The short answer
Focus only filters notifications; the apps still open. Screen Time Downtime blocks everything except the apps you allow, and App Limits set a daily budget rather than hours. To block just Slack, Teams and work email during set hours, pair a Focus for the banners with an app that shields the apps you pick on a schedule.
Four ways to block apps at certain times
All of these are on your phone already, or one download away. The difference is what they stop: a notification, an app, or your whole phone.
| Option | Stops the app opening | Only your work apps | Runs on set hours | Getting past it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Focus | NoNotifications only | Yes | Yes | Nothing to get past: apps open as normal |
| Downtime | YesWith Block at Downtime on | NoYou list what stays open | Yes | Ignore Limit, unless you set a Screen Time passcode |
| App Limits | After a budgetOnce the daily time runs out | Yes | NoA daily budget, not hours | Ignore Limit, unless you set a Screen Time passcode |
| Out of Office | YesShows a shield instead | Yes | YesPlus a one-flip switch | Flip the switch off, or turn on Strict mode so you can’t |
Focus: quiet, not closed
Focus is what most people try first. It decides which notifications reach you, and when. Set one up for evenings and your lock screen stops lighting up with work.
- Open SettingsFocus and pick a Focus, like Personal, or add a new one.
- In its notification settings, choose Silence Notifications From and add Slack, Teams, Outlook and anything else from work.
- Tap Add Schedule and set the hours, for example 6:00 PM to 8:00 AM on weekdays.
A Focus can also hide the Home Screen pages your work apps live on. Move them to one page, then in the Focus tap Customize Screens, tap the Home Screen preview and deselect that page. Out of sight helps, but the apps are still one search away.
Screen Time Downtime: a real block, for your whole phone
Downtime does lock apps. When it starts, everything except phone calls and the apps on your Always Allowed list is dimmed, with an hourglass on the icon.
- Open SettingsScreen TimeDowntime. Turn on Scheduled, choose every day or customize the days, and set the hours.
- Turn on Block at Downtime. Without it, you only get a reminder and can carry on.
- Go to Always Allowed and add every app you still want in the evening: maps, music, camera, banking, the group chat.
- Set a Screen Time passcode. Otherwise Ignore Limit is one tap away.
On iOS 27 you may find these controls under Screen Time Schedule instead. Menu names move between releases, so look for the setting that makes apps unavailable during set hours.
App Limits: a budget, not a bedtime
App Limits give an app or a whole category a daily time budget. When it runs out, the app locks for the rest of the day.
- Open SettingsScreen TimeApp Limits and tap Add Limit.
- Pick the apps or a category, like Productivity & Finance.
- Set the time, and turn on Block at End of Limit.
A work-app blocker: only work apps, only after work
Out of Office uses the same Apple Screen Time system that powers Downtime, aimed at the thing you actually want: only the apps you call work, only during the hours you’re off.
- Pick your work apps from Apple’s app picker: Slack, Teams, Outlook, Gmail, Jira, whatever counts as work for you.
- Choose when work ends. Every evening runs 6:00 PM to 8:00 AM on weekdays, Weekends runs Friday 6:00 PM to Monday 8:00 AM, or set custom days and times, or a one-off vacation range.
- That’s it. During those hours, opening a work app shows a shield instead of the app. Its only button says “OK, fine”.
Need out right now? Flip the switch for an hour, until morning or all weekend. A heads-up notification arrives 15 minutes before a session starts and before it ends. Schedules are handed to iOS, so they run with the app closed.
Apple hands the app opaque tokens for the apps you pick, so it never learns which ones they are. There’s no account to make.
The setup that holds
No single switch covers every angle, so stack the ones that do one job well:
- Block the apps: Out of Office on your work apps, on the Every evening and Weekends schedules.
- Quiet the lock screen: a Focus with the same hours, silencing the same apps.
- Tell your team: set quiet hours inside the apps too, so people see you’re away. Here’s how for Slack and for Microsoft Teams.
- Before a trip: an auto-reply and a vacation range. See how to turn off work email on vacation.
Questions
How do I block apps at certain times on iPhone?
Screen Time’s Downtime blocks apps during set hours, but it blocks everything except the apps you allow, and only with Block at Downtime turned on. To block just a few apps, like Slack and Teams, at set times, use an app built on Screen Time, like Out of Office, that shields only the apps you pick on a schedule.
Does Focus mode block apps on iPhone?
No. A Focus filters notifications; the apps still open normally. To stop an app opening, you need Screen Time (Downtime or App Limits) or an app built on it, like Out of Office.
Can I block only work apps during certain hours?
Not neatly with Screen Time alone: Downtime blocks everything except an allowlist, and App Limits count minutes instead of hours. Out of Office does exactly this. You pick the apps and the hours, and it shields only those.
Can I hide work apps from my Home Screen after hours?
Yes. Put them on one Home Screen page, then in a scheduled Focus tap Customize Screens and deselect that page. The apps disappear from the Home Screen while the Focus is on, though you can still open them from search.
Will blocking Slack on my iPhone block it on my Mac?
Out of Office blocks on iPhone and iPad only; its Mac app shows your status and schedules. For your Mac, Slack’s notification schedule and pause setting are the tools to use.
Sources
Menu names change between app and iOS versions. These are the official pages, checked September 25, 2026.