The Doorpost › A Bible screen time app that puts Scripture in front of the feed
A Bible screen time app that puts Scripture in front of the feed
A Bible screen time app connects two things most apps keep separate: the limit on your phone and the Bible on your table. The Doorpost does it on iPhone by keeping the apps you name locked each morning until you have written a verse from your own physical Bible by hand. No account, ads or tracking; free to download with a paid full version.
Two problems, one app
Screen time apps limit the phone. Bible apps put Scripture on it. Neither does what most Christians searching this phrase actually want, which is for the Bible to come before the phone in the morning.
A Bible screen time app should therefore not be a Bible app with a timer bolted on. It should be a lock whose key is Scripture. That is the shape The Doorpost takes: the apps you choose stay closed until the verse is written.
How it works day to day
Pick the apps that pull at you. Each morning the first tap on one of them brings up the day's verse reference instead of the app. You open your own Bible, find the verse, and write it out by hand. The app does not show the verse text, so the printed page is part of the routine.
When the verse is written, the apps you chose open for the day. What you wrote is kept in the app as a record, and the days are counted quietly. There are no notifications, badges or streak warnings.
Free to download, with a full version
The Doorpost is free to download from the App Store. The full version costs $2.99 a month, $19.99 a year, or $19.99 once for lifetime access, so a subscription is optional.
There is no account and nothing is collected. The App Store privacy label states no data is collected, and the app makes no network requests; it works with Airplane Mode on. It runs on iPhone and iPad with iOS 17 or later and on Apple silicon Macs.
Compared with iOS Screen Time
The Screen Time limits built into iOS are free and worth trying first. Their limit is the Ignore Limit button, which most people are tapping on autopilot within two weeks.
The Doorpost uses the same Screen Time permission to keep apps closed, but the way out is a verse, not a tap. That is the whole difference, and for a morning it is a large one.
What people say when they search for this
The related searches are telling: "app for screen time", "free screen time app", "screen time app reviews". People want something that works and does not cost much, and they are wary of apps that promise focus and deliver notifications.
The honest answer is that the free built-in tools are fine until the ignore button defeats you, and that a verse-first lock is the step after that for anyone who wants the phone to wait for the Word.
Questions people ask
What is the best Bible screen time app?
It depends on the problem. For reading Scripture on the phone, a Bible app such as YouVersion. For putting Scripture before the phone, The Doorpost keeps the iPhone apps you choose locked until you have written a verse by hand from your own Bible, with no account, ads or tracking, and a one-time purchase option.
Is there a free screen time app for Christians?
iOS Screen Time is free and built in. The Doorpost is free to download, with a full version at $2.99 a month, $19.99 a year, or $19.99 once. Both use Apple's Screen Time permission; only The Doorpost makes the unlock a handwritten Bible verse.
Does The Doorpost include a Bible to read?
No, and deliberately so. It gives you the reference and waits while you find the verse in your own printed Bible and write it out. The design keeps the first minutes of the day on the page rather than on another screen.
Does it work on iPad or Mac?
Yes. The Doorpost runs on iPhone and iPad with iOS 17 or later and on Macs with Apple silicon running macOS 14 or later. There is no Android version.
Last updated: September 2026