Family sharing for adding to, for an existing child Apple ID

Question

Family sharing for adding to, for an existing child Apple ID

My child had screentime setting on his iPhone 8 but I would like to control it remotely. Hence decided to start using family share for this and also to get regular reports on his screentime usage.

I tried to add my child's existing Apple ID to my Family sharing, his profile has only 2 options(adult or Guardian/Parent). I am unable to mark him as Child. I am unable to control his account.

I tried the otherway and tried to add me from his phone, I was able to add and then change my profile as guardian/parent. After this I am unable to control his account as he is marked as the organiser.

So with both attempts, I am unable to control my child's phone usage. What am I doing wrong? I haven't tried creating a new child account since he has been using his Apple ID for a few years already and this option seems to be unreasonable. Both my child's and my phones have the latest IOS 14.4

Any advice/suggestions/experience is welcome.

iPhone 11

Posted on Feb 2, 2021 11:36 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

sterling r

Community Specialist

Feb 5, 2021 6:22 PM in response to praveenfromespoo

praveenfromespoo,

Thanks for getting back to us and for verifying that information. By any chance, do you see the option of selecting, "This is My Child's [Device]" in Settings > Screen Time? You'll able to see this option, if you're the parent or guardian that set up, Content & Privacy Restrictions in Screen Time on the child's device. That information is outlined here: Use parental controls on your child's iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch

Please let us know if that helps.

Cheers!

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Answer 2

Feb 4, 2021 5:44 PM in response to praveenfromespoo

Hello praveenfromespoo,

Thank you for reaching out in Apple Support Communities. We understand you're unable to use parental control on your child's iPhone. We can help point you in the right direction.

We recommend to verify the date of birth for your child's Apple ID account. This might be the issue that's preventing you from marking their Apple ID account as a child for Family Sharing. Here's an article with the proper steps: Family Sharing and Apple ID for your child

Please let us know if that helps.

Kind regards.

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Answer 3

Feb 4, 2021 10:41 PM in response to melissa_m77

Hello Melissa,

Thank you for the tip, it solved the problem partially. My child is added to family sharing with his age visible next to it. After adding the child, when I got to screentime, it is blank. Is it because his screentime is already enabled locally on his phone? What do I need to do next to see the controls from Parent phone? Thanks in advance.

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Answer 4

Eric Root

Level 10

684,111 points

Feb 5, 2021 9:29 AM in response to praveenfromespoo

See if anything here helps.

Parental Controls and Family Sharing.

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Family sharing for adding to, for an existing child Apple ID

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