Block apps on Android. No root required.

Rooting an Android phone to control apps was never a good idea, and in 2026 it's entirely unnecessary. Every method below works on a stock, unrooted device.

Why rooting is the wrong answer

Rooting voids the warranty, breaks banking and payment apps through Play Integrity checks, blocks OTA security updates, and hands a teenager a device with no security boundaries at all. It also makes the phone less safe, not more. Skip it.

Method 1: Family Link app limits (free, built in)

1. Install Family Link and link your child's Google account.
2. Open your child's profile → Controls → App limits.
3. Tap an app and choose Block, or set a daily time limit.

Works well for: children under 13 with a supervised Google account.

Limitations: supervision weakens at 13 — your child gets a notification offering to remove supervision and can accept it on their birthday. Family Link also can't block system apps, and it can't stop an app being sideloaded outside the Play Store.

Method 2: Samsung Secure Folder / device-maker tools

Samsung, Xiaomi, and a few other manufacturers ship their own app-lock features. Samsung's Secure Folder can hide apps behind a separate PIN; Xiaomi has App Lock built into Security.

Limitations: manufacturer-specific, inconsistent between models, and generally designed to hide your apps from someone else rather than stop your child using theirs. Both are removable by the device user.

Method 3: Digital Wellbeing focus mode

Settings → Digital Wellbeing → Focus mode lets you pause selected apps on a schedule.

Limitations: it's a self-control tool, not a parental control. There's no PIN. Your child turns it off in two taps.

Method 4: A dedicated app blocker with a parent PIN

This is what actually holds. Defenras App Blocker uses Android's Accessibility Service to detect when a restricted app opens and immediately closes it, showing a PIN prompt instead.

Setup

1. Install Defenras from the Play Store on your child's phone.
2. Sign in with your parent account and set a PIN your child doesn't know.
3. Grant the Accessibility permission when prompted — this is what lets the blocker see which app is in the foreground.
4. Open App Blocker and select the apps to lock.
5. Turn on Uninstall protection.

What uninstall protection does

Defenras registers as a device admin, which means Android won't let the app be uninstalled until admin rights are revoked — and revoking them requires the parent PIN. If someone tries, you get a notification.

Blocking the escape routes

App blocking alone leaves three exits open. Close them:

• The web version. Blocking the Instagram app does nothing about instagram.com in Chrome. Defenras blocks both at once — the app via App Blocker, the site via DNS.
• Sideloading. Turn off Install unknown apps for every browser and file manager: Settings → Apps → Special app access → Install unknown apps.
• Safe mode. Booting into safe mode disables third-party apps including blockers. On most Android builds you can't disable safe mode without an enterprise MDM — but Defenras notifies you when the device boots into it, which is usually the more useful signal anyway.

Second user profiles

Android supports multiple user profiles, and a second profile is a clean device with none of your restrictions. Check Settings → System → Multiple users and turn it off, or at minimum turn off Add users from lock screen.