Handing your iPhone to a child, sharing an iPad with the family, or managing company devices: in all these cases you may want to lock down the App Store so nobody can install or delete apps without your say-so. Modern iOS handles this through Screen Time, and the whole setup takes just a few minutes.
Step 1: Open Screen Time and enable restrictions
Go to Settings, then Screen Time. If you have never used it, tap Turn On Screen Time and follow the short setup. Then tap Content and Privacy Restrictions and switch the main toggle on. This is the master switch: while it is on, you control exactly what can be installed, deleted, and purchased on the device. Apple’s Screen Time documentation walks through each option if you want to explore further.
Step 2: Block installing and deleting apps
Inside Content and Privacy Restrictions, tap iTunes and App Store Purchases. Set Installing Apps to Don’t Allow and Deleting Apps to Don’t Allow. From this moment the App Store can no longer add new apps, and the familiar jiggle-mode delete simply will not offer removal. If you ever wondered which built-in iPhone apps you can delete, this switch overrides all of that until you allow it again.
Step 3: Lock the Apple ID password
Change the Apple ID password to something only you know and never share it: anyone who knows it can approve downloads and purchases regardless of your restrictions. Then open Settings, your name, Media and Purchases (or iTunes and App Store on older iOS), then Password Settings, and set free downloads to Always Require. This means even free apps ask for the password before installing.
Step 4: Block biometric authorizations for the Store
Go to Settings, then Touch ID and Passcode (or Face ID and Passcode), and turn off iTunes and App Store. Otherwise someone could approve downloads with your fingerprint or face while you look the other way. Guides on 9to5Mac regularly recommend this exact combination — Screen Time restrictions plus disabled biometric purchasing — as the practical standard for family devices.
Step 5: A note on the old 2017 method
On very old iOS versions (before iOS 12) these settings lived in Settings, General, Restrictions, protected by a four-digit passcode, with simple on/off toggles for Installing Apps and Deleting Apps. That path no longer exists on current devices: Screen Time replaced it. If you only want to stop automatic system updates rather than app changes, see our guide on blocking iOS updates on iPhone.
If it still doesn’t work
If apps can still be installed or deleted after these changes, double-check that the main Content and Privacy Restrictions toggle is on (restrictions silently do nothing if it is not), and confirm nobody else knows the Screen Time passcode. Also verify the change on the right device: restrictions set on your iPhone do not apply to your iPad.
Frequently asked questions
How do I lift the block later to install an app myself?
Return to Settings, Screen Time, Content and Privacy Restrictions, iTunes and App Store Purchases, and set Installing Apps and Deleting Apps back to Allow. Do what you need, then switch them back to Don’t Allow. It takes seconds.
Will this block app updates too?
No. Installing Apps controls new downloads; existing apps can still update automatically if automatic updates are enabled. To freeze updates as well, turn off automatic App Store updates under Settings, App Store.
Conclusion
Screen Time’s Content and Privacy Restrictions are the modern answer: set Installing and Deleting to Don’t Allow, secure the Apple ID password, require it for free downloads, and disable biometric Store approval. With those four layers in place, your iPhone or iPad stays exactly as you left it.
