AppBlock on Android

Some users have encountered a blocked UI system due to the “Block recent apps” feature. Here’s how you can resolve it:

1. Deactivate Strict Mode: If you’re able to, use one of the unblocking methods, like connecting your device to a charger or entering a PIN, to deactivate Strict Mode. In case you have not set a PIN code or charger unblocking, contact us using the Contact Support form and choose “Emergency unblocking” reason for contacting us.
2. Turn Off “Block Recent Apps”: Once Strict Mode is deactivated, go into your settings and disable the “Block recent apps” feature to prevent this issue from recurring.

If you need further assistance, feel free to reach out!

If apps you didn’t intend to block are being restricted, it’s usually due to a settings issue. Here’s how to fix it:

1. Check Your Blocking Settings:
   • Schedules: Ensure no schedule is unintentionally blocking apps.
   • Quick Block: Confirm Quick Block isn’t activated, as it blocks all apps with one tap.
2. Restart Your Phone: A quick restart often resolves minor issues.
3. Reinstall AppBlock: If the problem persists, reinstalling AppBlock can help.

Still having trouble? Contact our support team—we’re here to help!

If apps or websites that should be blocked are still accessible, here are a few steps to troubleshoot:

1. Check Your Blocking Settings:
   • Schedules: Make sure a schedule is active and correctly set to block the intended apps or websites.
   • Quick Block: Confirm Quick Block is enabled if you’re relying on it to block everything temporarily.
2. Check Permissions:
   • Accessibility Permissions: For website blocking, AppBlock needs specific permissions.
3. Check Troubleshooting: Go to the troubleshooting section in settings to make sure all required permissions are granted.
4. Restart Your Phone: Restarting can often help if the blocks aren’t functioning as expected.
5. Reinstall AppBlock: Reinstalling can refresh settings and resolve lingering issues.

If the issue continues, please reach out to our support team—we’re here to help!

If your mobile banking app, payment app, or wallet is being blocked even though you did not specifically block it, this is likely due to the “Block Device Settings” feature being enabled in Strict Mode.

Why This Happens:

Certain apps, such as banking and payment apps, often require access to authentication services (like fingerprint or password authenticators) in order to function properly. These authenticators sometimes need access to your device’s settings. When AppBlock’s Block Device Settings feature is enabled, it prevents these apps from accessing the necessary settings for authentication, which can lead to the app being blocked unintentionally.

How to Fix It:

To resolve this issue, you can disable the Block Device Settings feature in Strict Mode. Here’s how:

1. Open AppBlock.
2. Navigate to Strict Mode settings and deactivate Strict Mode.
3. Look for the option labeled “Block Device Settings”.
4. Disable this option.

Once this is done, your banking or payment apps should no longer be blocked and will be able to function properly.

In case you have set Strict Mode for a long period of time and need to urgently unblock AppBlock, please go to Contact support and select reason “Emergency unblocking” or in case of older versions of AppBlock “I need to unlock my device” for contacting us. We will send you a one-time code that will deactivate Strict Mode and delete the PIN code to enter AppBlock in case you set one up.

We’re sorry to hear about the accessibility issues you’re experiencing. This is often related to how some operating systems handle background services. Here are a few steps that may help resolve this:

1. Keep AppBlock Locked in Recent Apps: When AppBlock is removed from your recent apps, the accessibility service may be turned off. To prevent this, hold down the AppBlock icon in your recent apps and select the “lock” option. This keeps it running in the background.
2. Toggle Accessibility: On some devices, simply turning the accessibility setting off and back on can restore it, on others, restart of your device may help re-enable it.
3. Enable Key Settings in Troubleshooting: Make sure you’ve enabled settings like autostart and adjusted battery optimization for AppBlock. Following all steps in the Troubleshooting section can also improve performance.

If these steps don’t fully resolve the issue, please reach out for further assistance.

If you are having any troubles with split-screen not being blocked correctly, try enabling the AppBlock accessibility service for more efficient blocking.

1) Tap Downloaded services and find AppBlock.
2) Tap AppBlock and hit turn ON.
3) Tap OK to confirm.

If you’ve downloaded a new app but it doesn’t appear in the list of apps to block, try restarting your device. After restarting, the app should show up in the picker.

We’re aware that after updating to version 7.1.1 or 7.1.2, some websites and keywords may not be blocked as expected. We’re working on a fix that will be included in version 7.1.3, which we’ll release as soon as possible. In the meantime, if you remove the “Block Recent Apps” condition in Strict Mode, website blocking should work again. Once the update is available, please be sure to update AppBlock to fully resolve the issue.

We appreciate your patience and understanding. 

If your authenticator app (such as Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator, or any other) is being blocked even though you didn’t block it, the issue is likely related to the “Block Device Settings” feature being enabled in Strict Mode.

Why This Happens:

Authenticator apps often require access to certain device settings to function properly, especially when verifying your identity for apps and services. When AppBlock’s Block Device Settings feature is enabled, it restricts access to these settings, which can unintentionally block your authenticator.

How to Fix It:

To restore access to your authenticator app, you can disable the Block Device Settings feature in Strict Mode. Follow these steps:

1. Open AppBlock.
2. Navigate to Strict Mode settings and deactivate Strict Mode.
3. Locate the “Block Device Settings” option.
4. Disable this option.

This should allow your authenticator app to work without being blocked.

Still Having Issues?

In case you have set Strict Mode for a long period of time and need to urgently unblock AppBlock, please please go to Contact support and select reason “Emergency unblocking” or in case of older versions of AppBlock “I need to unlock my device” for contacting us. We will send you a one-time code that will deactivate Strict Mode and delete the PIN code to enter AppBlock in case you set one up.

If you’re experiencing issues with website blocking, here are some steps to help resolve it:

1. Ensure Your AppBlock is Up-to-Date: Make sure you have the latest version of AppBlock installed. Updates often include fixes for common issues.
2. Check Accessibility Permissions: Website blocking relies on accessibility permissions. Confirm that AppBlock has accessibility permission granted.
3. Review Troubleshooting Settings: Go to AppBlock > More > Troubleshooting, and make sure that autostart and battery optimizations are set correctly to allow AppBlock to function as expected.
4. Understand URL Blocking Limitations: AppBlock blocks websites by the main URL only. For example, blocking “Facebook.com/profile-john-smith” will block the main Facebook.com page as a whole. For specific keywords, use the “keywords blocking” option to block any site containing those terms within the URL.
5. Supported Browsers: AppBlock works best on supported browsers. If blocking doesn’t seem effective, try another browser to see if the issue is browser-related.
6. Reinstall and Restart: If issues persist, consider reinstalling AppBlock. We recommend creating a backup from the More menu before reinstalling. Restart your phone after reinstallation.

If the issue continues, please reach out to our support team for further assistance.

If you’re experiencing issues with usage limits not working, please follow these steps:

1. Ensure Your AppBlock is Up-to-Date: Make sure you have the latest version of AppBlock installed. Updates often include fixes for common issues.
2. Check Settings: Ensure your usage limit settings are configured correctly in AppBlock.
3. Reinstall and Restart: If the settings are correct but usage limits still aren’t working, try reinstalling AppBlock and then restarting your phone.
4. Contact Support for Further Assistance: If the problem persists, we’d need a bit more information to help troubleshoot effectively. Please contact our support team and describe the issue in detail. You may also send a short video (up to 20MB) demonstrating the issue to assist in identifying the cause.

If you’re unable to access the available settings in AppBlock, follow these steps:

1. Update AppBlock: Ensure you have the latest version of AppBlock installed, as updates often resolve issues with settings.
2. Check Strict Mode: If Strict Mode is activated, please deactivate it to be able to turn off and on the Available Settings. If you have set up PIN code or Charger unblocking, use one of these methods to disable Strict Mode on your own. If you need assistance deactivating Strict Mode and have not set up these methods, you can contact us via the contact form. Choose “Emergency unblocking” or in case of older versions of AppBlock “I need to unlock my device” for contacting us to receive a one-time unblocking code.
3. Reset Available Settings Option: Once Strict Mode is deactivated, go to AppBlock > More > Settings, and toggle the “Show Available Settings” option off and back on again. This usually resolves the issue.

If the problem persists or occurs again, please reach out to us for further assistance.

How to block websites?

There are two ways to block websites – either using specific URLs or using keywords for mass blocking.

URL blocking blocks only the specified link and nothing else. This is great for when you spend too much time on specific websites, such as facebook.com, twitter.com, reddit.com or youtube.com.

Here are the steps how to block specific URLs:

• Create a Schedule or QuickBlock as usual.
• In the step where you select the applications, at the top, tap on webs.
• Type in a website you want to block by entering the URL or select from the suggested list. Only the part before the slash character (“/”) is recognised. Tap at “add”. Repeat until you have added all URLs that you wish to add.
• Save.

Note: You may block both websites and apps using the same schedule. Just set up the apps, change to the webs tab, set it up and save.

If you want to add many similar websites at once, you can do so using keywords instead. The keyword is checked in the domain of the URL (before the slash character (“/”), unless specified otherwise. If you want to also block the keyword if it is after the slash, Change the “in domain” to “anywhere in URL”.  It can help you block search results and more.

Steps are pretty similar:

• Create a Schedule or QuickBlock as usual.
• In the step where you select the applications, at the top, tap on keywords.
• Optional: For more information about keywords, press the information bubble on the top right.
• Type in a keyword you want to block by typing it into the field.entering the URL or select from the suggested list.
• If you want the current keyword to be blocked anywhere, choose “Anywhere in URL option”. 
• Tap the “add” button to add it to the list.
• Repeat until you have added all keywords that you wish to add.
• Save

To edit URLs or keywords, hold the item and select edit. Preset websites in the initial list cannot be edited, only selected/unselected.

Do you find yourself downloading new applications to circumvent your blocking?
This may be the solution:

• Create a Schedule or QuickBlock as usual.
• In the step where you select the applications and website you want to block, select Add newly installed apps.
• Read the information in the pop-up and press ADD.
• Save.

Note: It can take a short time until AppBlock gets notified that a new application has been installed.

Sometimes you just need a break. Setting short breaks at set times in your time schedules becomes easy with this guide:

• Go to the Blocking tab. In the Schedules section, tap + Add to create a new schedule.
• As the blocking condition select Time
• Select the days you want to block the apps. Any red days will be blocked.
• Next to times, on the right tap the button Add (+)
• Select your first time interval by selecting the FROM time, switching to the TO tab and finally clicking OK.
• Tap Add (+) again to add a second time interval.
• Repeat as often as needed. You can update intervals by tapping on them or tapping X to remove them. The bar under the times shows when the blocking will be active. The schedule will be ON for any red parts on the selected days.

Note: Schedules are activated automatically after creating them. You do not have to enable them manually after setting them up.

Note: In AppBlock versions 5.X, Schedules are found in the menu on the left > Schedules.

Shortcut will allow you to turn Quick Block ON or OFF with single tap

1. Open Quick Settings – swipe down from the top of the screen to see your notifications and Quick Settings
2. Enter Edit mode – the way to edit your selected Quick Settings can be different on various devices. Look for a pen icon
3. Find and Add Quick Block – scroll to find the icon, then hold and drag to add it.