Keep useful YouTube.
Stop the Shorts loop.

Yes, YouTube now includes a Shorts-specific control. You can set the Shorts Feed limit to zero without blocking subscriptions, search, long videos, tutorials, or uploads. That is the best first step for most people.

The limitation matters: for a standard account, the limit displays a reminder and offers an option to dismiss or ignore it. If you repeatedly override that reminder, iPhone Screen Time or Fella can add a broader boundary—but both restrict the whole YouTube app rather than only Shorts.

Shorts live inside YouTube, not as a separate iPhone app. No honest whole-app blocker should promise to distinguish one YouTube tab from another.

1. Open YouTube and sign in. Make sure the app is current if the setting does not appear.

2. Tap You, then Settings. Open Time management and choose Shorts Feed limit.

3. Select zero. YouTube also offers other time limits if complete removal feels too abrupt.

4. Treat the prompt as a stop sign. When the reminder appears, leave rather than using the dismiss option. The control is useful only if you do not turn ignoring it into the new habit.

This is the only option here designed specifically for Shorts. It preserves long-form YouTube access and should come before an app-wide block.

For Apple's options, go to Settings > Screen Time > App & Website Activity. Choose App Limits for daily minutes or Downtime for a schedule. Remember that YouTube Music is a separate app; select only what you intend to restrict.

Choose Fella only when the tradeoff makes sense. Add YouTube if Shorts are the main problem and useful YouTube viewing can move to a computer, television, or intentional browser session.

Selected apps stay blocked all day. Fella does not run a YouTube schedule or count minutes. The iPhone app is unavailable by default.

one 5-minute emergency unlock per session remains. Use it to retrieve a saved tutorial, share a link, or handle a creator task. YouTube relocks automatically when the window ends.

Do not use Fella if long-form mobile YouTube is essential throughout the day. The Shorts-specific YouTube control is a much more precise fit in that case.

Remove direct triggers. Turn off YouTube notifications, remove the widget, and stop opening Shorts links from social apps when you did not intend to watch video.

Use a destination for intentional viewing. Put tutorials and longer videos into Watch Later, then watch them on a computer or TV where vertical swiping is less convenient.

Account for Safari. Fella blocks the YouTube iPhone app, not youtube.com. If the habit simply moves to the browser, use a separate website restriction or keep browser viewing to a defined location.

Notice substitution. Blocking Shorts can push the same loop to Reels, TikTok, or another short-video feed. The useful blocked list targets the behavior across apps, not only the first logo.

Shorts feel relevant because your history trained them to be. The feed draws heavily on watch and search history, so the more you've watched, the more precisely it can predict what keeps you swiping. Under Settings > History & privacy, YouTube lets you pause watch history so new views stop feeding that model, or clear it outright to reset what's already been learned.

This doesn't disable Shorts, but it dulls them. A feed built on thinner or stale data is less precisely tuned to your specific weak points, closer to generic than personalized. It's a slower fix than the Shorts Feed limit, but it works alongside it rather than against it.

The same history also drives Search and homepage recommendations. Pausing it is a broader move than it sounds, so expect suggestions across YouTube, not only the Shorts feed, to feel less tailored afterward.