Support

Silk: App Blocker, Screen Time

Questions

An app locked later than the time it showed. Why?

The block is re-applied by whichever of Silk's re-lock layers wakes next, not by a running clock, so it can return a little after the stated time. For a grant of sixteen minutes or more, that is usually under a minute. For a shorter grant, iOS will not schedule a re-lock sooner than about fifteen and a half minutes after the grant began, so the layer that locks the app on time is a usage signal: iOS counts the minutes the app is in use and tells Silk when they reach the grant. Silk never sees the count. If you open the app and then put the phone down, it can stay open for about sixteen minutes, or until you next open Silk or another blocked app. It is never re-locked early. Silk has several independent layers so that one failing does not leave an app open. If an app stayed open well past that, write in and say which app and roughly when.

I raised my budget (or dropped a ceiling). Why hasn't it changed yet?

Loosening a rule is held until the next day. The held rule shows a button inside Silk that applies it today. The blocked app's screen does not offer that button. Tightening a rule (lowering a budget, adding a ceiling, closing an app for the day) takes effect immediately.

I closed an app early. Do I get the unused minutes back?

No. The minutes are subtracted when the request is granted, whether or not you use all of them.

Can I open apps during my down hours if I have minutes left?

No. During down hours no request is granted, whatever the budget shows.

Does Silk work on iPad or Mac?

No. Silk is iPhone only. Screen Time blocking set up on the iPhone does not apply to an iPad or a computer.

Is Silk available in languages other than English?

Not yet. Silk reads English sentences only.

Does Silk need Apple Intelligence?

No. Silk's own parser reads every spend request and rule change on any supported device. With Apple Intelligence turned on, Silk can also read some looser phrasing, processed on the device. An unlock still needs a sentence that asks to open an app you named, for a number of minutes, like "unlock Instagram for 15 min".

How do I remove Silk and its blocking?

1. Go to Settings > Screen Time > Apps with Screen Time Access and turn Silk's access off. That removes the block from every app at once, immediately.
2. Delete the Silk app. That removes everything it stored.

Inside Silk, removing a named app from Settings takes effect at once and offers an undo for a minute (longer if you raise the Undo setting). The other apps you picked to block in Apple's picker are edited from Silk only when it asks you to pick again; the Screen Time setting above is the way to release them.