A limit on opens

Lock Instagram
after five opens
a day.

Tonic limits how many times you open Instagram, TikTok or any app you pick: five a day, ten minutes each, or whatever numbers suit you. After the last one you choose what happens, from a harder pause to a wall until your morning reset.

Instagram
Instagram 5 visits a day
10 min each · a pause on every open
3 used · 2 left today
TikTok
TikTok 5 visits a day
10 min each · only at work, weekdays 9 to 5
1 used · no lock after 5 PM or at home

Instagram at lunch is fine. You didn't mean to open it all those other times.

Opening it while the kettle boils costs seconds, so a daily time limit barely notices. This limit counts the opens.

What you see when you reach for it.

3 of 5 visits leftTap through to openNot worth itTap to enter

Every open. A short pause, 15 taps by default, and the visit is yours for ten minutes.

Opens used upNot worth itTap to enter

After the fifth. By default, 25 taps buys one more visit, then 35, then 45.

Budget usedUsed 5 of 5 visits today · Resets tomorrowOK

Or cut yourself off. No way through until your reset, 5 AM unless you move it.

Two settings decide how firm it is.

One for every open, one for after the last visit. The second is always at least a step firmer than the first, and you can set the tap counts yourself.

Every open

Opens freely
Make me pause
Make it hard

Visits used up

Make me pause
Make it hard
Cut me off

One limit

Lock Instagram only at work, weekdays 9 to 5.

The visits, the minutes, the hours and the place all sit on one limit, with no Shortcuts to set up. At home at 8 PM, or all day Saturday, you never see the lock.

Instagram
Instagram 5 visits a day
10 min each · a pause on every open
2 used · only at Work

Schedule

MTWTFSS
9 AM5 PM

Location

Work
Home

A place rule needs Location set to Always with Precise Location on, and your location isn't sent to Tonic. If Tonic can't check where you are, the limit applies everywhere.

Twenty minutes in Kindle, then five opens.

Instagram can also stay locked until you've done your reading, then allow five visits for the rest of the day. The lock lifts on its own when the minutes are in, usually within a minute. How the reading half works →

Kindle
Read 20 min in Kindle
minutes with Kindle on screen
20 of 20 min
unlocked, then:Instagram5 visits · 10 min each

Pick your own numbers.

"Tonic is a great way to cut down on bad phone habits. No more doomscrolling or mindlessly opening apps!" App Store review, July 2026

Quick answers

How do I set a limit on how many times I can open an app?

In Tonic, add a limit and choose "I pick it up without thinking". Set the visits a day, anywhere from 1 to 50, and the minutes each: 1, 3, 5, 10, 15 or 20, or Unlimited. It starts at five visits of ten minutes.

I don't want Instagram blocked completely. Can I still use it?

Yes. It stays usable for your five visits. Set the visit to Unlimited and "Every open" to Opens freely, and there's no lock screen at all until the five are gone.

Can it limit Instagram to 5 opens a day only while I'm at work?

Yes. Put the hours, the place or both on the same limit, and Instagram opens normally everywhere else. With a pause on every open, a visit is used only when you tap through, so opens at home don't touch your five. With Opens freely, an open anywhere can count.

If I close Instagram and open it again, does that use another open?

Not if you come right back. A visit runs ten minutes from the moment you tap through, so answering a text and returning is the same visit.

Can't Apple's Screen Time do this?

Apple's own pages list no limit on how many times you open an app. Screen Time reports pickups, and that's as far as those pages go.

What does it cost?

Free to start: limits are included in full, with two locked apps across everything you set up. Tonic Unlimited lifts the limits on apps and ways to earn, for $39.99 a year or $9.99 a month, with the first 7 days free.

Why an app locks again: visits, caps and waits → · Notifications while an app is locked

Checked against the app on November 1, 2026.

Start with one app and five opens.

Get Tonic free
Free to start · limits included · no account needed · iPhone and iPad, iOS 17.4 or later

Tonic is an independent companion and isn't affiliated with Apple, Instagram, TikTok, Reddit, YouTube or X.

More: set hours · a saved place · how Tonic works · what it costs · earn your apps instead