Photo by Christopher Ott on Unsplash
Hello!
Do you want a nuclear option for breaking a social media addiction? Do you own an iPhone?
Then read on through these initial FAQs.
“How nuclear is this really? I’ve tried lots of blocking apps in the past and they can be disabled easily”
I hear you. The truth is that every single distraction or social media blocking app available on the Apple App Store can be disabled relatively easily. So, what if I told you that this system I’ll explain here cannot be deactivated on a whim? I’ve been there myself. I’ve used many blocking apps and then, when I am tempted to disable the blocks, I’m back to wasting time within minutes. The system I will guide you through here cannot be deactivated in the same quick fashion. Depending on how exactly you set it up, you may need to wait a month from the point of you deciding to delete the social media block and actually being able to remove it. Also, if a month passes and you forget to actively follow through on the deletion, you will have to wait another month to delete it. This delay is what makes this system stand out from all the existing options on the App Store.
“How much will this system cost?”
This will cost you £6 for the first month and £1.65/month (or equivalent) after that.
“Do you make any money from this guide?”
Only if you kindly send a tip, but there is absolutely no need to do so to get this system operational. If you derive benefit from this system, which I will wager heavily that you will, I’d be most grateful for any tip. I’ve written this as a post on Buy Me a Coffee for this reason, but all I’m providing is a collation of information, tools and advice, including just asking you to read some Apple Support pages. Ultimately all I care about is getting this system out there and trying to help others manage their internet use.
“What devices will this work on?”
This will work on iPhones and iPads. Macs are harder to ‘lock down’ and I don’t yet have a solution that will work for them as well. If you are one of the cool kids who has gone all iPad and iPhone as your main devices and you don’t have a Mac, this will work for you.
“What will I need to set this up?”
Access to a Mac. Yes, despite what I just said above, you will need access to a Mac in order to get this system operational. Ask a friend or family member if you can borrow their Mac for 1-2 hours max.
Controld.com DNS service (£1.65/month)
iPhone or iPad (obviously)
Apple Configurator app from Mac App Store (free)
A Proton Mail account - pay for one month (€4.99) to become eligible for a permanent account, as Proton removes inactive free accounts.
“I’m not sure I want to quit social media completely. Is this what you’re recommending?”
Nope. My view is that quitting entirely is neither desirable nor achievable. Social media can be great, in small quantities. I’m recommending a schedule here - between 7pm and 9pm let’s say - social media can be used. At all other times, it will be blocked.
All of this sounding good so far?
Cool. Let’s keep going.
How do I start?
Well, let’s start by planning out your social media use. Think about how much and when you currently use social media. Now, think about how and when you would like to use it going forwards. For instance, for me, I only have access to social media between 6pm and 9pm. I’m finished work by 6pm, but I also don’t want to use it just before bed. Obviously you decide what would work best for you.
Next steps
So you’ve decided on a blocking schedule. Great. Let’s turn our attention to our devices now.
This method requires you to set your device up as a new device. We are utilising settings only available to supervised devices. The device backups for supervised devices are different from the backups of standard devices. The supervision procedure will wipe your device and you won’t be able to restore to your earlier backup. I say this just to make things clear. In reality it’s not a particularly troublesome issue. Having backed up your data to iCloud, you can return your device to how it was. You will just need to set your Home Screen layout again, redownload your apps individually and return individual device settings to how they were. If you get a new device at a later stage you will need to do the supervision process on this new device after unboxing. You can then restore as normal to your supervised backup from the previous device.
All understood? It’s a bit of hassle, but totally worth it in my opinion.
I’d recommend taking screenshots of your Home Screen layout so you can recreate it, screen recording yourself opening the different key panes in the Settings app so you can re-enable certain settings later on. Force a proper iCloud backup. Make sure all your apps in their pane in the iOS Settings app, backup to iCloud if they can. Ensure any files in the ‘on your iPhone’ or ‘on your IPad’ section in the Files app are moved to iCloud.
Let’s hop over to the Mac. The first step will be to supervise your iPhone/iPad (you will need to do both individually).
Read through his Apple Support Page: and follow the steps.
Then read this page: and follow the steps.
By the end of this, you should have a supervised device tied to your ‘organisation’, which can literally just be your name. You don’t need a real life organisation just to be clear!
With a supervised device, we can now make use of many more device restrictions which form the backbone of this system. You will not be able to use VPN connections or iCloud Private Relay or reset your iPhone in a desperate attempt to bypass or remove the blocking. Unlike with the currently popular blocking apps, there’s no need to try and restrict the installation of all apps (requires a very close accountability partner), the deletion of apps (what do you do if you’re low on storage space?!), blocking third party browsers (hundreds of them!), etc.
Some tips at this stage
You should store your organisation file in your iCloud by manually uploading the .organisation file. If you need to use another Mac with Apple Configurator in the future, you will need to install this file on the new instance of Apple Configurator to be able to manage your device.
Restrictions
Create a new profile and call it something like ‘Restrictions’ profile. In the first top-level profile settings pane in Apple Configurator change removal to ‘with authorisation’. Write a long string of letters and numbers for the removal password. Make a note of this password for later on in this method. In the ‘restrictions’ pane, disallow VPN creation, erasing content and settings and iCloud Private Relay. Change the profile identifier to another string of letters and numbers.
Sign the profile by going to the file tab in the menu bar. This prevents inspecting the profile code which can be used for bypassing.
Save the profile in your iCloud for safe keeping.
Proton Mail
Set up a Proton Mail account that can only be accessed with a password I.e. skip the account recovery options.
Pay for one month (€4.99) to become eligible for a permanent account, as Proton removes inactive free accounts and we want permanent access to this account just in case.
The point of the Proton email is so you can’t request a password reset from ControlD as the password for Proton will also be locked, as explained later.
ControlD
Head over to ControlD and sign up for their basic tier using your new Proton Mail email and a complex unmemorable password.
It’s all pretty self-explanatory. Set it up as you wish, using two ‘profiles’ one I like to call the base profile and the second the recreation time profile. Use the scheduling feature to swap between these based on time of day.
Download your custom .mobileconfig file from the ControlD dashboard (accessed through advanced manual set-up section and clicking ‘help me configure’).
Open this file in Apple Configurator (you may need to unsign it to edit it) and in the DNS pane of the profile editor, enable the ‘prohibit disablement’ setting. Again, change the identifier and the removal password (making a note of the password).
Sign the profile and save it to your iCloud.
Lockbox
Go to Lockbox by Pluckeye and make a free account (with your regular email this time).
Create boxes for each of your
Proton password
ControlD account password
DNS .mobileconfig removal password
Restrictions .mobileconfig password
Have a think about what unlock and relock delay would work for you. The maximum delay is 28 days. You could make the unlock 28 days and the automatic relock a matter of minutes. Miss the window when the box is open and you’ll have to wait another 28 days, or to look at it a better way, you’ll have stuck to your schedule for 56 days. I’m sure you can see the potential for mad gains here.
N. B. If Lockbox was ever to disappear and you lost your password, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. You could still make changes to your profile set-up by connecting your device to a Mac with your .organisation file installed in Apple Configurator on it.
Installing the profiles
You should now have two profiles - one for restrictions and one for DNS settings. They should be stored in iCloud and accessible in your iOS Files app. If you ‘quick look’ them in the Files app, they should not display the underlying XML code.
Install both profiles by tapping on them in the Files app and jumping over to iOS settings.
That’s it, you’re done.
Some tips at this final stage
cancel your Proton Mail subscription so you’re only paying for one month
Delete all the above passwords from your notes app/Password manager/burn the post-it etc.
Delete the profiles from the Mac you used.
I really hope this solution works for you. If you need any clarification on anything here, please leave a comment below and I’ll try my best to help. You‘ll need to sign up for a Buy Me a Coffee account to do so.
Best,