BufferGet the beta

Product guide · 6 min read

How AM Buffer works

AM Buffer is an iPhone alarm that also blocks apps. You decide the night before which apps should wait, and when your alarm goes off they stay locked for a window you choose. This guide covers setup, exactly when blocking starts and stops, and what the free version and Premium include.

By AM Buffer

AM Buffer in short

Every morning works the same way:

  • You set your wake-up alarms inside AM Buffer.
  • You pick the apps, app categories, or websites to block.
  • When your first alarm goes off, those apps lock.
  • They unlock when your buffer ends, 30 minutes after your last alarm by default.
  • Everything you did not pick, including calls and maps, keeps working.

Blocking runs through Apple’s Screen Time system, the same one behind Screen Time limits. Once it is set up, it works whether or not AM Buffer is open.

Get the beta

AM Buffer is in free public beta on TestFlight, Apple’s app for testing apps before they reach the App Store. You need an iPhone running iOS 26 or later. There is no Android or iPad version yet.

  1. Install TestFlight from the App Store on your iPhone.
  2. Open the AM Buffer beta link on the same iPhone and tap Accept.
  3. Tap Install, then open AM Buffer.

First setup

The first run takes a few minutes. AM Buffer asks a short set of questions about your mornings, then walks you through four steps.

  1. Set your alarm. Choose a time, repeat days, and a sound. You can add more alarms later.
  2. Allow alarms. iOS asks whether AM Buffer may schedule alarms. Without this, AM Buffer cannot wake you.
  3. Allow Screen Time. iOS asks whether AM Buffer may use Screen Time. This is what lets it block apps.
  4. Pick what to block. Apple’s Screen Time picker opens so you can choose apps, categories, or websites.

Setup ends with the Premium offer. Choose Try 3 mornings free to skip it; your first three mornings include every Premium feature anyway.

Alarms

AM Buffer rings its own alarms, scheduled through Apple’s AlarmKit. It cannot read or reuse the alarms in the Clock app, so set your wake-up alarms in AM Buffer and turn off the matching ones in Clock if you do not want two.

  • Add as many alarms as you like, and delete them when you are done.
  • Each alarm has its own time, repeat days, and sound.
  • Snooze is on by default and gives you nine more minutes. You can turn it off per alarm.
  • An alarm with no repeat days rings once.

What gets blocked

You choose what to block in Apple’s own Screen Time picker, so the list looks like the one in iPhone Settings. You can pick:

  • Individual apps, such as one social or video app.
  • Whole categories, such as Social or Entertainment.
  • Websites, for feeds you open in a browser.

Pick the apps that start the scroll for you, not everything that could. A short, accurate list is easier to live with. You can change it any time in the app.

When you open a blocked app during your window, you see AM Buffer’s block screen instead, which tells you what time your apps open again. Tap Back to my morning to close it.

When blocking starts and stops

The window runs on the clock, based on your alarm times rather than when you tap stop. It starts at your first alarm of the day and ends a set number of minutes after your last one. Snoozing does not move it.

15 minutesEnough to get out of bed before the feeds return.
30 minutesThe default. Room for a short routine.
60 minutesA full first hour. The longest free option.
90 minutesPremium. For longer mornings or early commutes.

For example, with alarms at 7:00 and 7:10 and a 30-minute buffer, your apps are blocked from 7:00 to 7:40. With Premium, blocking starts an hour earlier, at 6:00, so waking before the alarm does not open a gap for scrolling.

AM Buffer’s Today tab shows your streak of protected mornings in a row.

The emergency exit

Sometimes you genuinely need a blocked app. The block screen has an I need my phone button for that.

  1. Tap I need my phone on the block screen, then open AM Buffer from your Home Screen.
  2. Choose what you need your phone for.
  3. Hold the button for 30 seconds.

Everything you blocked opens for 10 minutes, then locks again until your window ends. Nothing is recorded and your morning is not marked as missed. The hold is there to make the exit a decision rather than a reflex.

Prefer no way out? Turn off Exit for emergencies in AM Buffer’s Settings.

Free and Premium

Your first three protected mornings include everything, with no subscription. After that, AM Buffer keeps working for free with some limits, and Premium removes them.

  • Start time. Free starts blocking at your first alarm. Premium starts an hour before it.
  • How much you block. Free blocks one app, category, or website. Premium has no limit.
  • Buffer length. Free runs up to 60 minutes after your last alarm. Premium runs up to 90.

If you set things up during your free mornings, what you already chose keeps working afterwards; the limits apply the next time you change your list. A 90-minute buffer runs as 60 on the free version and returns to 90 if you subscribe. Premium is an App Store subscription, and the app shows current prices before you choose.

Privacy

The app runs on your iPhone and collects no personal data. Your alarms, settings, and streaks stay on the device. Apple’s Screen Time picker gives AM Buffer opaque tokens for the apps you choose, so AM Buffer cannot tell which apps they are. The privacy notice has the details.

How AM Buffer creates and updates its guides