A time limit per visit

Close Instagram
after 10 minutes
each time.

Tonic ends every visit to Instagram, TikTok or any app you pick after the minutes you set, from 1 to 60, and the lock comes back even if you're still scrolling. The next open starts a new visit, and you decide what it takes: nothing, a pause, or a wait of up to an hour.

Instagram
Instagram10 min a visit
Opens freely · no daily cap
Visit over · the next open starts a new one
Time's upYour 10 min visit is overOh drats!

The clock starts when you go in, and it keeps running.

Step out at minute four to answer a text and the visit carries on without you. Come back at six and you have four minutes left, and at ten it locks, mid-scroll if that's where you are. Want only time on screen counted? That's a daily limit.

If you're in the app when it ends, you may see iOS's grey Restricted box, and opening the app again shows Tonic's lock. iOS reports use in whole minutes, so the lock can land a minute late.

What should the next ten minutes cost?

On Opens freely, nothing: "Oh drats!" sends you home and your next open starts a fresh ten. A new limit starts with a pause switched on, and you can add a wait.

A pause

Taps before every visit

Every open

Opens freely
Make me pause
Make it hard

Make me pause is 15 taps every time. Make it hard is 10, then 20, then 30 that day. How a pause grows →

A wait

5 to 60 minutes
You were just here20 min cooldownOK

It counts from the end of the visit, and nothing opens until it's over. Then the usual way in comes back.

One limit

Ten minutes a visit, 45 a day, only at work.

The visit length, the daily cap and the place all sit on one rule. Away from work the apps open with no lock at all.

TikTok
TikTok10 min a visit
45 min a day · only at Work
20 used · 25 left today
Session's up10 min session used · 25 min left todayClose

Cap the opens too · Saving a place · Earning it first

"It goes beyond basic limits by offering flexible options, whether you want structured restrictions, short session controls, or a reward-based system to stay on track." App Store review, July 2026

Quick answers

How do I make Instagram close after 10 minutes?

In Tonic, add a limit, choose "I lose track of time in there" and pick Instagram. Set the minutes: 1 to 10 one at a time, then 15, 20 and on up to 60. It starts at 15.

Does the timer stop if I leave the app?

No. A visit ends that many minutes after it starts, in the app or out of it, so a text in the middle still comes out of your ten.

Can I open it again straight away?

Yes, unless you add a wait. The next open starts a new visit, through your pause if you set one. A wait of 5 to 60 minutes keeps the app shut first, counted from when the visit ended.

Can it also limit how long I use the app all day?

Yes. Add a daily cap to the same limit, from 1 minute to 2 hours. Each visit stops at its length, and the lock tells you what's left of the day.

Does Apple's Screen Time have a per-visit limit?

Not on Apple's pages. They describe daily limits and show no cap on a single visit.

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 $29.99 a year or $9.99 a month, with the first 7 days free.

Why an app locks again: visits and waits → · What happens to notifications

Checked against the app on November 1, 2026.

Start with one app and ten minutes.

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 limits: all of them · minutes a day · opens per day · a pause that grows · how Tonic works