How to Hide Facebook App on iPhone & iPad with Screen Time

Do you want to make sure your Facebook app remains hidden when you’re letting someone else use your iPhone or iPad? If so, you’re in luck. Screen Time offers a convenient way to lock apps, and you can use it to block access to Facebook and hide it on your device.

Screen Time offers a variety of tools to control, track, and manage app and device usage, and one of the neat features allows you to indirectly lock certain apps. This can be helpful for privacy purposes, to help focus if you have self control issues with some apps, and of course so much more.

Looking to keep your Facebook feed, profile and other data secure by hiding the app on your device? Look no further, because in this article, we’ll walk you through the necessary steps for hiding Facebook on both the iPhone & iPad using Screen Time.

How to Hide Facebook on iPhone & iPad

Be sure you have a modern iOS or iPadOS version installed on your device to have access to this Screen Time feature, then simply do the following:

1. Head over to “Settings” on your iPhone or iPad. Scroll down and tap on “Screen Time”.
   
   
2. If you haven’t used Screen Time before, follow the on-screen instructions to quickly set it up. Once you’re in the Screen Time menu, scroll down and tap on “Use Screen Time Passcode”. Type in your preferred passcode and set it up properly before you proceed to the next step.
   
   
3. Now, head back to the Screen Time menu and tap on “App Limits”.
   
   
4. Here, tap on “Add Limit” as shown in the screenshot below.
   
   
5. Here, you’ll be able to find the Facebook app under the “Social Networking” category. Select “Facebook” and tap on “Next”.
   
   
6. In this menu, you’ll be able to choose the daily usage limit before Screen Time locks you out. Since you want to use it as an app lock, we’ll choose the minimum value which is 1 minute. Also make sure the toggle for “Block at End of Limit” is enabled. If you don’t see this option, it means you haven’t added a passcode to Screen Time yet. Go fix it. When you’re done, tap on “Add”.
   
   
7. If you want to remove this particular app limit at any time, head back to the App Limits menu within Screen Time and swipe left on Facebook to see the “Delete” option. Alternatively, you can turn off App Limits altogether too.
   
   
8. That’s it. Now you need to use the Facebook app for just 1 minute before it locks you out as shown below.
   
   
9. Now, if you tap on the grayed out Facebook app, you’ll have the option to “Ask for More Time”, but you’ll need to type in your Screen Time passcode to proceed any further.
   
   

There you have it, now you know how to use Screen Time to hide Facebook on your iPhone and iPad.

Of course a limitation here is that you have to use the app for a minute or so before the lock kicks in, so before you hand your iPhone or iPad off to someone, make sure you use the Facebook app for one minute to put the lock in place.

You can follow the exact same procedure to limit other apps and hide things like the Facebook Messenger app, if you want to hide your conversions from other people. Disabling notifications and previews on the lock screen is a great way to keep your conversations private and secure too.

Screen Time can be also used to restrict smartphone usage, set communication limits, block app installations, stop in-app purchases, and much more. Check out more Screen Time tips here if that interests you.

Did you lock the Facebook app using Screen Time on your iOS or iPadOS device? What others apps do you lock using this feature? Do you think Apple should just add an app lock option instead? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section!