How to Block Candy Crush on iPhone
Set a Screen Time App Limit on Candy Crush under Games — but king.com and the other King titles are why the limit alone won't hold.
To block Candy Crush Saga on your iPhone, go to Settings > Screen Time > App Limits, add a limit under the Games category or to Candy Crush by name, and set your ceiling. The catch: Candy Crush's lives refill on a timer that keeps running in the background, so the moment your limit lifts or resets, there's usually a fresh life sitting there waiting for you.
How do you set a Screen Time limit for Candy Crush?
- Open Settings > Screen Time > App Limits.
- Tap Add Limit, then choose Games — the category Candy Crush Saga falls under in Apple's Screen Time classification — or tap into individual apps and search for Candy Crush Saga specifically.
- Decide category vs. single app: a Games category limit also catches any other game on the phone, which matters if you're prone to switching games rather than stopping.
- Set a time allowance (some people use 0 or 1 minute to make it effectively unusable) and the days it applies.
- Set a Screen Time passcode under Screen Time > Change Screen Time Passcode, separate from your device passcode, so the limit can't be waved away without friction.
Menu wording shifts a little between iOS versions, but the App Limits path has held steady for several years.
Why does the Candy Crush limit stop working after a few days?
Every App Limit screen carries an Ignore Limit button offering one more minute, 15 more minutes, or the rest of the day, and it unlocks instantly unless a Screen Time passcode blocks it. Limits also reset to zero every midnight regardless of how much you used the day before.
For Candy Crush specifically, this combination lines up badly with how the game is built. Lives regenerate on a fixed refill timer, so the game effectively schedules your return rather than leaving it up to you — you're not deciding to check in, you're noticing that a life just became available. A limit that resets at midnight and an Ignore Limit button that's one tap away don't interrupt that schedule; they just add a small delay to it.
Does blocking Candy Crush also block king.com?
An App Limit only recognizes the Candy Crush app icon — it doesn't touch king.com, King's own website, which hosts account management, support and promotional pages for all of their titles. Candy Crush Saga itself isn't meaningfully playable through a browser the way something like Instagram is, so king.com isn't a full gameplay loophole the way instagram.com is for that app. It's still worth adding if you want Content Restrictions to be thorough: go to Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions > Content Restrictions > Web Content, choose Limit Adult Websites, and add king.com under "Never Allow."
What else survives a Candy Crush block?
King makes several other titles on the same core match-three loop: Candy Crush Soda Saga, Candy Crush Friends Saga, and Candy Crush Jelly Saga are each separate apps in the App Store and in Screen Time's app list. Blocking the original Candy Crush Saga does nothing to any of them — if the pull is the match-three loop itself rather than this specific title, one of the sequels is the obvious next stop, and each needs its own limit. Life-refill notifications also arrive from whichever of these apps is still installed, regardless of which one you've limited.
What makes Candy Crush specifically hard to stop opening?
The mechanic is the refill timer, not an infinite feed. Lives regenerate roughly every 30 minutes (fewer in some events, more in others), so the app isn't just available whenever you open it — it's actively counting down to a moment when it wants you back, and it will tell you about that moment with a notification if you let it. That's a different shape of pull than something like Instagram, where the content itself has no stopping point. Here, the stopping point exists — you run out of lives — and the game's whole design is built around shortening the wait until that stopping point stops mattering.
Which approach actually works for Candy Crush?
| Approach | How it works | Verdict for Candy Crush |
|---|---|---|
| Screen Time App Limit (Games category or app-specific) | Blocks the icon after your set time; resets at midnight | Works for casual sessions; the life-refill timer means notifications keep pulling you back between limits |
| Downtime schedule | Blocks Candy Crush (and most apps) during set hours | Useful for "no games after bedtime"; doesn't stop refill-triggered checking during allowed hours |
| Deleting the app | Removes the icon; progress is saved to your King/Facebook account | Effective immediately, but reinstalling and signing back in takes under a minute and restores everything |
| Blocking king.com | Closes King's website in Safari | Minor value here — the game itself isn't playable in a browser, so this mostly limits account pages, not play |
| Conditional unlock (e.g., Step N Scroll) | Keeps Candy Crush locked until a daily step goal, tracked via Apple Health, is met | Breaks the refill-timer habit by decoupling "a life is ready" from "I can play"; doesn't suit a free-tool preference, low-mobility days, or Android, since there's no Android build |
If Candy Crush is one of several games pulling at your attention, the same App Limit steps apply per app — see how to block Clash Royale for a title with a similarly timer-driven loop, or the full list of app guides for every app covered here.
What can't a Screen Time block fix?
No setting here makes Candy Crush impossible to open — Content & Privacy Restrictions can be changed, the blocking app can be deleted, and a determined person can always find their way back in. The evidence that blocking tools change long-term game habits is thin and mostly self-reported; friction reduces impulsive reopens more reliably than it resolves why the app is appealing in the first place. If the real pattern is losing evenings you meant to spend elsewhere, a limit is a reasonable structural aid, but if the same checking-in urge shows up across more than one app, not just this one, the guide on why you can't stop scrolling covers the broader mechanism rather than just Candy Crush's specific version of it.
FAQ
Does blocking Candy Crush Saga also block Candy Crush Soda or Candy Crush Friends?
No. Soda Saga, Friends Saga and Jelly Saga are each their own app in Apple's Screen Time list, even though they're made by the same studio and run on the same loop. An App Limit on Candy Crush Saga has no effect on them — you'd need to add each one separately.
Will Candy Crush still work in Safari if I set an App Limit?
Not the game itself, but king.com is King's own website and it's worth adding to your Content Restrictions if you're trying to close every door, since it's the account and support hub behind all their titles.
Why do my lives keep refilling right when I'm trying to stop?
Lives regenerate on a fixed timer — roughly every 30 minutes per life in most versions — whether you're in the app or not. That means there's always a specific, predictable moment when a fresh life is waiting, which is what pulls people back rather than a feed that's simply always available.
Does deleting Candy Crush erase my progress and boosters?
No, as long as you're signed in through Facebook or a King account. Progress, levels and any purchased boosters are tied to that account, not the local install, and reappear when you reinstall and sign back in.
Can Step N Scroll see that I've specifically blocked Candy Crush?
No. Apple's Family Controls framework hands third-party developers opaque tokens for blocked apps, not the app's real identity. No developer in this category can see that Candy Crush specifically is what you've locked.
What happens when I tap Ignore Limit on Candy Crush?
iOS unlocks it for one more minute, 15 more minutes, or the rest of the day, and asks for your Screen Time passcode first if you've set one. Without that passcode, the button removes the limit instantly and makes the whole setup a formality.
Sources
- Apple Support — "Set up Screen Time for yourself on iPhone"
- Apple Support — "Set content and privacy restrictions on iPhone"
- Pew Research Center — "Mobile gaming and app engagement patterns"
- American Psychological Association — "The science of habit formation and behavior change apps"
Step N Scroll is a habit and screen-time tool, not a medical device. Nothing here is medical advice.