Specific Downtime Contacts not working in Messages

I had the exact issue on iOS 13.6

My daughters phone had contacts being saved across Gmail, iCloud AND on the device.

For the specific contacts I wanted her to be able to contact (me) I had to:

Goto Contacts app

Delete old contacts I wanted her to be able to contact during Downtime

Then, in top left corner, select "Groups"

Uncheck everything besides "All iCloud"

Tap DONE

Go back and create all of the new contacts again, just using all of the same information. Text threads, call history and emails were unaffected by this.

Re-add to the Screen Time > Communication > Allowed contacts

After that was all finished, I went back into "Groups" from step 3 above and re-enabled the other options so all contacts were again displayed.

Did a power cycle on the device to make sure everything "took".

Hopefully this helps someone else. I have spent about 5 hours on this doing the same thing everyone else had tried.

I went in to turn off the "Contacts" under "Gmail" from "accounts" but didn't want to delete those contacts (because at the time I didn't know what they were) From her device.

Hi, I've been fiddling about, and I "think" I've fixed it by ensuring the relevant contacts are iCloud contacts. I was having the same problem with some of the contacts that were stored on my gmail accounts. I'm not certain, but I think this has fixed it for me.

Hello and welcome to Apple Support Communities, ethereality!

I understand you're having trouble messaging an allowed contact. I'd be happy to provide information to help you address this.

You'll want to turn off Screen Time and then turn it back on:

Turn off Screen Time on your Mac

Use Screen Time on your Mac

Let us know the results.

Have a great day!

I’ve run into the same issue on an iPhone, latest iOS. Multiple contacts are blocked even though they are on the allowed list. Cleaning up contacts worked for one of the contacts but not others. Going to try disabling screen time but I did not have to disable screen time for the one that is currently working (but wasn’t working originally)

There has to be a bug somewhere. Doesn’t make sense you actually pick a contact from the list, it states it’s an allowed contact yet you’re blocked from accessing the messages, FaceTime or other items you should be allowed to do.

Just wanted to share that I am having the same issues with my son’s phone. I set myself as a downtime contact and the screen shows Communication Limit - you are not allowed to communicate with Dad during downtime.

When will this get fixed? I’d hate for an emergency to occur and my son not be able to reach me or vice versa.

Thanks for posting this JRMLittlefair it also helped me with my son's phone. Now I've been able to set app and time limits and still be able to contact him after hours. This is a great addition to screentime!

My sons phone doesn’t offer iCloud- it has his name when I look in contact setting. He doesn’t have iCloud. I fixed to iCloud on my phone in contacts but still didn’t allow him to receive my call. What now?

Thanks so much! It worked! My sons iCloud contacts were on but mine was not. As soon as I turned mine on everything worked!

This didnt work

I think I figured something out, I had to turn off downtime time parameters, to add contact to down list. Weird. I couldn’t add while downtime parameters were up. What’s even more strange is one contact that’s already in contact list, would not show up in add to down list- list. What did work was when I was in messages while parameters were down, I was given the option to add to contacts while looking at the locked messages.

Their is totally a bug this should not be this complicated.