Support

Help with Blocks

Blocks keeps the HTML pages you already have in one private library on your iPhone. Each one opens full screen and remembers what you enter.

What can I add?

Any self-contained HTML page: one you saved, one someone sent you, or one you wrote yourself. Blocks takes a single .html file, or a .zip folder with an index.html inside (up to 50 MB zipped and 200 MB unpacked). Blocks doesn't come with pages of its own apart from the Getting Started block, so you bring the ones you want to keep.

How do I add a block?

• In the library, tap + and choose a file from Files.
• Or share a file to Add to Blocks from the Share sheet, AirDrop it to your iPhone, or open it in Blocks from Files.

Give it a name, color and icon, and it appears in your library.

I have a newer copy of a page. Will I lose what I saved?

No. Add the newer file the same way, and if its title matches a block you have, Blocks offers to Update it. You can also open the block and tap ⋯ → Update. The page is replaced and its saved data stays. If something looks wrong afterwards, ⋯ → Roll Back returns to the previous version, data intact.

Is my data backed up?

Yes, if you're signed in to iCloud. iCloud Backup is on by default: each block and its saved data are copied to your own private iCloud when you close it, and the last three versions of its data are kept. To back up or restore one block, open its Block Settings → iCloud Backup.

How do I get my blocks onto a new iPhone, or back after deleting one?

Install Blocks, sign in to the same iCloud account, then tap the small line under "Library" that counts your blocks and choose iCloud Backup. Blocks that are in iCloud but not on this iPhone are listed there to restore. Deleted blocks can be restored for 30 days.

Can I share a block with my family?

You share the file itself the usual way, with AirDrop or Messages. For pages built to support it, you can also share a block's saved data, so a household budget or shared list stays in step on everyone's phone:

• Open the block's Block Settings → Shared Data, and invite people with Apple's sharing sheet. Each person can edit or only view.
• Everyone needs Blocks, iCloud, and their own copy of the same file. They tap the invitation and pick the block.
• Anyone can leave, and you can stop sharing at any time.

Shared Data only appears in Block Settings for pages that use it.

Can I open a block from a Shortcut or my Home Screen?

Yes. Open the block's Block Settings and tap Copy link under "Open from a Shortcut". In the Shortcuts app, make a shortcut with the Open URLs action and paste the link. You can add that shortcut to your Home Screen.

A page doesn't work the way it does in Safari

Most pages work just as they do in Safari, including offline if they don't need the internet. A few things aren't available in Blocks: pop-up windows (such as some sign-in screens), cookies that keep you signed in, and notifications. If a page relies on these, it won't fully work. The Debug Console (⋯ → Debug Console) shows the page's own errors, which helps if you're asking for help.

Camera, microphone and location

A block can ask to use them, like a web page can. Blocks asks you first and remembers your answer for that block only. To change it, open the block's Block Settings → Permissions.

Privacy

Blocks collects no data: no account, no ads, no tracking. Your files stay on your iPhone and in your own iCloud. Read the privacy policy.