Noff setup guide
Make your focus decision harder to undo.
Leaving your NFC tag in another room creates a useful pause before unlocking. Give your iPhone’s settings the same consideration: otherwise, switching off Noff’s permission can remove the blocking without a scan.
Permission protection: iOS 26.4 or later · Set up while no session is running
Two controls, two different jobs
- Noff protects the session
- Your selected apps and websites are blocked. Optional session safeguards can also restrict deleting apps and installing new ones. These controls depend on Screen Time authorization.
- iOS protects the permission
- With the right Screen Time setup, removing Noff’s access can require a separate code. Someone else holding that code adds resistance that your own Face ID or iPhone passcode cannot.
Arrange the setup before your next session
Choose someone you trust and can contact when you need a change. You are protecting a system setting, so their help may be needed even when Noff is idle. Menu names can vary with iOS and language.
Start with Noff authorized
Open Noff and grant Screen Time access. Then find Noff in Settings → Screen Time → Apps with Screen Time Access and check that its switch is on. Update to iOS 26.4 or later if needed.
Give the system settings a separate code
In Screen Time, select Lock Screen Time Settings. On newer versions, look under Manage Screen Time. Hand the phone to your trusted person to set a four-digit code you do not know. If a code already exists, have them change it. Reusing your iPhone unlock code defeats the purpose.
Decide who can reset that code
Screen Time passcode recovery should use an Apple Account controlled by the person holding the code. Your own recovery account would let you reset it whenever you feel tempted. Keep a working recovery route and agree how to reach that person. Do not change the Apple Account signed in to your iPhone; this is only the account used for Screen Time passcode recovery. Noff never receives the code or their credentials.
Turn on Content & Privacy Restrictions
Return to Screen Time and enable Content & Privacy Restrictions. This switch matters: setting a passcode alone may still leave Noff’s permission removable. Your trusted person can enter the code if asked.
Check the other devices in your setup too. If you do not need Screen Time syncing, consider switching off Share Across Devices to reduce ways another device could change the restrictions. This also stops Screen Time settings from syncing.
The part that matters
Test the escape routes, not just the setup screen.
With no Noff session running, try to switch off its access in both places. Do not enter the separate code; cancel the prompt and leave access enabled.
- Settings → Screen Time → Apps with Screen Time Access → Noff
- Settings → Apps → Noff → Screen Time Access
Both routes should demand the separate Screen Time code or refuse to turn access off. Verify that Noff still has permission afterwards.
If either route accepts only Face ID or your usual iPhone passcode, the setup has not closed that route. Re-enable Noff access if you turned it off, check Content & Privacy Restrictions, and try again. Do not assume your iOS version alone guarantees the result.
In Noff → Settings → Protect your focus, you can record that you checked both switches. This is your confirmation, not a passcode test performed by Noff. Repeat the check after iOS updates or Screen Time changes. Noff clears the record after an iOS update or when it detects lost authorization.
Keep the session’s other exits in mind
Before starting, open Noff → Settings → Protect your focus. Choose the safeguards you want for your next session:
- Prevent app deletion restricts removing any app, including Noff. It is device-wide, not a restriction on Noff alone.
- Prevent new app installs restricts installations, making it harder to download another browser or replacement for a blocked app.
- Your choices are saved when the session begins. They cannot be changed mid-session and remain in effect during emergency pauses and recovery, even when a pause temporarily lifts app blocking.
A valid session end releases Noff’s safeguards: scan your paired tag, let a timed session finish, or complete an available emergency or recovery path. Restrictions from Apple Screen Time or another app may still apply. The separate system passcode stays in place until you and its holder change it.
An optional speed bump for Settings
On older iOS versions, or if your permission test fails, a personal Shortcuts automation can send you away from Settings during a Noff session. This adds friction; it does not secure the permission.
- In Shortcuts → Automation, create an App automation for Settings → Is Opened. Select Run Immediately, or turn off Ask Before Running on older iOS versions.
- Add Noff’s “Check if Noff Session is Active” action. Add an If action using its result. Inside the true branch, add Go to Home Screen. Leave the Otherwise branch empty.
- Save it, test once with a session active and once with no session, then include Shortcuts in each Noff profile where you want this extra friction. Complete the automation setup before blocking Shortcuts.
The automation may be disabled, delayed, or fail to run. It also redirects Settings during emergency pauses because the session is still active. Do not count it as equivalent to the separate Screen Time code.
When you need to change something
Ask the code holder to help change Screen Time settings, or use the recovery account chosen during setup. Finishing a Noff session does not remove the system passcode. For changing Noff’s optional session safeguards, finish the session first.
If authorization is removed, iOS no longer lets Noff enforce its restrictions. Noff keeps the session, marks protection as interrupted when it detects the loss, and reapplies protection for the remaining session after access returns. Observed permission gaps do not count as protected focus time.
Apple’s Screen Time passcode and recovery instructions