People ask me this a lot: "Can I set a time limit on Instagram Reels only, and keep my DMs?" On iPhone the short answer is no, at least not with any built-in setting. I build an app in this space, so I spent a while reading what Apple's Screen Time frameworks actually allow. Here is why the limit people want doesn't exist, and what you can build instead.

What users have today

There are two built-in limits, and neither knows what a Reel is:

Instagram's own daily limit counts all the time you spend in the app. Answering a group chat uses it up just like scrolling Reels does. When you reach it, you get a reminder you can dismiss.

Screen Time's App Limits (Settings → Screen Time → App Limits) actually blocks the app, but it blocks all of Instagram.…