How to block food delivery apps on iPhone
Screen Time has a Food & Drink category limit that covers DoorDash, Uber Eats and most delivery apps in one step. The harder part is deciding what to leave open, because you still have to eat.
The fastest route: Settings > Screen Time > App Limits > Add Limit, choose Food & Drink, set a short limit, and turn on Block at End of Limit. That one category covers most delivery apps without naming each one.
Blocking delivery is unlike blocking a feed app, and the difference matters before you set anything up. A social app can be blocked outright for a week with no practical cost. Food cannot. Any setup that makes eating harder gets dismantled within days, so the useful question is not how to block everything, but which apps to leave reachable.
Block the category, or pick the apps
Category limit. In App Limits, choose Food & Drink. Most delivery apps sit in that App Store category, so one limit covers them and any delivery app you install later. Check what else it catches before relying on it, because recipe apps and restaurant loyalty apps usually live there too.
Individual apps. Expand the category and tick only what you want limited. This is the better choice if grocery delivery needs to stay available, since Instacart and supermarket apps sit beside restaurant delivery rather than in a separate group.
Set the limit short and use custom days. A one-minute limit lands almost as soon as the app opens. If the pattern is weekend or late-night ordering rather than all week, custom days keep the restriction where the problem actually is. Full steps are on setting App Limits.
Then turn on Block at End of Limit and set a Screen Time passcode. Without both, the limit is a notice rather than a boundary.
Why the app is harder to close than the account
The order is already assembled before you decide to place it. Address saved, card saved, previous order one tap away. Reorder removes every step between wanting food and buying it, which is the part a spending limit never touches.
The timing works against you. Delivery ordering concentrates late in the evening, when you are tired and least likely to argue with yourself. That is also exactly when a dismissible limit gets dismissed.
Promotions restart the decision for you. A discount push does not arrive because you were hungry; it arrives because the app wants the session. Turning off notifications for each delivery app in Settings > Notifications closes that route, and it is a separate step from blocking.
Deleting the app is a short-lived fix. Reinstalling restores the saved address and card in under a minute. If you want the install route closed too, see blocking app downloads.
Decide what stays reachable
Groceries. If a grocery or supermarket delivery app is how food actually gets into the house, blocking it alongside restaurant delivery makes the setup fail. Select apps individually and leave it open.
One restaurant delivery app, deliberately. Blocking every option can push the order to a browser or a different app instead. Some people do better leaving one reachable and blocking the rest, so ordering stays possible but stops being frictionless.
Nothing, on specific days. If the goal is a clean break for a defined stretch rather than an everyday rule, block the lot and plan the meals. This works as a time-boxed decision, not an open-ended one.
When the limit keeps getting ignored
Screen Time's weak point is the last second, not the setup. When the limit lands it offers Ignore Limit, and one tap ends it. At 11pm that tap costs nothing. We cover why this happens on ignoring Screen Time limits.
Fella runs on the same Apple framework and removes that tap. You select the delivery apps you want blocked, and they stay blocked for the whole session rather than until you dismiss a screen. Each session includes one 5-minute emergency unlock for genuine access, then the apps lock again. Grocery and everything you did not select are unaffected.
For the late-night pattern specifically, a routine handles it without you remembering. A session can start automatically on the evenings you choose, so the block is already running before the decision arrives. See app blocking with schedules, or how Fella works.
Fella blocks iPhone apps, not websites, so a delivery site opened in Safari is outside what it covers. For the browser side, use Apple's Screen Time Web Content restrictions.
Delivery apps people block
Restaurant delivery. DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub, Deliveroo and Just Eat are the usual set. Blocking one and leaving the others installed rarely holds, because the substitute is already on the phone.
Grocery and convenience delivery. Instacart and supermarket apps sit in the same category but serve a different purpose. Decide deliberately rather than letting a category limit decide for you.
Everything else. Fella can block any app installed on your iPhone. You can search the full list on the apps Fella blocks page.
Blocking food delivery apps FAQ
Go to Settings > Screen Time > App Limits > Add Limit and choose the Food & Drink category, which covers most delivery apps at once, or expand it and select only the delivery apps you actually order from. Set a short limit, turn on Block at End of Limit, and add a Screen Time passcode. For a boundary that cannot be dismissed with one tap, use a dedicated app blocker instead.
Yes. Most delivery apps sit in the Food & Drink App Store category, so a single Screen Time category limit covers them without listing each app. Check what else it catches first, because restaurant loyalty apps and recipe apps often live in the same category.
Yes, but not with a category limit, because grocery apps like Instacart sit alongside restaurant delivery. Select apps individually instead, so an Instacart or supermarket order still works while DoorDash and Uber Eats do not.
The limit screen carries an Ignore Limit button that clears it in one tap. Late at night, when most delivery ordering happens, that tap takes no thought at all. It is the single most common reason people find the limit technically active and the order still placed.
Briefly. Delivery accounts keep your address and card, so reinstalling restores everything in under a minute and the App Store is not blocked by default. Blocking the app is usually more durable than deleting it, because it removes the opening rather than the install.
No. Blocking affects whether the app opens on your iPhone. It does not cancel orders, close accounts, remove saved cards, or stop delivery of something already on its way.
Yes. Screen Time Downtime and App Limit custom days both cover set hours, and Fella routines can start a blocking session automatically on the evenings you choose.
Not by itself. Turn off notifications separately in Settings > Notifications for each delivery app, otherwise a discount push can still reach you and restart the decision.
