Q: OS X El Capitan:  Parental Controls NOT working

10.11.6 - I'm having the same issue, too. I need to image about 500 student computers, and this issue is holding me up.

If I were in your boat I would have gone the OSX Server profile manager route.

For me, it's not consistent even in the same login session. An application will work as intended one moment and not correctly a few minutes later.

10.11.6 - I'm having the same issue, too. 

I've banged my head on this for the last 3 hrs. No resolution. I setup 2 profiles a week ago before I knew of this problem and they work fine (time limiting, app limiting, web site limiting). Tonight I try to setup a new account and it refused to keep the Parental Control settings. Tried about 50 different combinations of setting locks, logging out, restarting, click into and out of windows and tabs, using admin account, using the managed account. The only thing that partially worked was the "Always Allow" option when the popup appeared, but even that would revert when I went in to pile on additional app restrictions. Numbskull who "patched" this bug with 10.11.6 must have tested it once and called it good. It is far from fixed. Typical Apple. They pay all attention the front page dazzle presentation, go 'round back and try the "professional" features and its a wild west bug fest.

Maybe they're saving this bug fix for a special episode of "Planet of the Apps"? 

Timing doesn't work at all! it saves my setting and keeps logs it just doesn't enforce the setting I've applied.

I have this same issue as well.  Spoke with support for over an hour.  It is still unresolved.  It seems parental controls do not work!  I'm not very happy about this and all the time I have spent trying to figure it out. 

Have you all tried deleting the user account and re-adding it? That's what finally fixed these issues for me after months of struggling with them.

That is what Apple have suggested for me but then my son would lose all the stored info of levels in games and achievements - this is causing multiple meltdowns already. To try to limit any App, limits ever app and permitting Apps individually via the white permissions dialogs when my son logs in, are ineffective. Steam is a particular problem as it has portals or sub-programmes that the overall permissions do not allow but which cannot be permitted separately.

Nor are Time Limits are not working (the allotted hour comes and goes and the child is still on), nor sometimes is log-in time limits in the morning prevented. My ASD son does not accept that the time limit is up because the computer does not say so.

Apple Support seem not to understand the issue or recognise it exists. El Capitan 10.11.6 on a late 2014 MacMini.

I manage a school full of iMacs, and we use parental controls as part of our full building system.  Apple Engineering provided me with a workaround that "sometimes" fixes the issue.

Login as an admin and be sure all other users logged out

disable parental controls

remove folder ~Library/managed preferences

re enable parental controls

This “sometimes” fixes the problem of parental controls not saving

caledonia64 wrote:

 

That is what Apple have suggested for me but then my son would lose all the stored info of levels in games and achievements

Not if you do it the right way. When you delete his user account, opt to keep his home folder. Then when you re-create the account, use the same name and the system will automatically find and use the old home folder and all of its data. That's what I did and my kids lost none of their info.

Make backups before you do this, of course.

Hi,

SOLUTION for me:

I found that if you want to save the new configuration, you need to apply the "select all menu" (12 points item at toolbox preference menu, at top of the preference windows).  You need to do this on any submenu that you configure (applications, internet, store, ...)  When you finish and want to lock you must do this at the end of the rest of configurations.  And try to do with the parental user closed. If you lock configuration this do not save unless you first switch to other preference item.

I hope this could help somebody.

Regards