed when you set the passcode. When the code arrives, lock again and pick a new length.
What happens when my subscription ends?
The lock and any pending release stay exactly as they are, iOS does not check your subscription. You need an active plan again to start a new lock.
Does this work on Android?
No. iPhone and iPad only for now. Android has no equivalent of the Screen Time passcode.
Can I use this for more than one thing?
Yes. Pick everything you want blocked during setup, it all goes under one passcode and one countdown. A running lock cannot be added to, so choose it all before you set the passcode.
What if the code arrives and I do not want it?
You cannot cancel the countdown. If the code arrives and you do not want it, do not type it in, and lock yourself out again with a fresh code.
What stops me from just turning this off when I really want to?
The Screen Time passcode is spoken once and never shown, so it is not something you know or can type from memory. Turning it off means asking us for the code, and that only arrives after the cool off you picked runs out.
Can I see the passcode if I ask support or say it is an emergency?
No. The clock runs the same for everyone, and support cannot shorten it or hand the code over early. Write in if you want to talk it through, but the clock still has to reach zero.
Does this block everything or just the one thing I am trying to quit?
Only the category you lock, not your whole phone. Everything else keeps working normally, the restriction only touches the app and sites tied to what you chose to block.
Will my partner or family know I am using this?
Nothing on your phone shows the name Get0, only a Screen Time restriction turned on. If anyone checks a statement, it reads Zero Software, not Get0.
What is different from Apple's own Screen Time passcode?
You already know that one, so at 1am you can just type it in and turn it off. Ours is spoken once at setup and never shown to you, and only we can hand it back, after the cool off you picked.
Is my card charged again automatically, and how do I cancel?
Monthly and yearly plans renew until you cancel, which you can do any time from your account. Lifetime is a one time charge and never bills again.