Wax is a Mac app that blocks apps and websites on your iPhone, without erasing the iPhone.
Screen Time limits and screen-time apps run on the phone, so a passcode or one tap turns them off. Apple Configurator can lock an iPhone down, but it erases the iPhone first and is a tool made for IT teams. Wax supervises the iPhone you already use, from your Mac over a USB cable, and keeps your photos, messages and apps.
How it works: turn off Find My on the iPhone, plug it into your Mac and click Supervise. The iPhone restarts once. Then you pick the apps and websites to block in Wax and tap Install on the iPhone. No setting on the iPhone turns the block off. Only your Mac, or erasing the iPhone, removes it.
What you can block: any app, like a game, a shopping app, a dating app or a video app. Any website, like a betting site or a news site, in Safari. One social app such as Instagram, while every other app stays where it was. You can also turn on the adult filter for Safari on a kid's iPhone, and it stays on.
What it cannot block: Apple's own apps, like Safari, Messages and Phone. Websites in Safari can still be blocked.
To undo, choose Remove Supervision in Wax on your Mac, which keeps your data.
Who it is for: people who want a block they cannot switch off on a bad day, and parents who set up a kid's iPhone.
Requirements: a Mac with Apple silicon on macOS 14 or later, and an iPhone on iOS 27 or earlier. Wax makes no backup, so back up first.
Pricing: one-time purchase. Wax is $9 for 2 iPhones. Wax Family is $29 for 5 iPhones. Both include 1 year of updates and keep working after the year. No free trial.
