How to block Reddit before it eats the evening

Reddit doesn't feel like social media. It feels like research. You're reading about a phone you might buy, a symptom you just noticed, a show you finished. Two hours later you know everything about a stranger's wedding drama.

Here's what the numbers say, why Reddit is especially tricky for kids, and how to block it on Android and iPhone.

How much time does Reddit take?

More every year, while most other social apps are shrinking.

Those figures come from Comscore data reported by eMarketer. Between June 2023 and June 2024, average monthly time per Reddit user rose from 215.2 to 243.0 minutes. Over the same period, time spent on Facebook, Instagram and Messenger went down.¹

Four hours a month doesn't sound like much. But that's the average across everyone who opens Reddit, including people who pop in once a week. If you're here, you're probably not average.

Why Reddit is harder to put down than it looks

Every thread links to another thread. Every comment section has a better story than the post. And unlike a video feed, reading feels productive, so the part of you that would normally say "that's enough" stays quiet.

Cutting back does make a difference, even if nobody has studied Reddit on its own. A 2025 meta-analysis of 10 randomised trials found that reducing social media use lowered depressive symptoms, in trials as short as one to three weeks.⁴

Is Reddit OK for kids?

This is where parents need to pay attention, because Reddit doesn't look dangerous from the outside.

When Common Sense Media tracked the phones of 203 US kids aged 11 to 17, almost half (45%) used apps rated for mature (17+) or adult-only (18+) audiences. Reddit was one of the apps named.²

Reddit's main safety tool doesn't help parents much. The mature content filter is "an optional community safety setting that lets moderators automatically filter visual content that likely contains sexual or graphic imagery."³ It's run by each community's moderators, one community at a time. There's no parent account, no time limit, and no family dashboard that we could find.

So on a child's phone, the realistic options are: allow all of Reddit, or block all of Reddit. For under-18s, blocking is the sensible default.

The loopholes that break most Reddit blocks

Google. Plenty of Reddit sessions don't start in the Reddit app. They start with a search that ends in "reddit." If reddit.com isn't blocked, every one of those search results is an open door.

The browser. Delete the app and reddit.com still loads, logged in, exactly where you left off.

Your own settings. A timer you can change in Settings, or a blocker you can delete, doesn't survive a slow evening.

How to block Reddit on Android

1. Get Sunnah Lock from Google Play.
2. Create a new block. Pick Time if you want Reddit gone during set hours, like school nights or bedtime. Pick Usage limit if you'd rather allow a little each day, say 30 minutes. Or just set it to all day, every day.
3. Add Reddit to the blocklist. Add the app, then add reddit.com as a website too. Skip that second part and the browser becomes the back door. From then on, opening Reddit closes it straight away and shows a reminder instead.
4. Set a PIN and turn on Lockdown Mode. This is the bit that makes it stick. Lockdown Mode stops the block being deleted, the restrictions being switched off, or Sunnah Lock being uninstalled until your unlock conditions are met.

Without installing anything

Go to Settings, Digital Wellbeing, App timers and put a timer on Reddit. When it runs out, "the app closes and its icon dims."⁵ It won't touch reddit.com in the browser, and that's one search away.

How to block Reddit on iPhone

1. Get Sunnah Lock from the App Store.
2. Build a block. Start from a ready-made template like Night or Home, or build your own from scratch.
3. Add Reddit to it, and put reddit.com on your website list. That covers the app and the site, so Safari doesn't turn into the back door.
4. Keep the adult content filter on. It's Apple's own filter, and the block is enforced by iOS itself, so it isn't a setting you can talk yourself out of at midnight.

Without installing anything

Screen Time can set a Time Allowance for the Reddit app. When it's used up, "you can tap One More Minute or send a request for more time."⁶ Fine as a reminder. Easy to wave away.

If you use Reddit for something real

Plenty of people get genuine help on Reddit, from car repairs to medical questions. If that's you, skip the full block. Set a 15-minute daily Usage limit, and a Time block from 9pm so Reddit can't take the last hour before bed.

If X is the other place your evenings go, see how to block X (Twitter).

Questions people ask

How do I block Reddit on my phone?

Block the Reddit app and reddit.com together, then lock the block. On Android, Sunnah Lock does both, with a PIN and Lockdown Mode so it can't be undone on impulse. On iPhone, Sunnah Lock blocks the app and the website, enforced by iOS itself.

Does Reddit have parental controls?

We couldn't find any. Reddit has a mature content filter, but it's a setting moderators turn on for their own community, not something a parent controls across the site. To keep a child off Reddit, block it on the device.

Is Reddit safe for kids?

Reddit hosts adult content in some communities. In a Common Sense Media study that tracked the phones of 203 kids aged 11 to 17, Reddit was one of the mature-rated apps that almost half the kids had used. If your child is under 18, blocking reddit.com and the app is the safe default.

How much time do people spend on Reddit?

According to Comscore data reported by eMarketer, average monthly time per Reddit user rose from 215.2 minutes in June 2023 to 243.0 minutes in June 2024, while time on Facebook and Instagram fell over the same period.

Does deleting the Reddit app stop me using Reddit?

No. reddit.com still works in any browser, and Reddit threads show up in Google results all the time. Block the website as well as the app.

Can I keep one subreddit and block the rest?

Not with an app block. A simpler fix is a daily Usage limit, like 15 minutes, so you can check the one community you need and the app closes before the rabbit hole starts.

Block something else

Sources

1. Reddit is outpacing social media rivals TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram when it comes to engagement eMarketer, August 2024
2. Constant Companion: A Week in the Life of a Young Person's Smartphone Use Common Sense Media, 2023
3. Mature content filter Reddit Help
4. Reducing Social Media Use Decreases Depression Symptoms: A Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials European Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education, November 2025
5. Manage how you spend time on your Android phone with Digital Wellbeing Android Help
6. Family Sharing and parental controls overview for kids and teens Apple Support, September 2026