Questions about using Screen Time to limit persons ability to change settings

Question

Level 1

24 points

Questions about using Screen Time to limit persons ability to change settings

Hi. My dad is in a nursing home and due to pandemic it is very difficult to visit him and fix issues with his iPad. He has cognitive and communication issues. Because of this, he easily gets confused and loses patience when confronted with the requirement to enter a passcode or passwords or anything with a choice. He will just go into the settings and start changing things and make things worse. Or enter a passcode 10 times wrong and disable the ipad.

So I'm setting up screen time to limit his ability to create mayhem. I've set a passcode for screentime and so far I set Screen time to disallow his ability to change the iPad passcode which I've set to something very simple.

I can also set it to not allow him to change account settings.

This looks interesting because it appears it will block him from messing with the icloud settings, find my settings and apple ID password etc. I'm wondering though if I do that if he will eventually have an issue if there is an iOS update to install since it seems to block off that whole section in settings. As it is now, I have updates set to not automatically download. The less he has to interact with the iPad the better. Can he still approve/allow an update if Apple pushes it through with the account settings not allowed in Screen Time? Also, will "find my" still work on my end if I need to reset his iPad via the iCloud?

Any other potential dangers - dangers meaning my father being confronted with something confusing - by not allowing him to change account settings?

He mainly uses Ipad to check email and watch netflix. There are no security issues there at nursing home so that is not an issue to worry about. Thanks.

Posted on Apr 7, 2021 1:14 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Best reply

LotusPilot

Community+ 2024

Level 10

283,562 points

Apr 7, 2021 1:52 AM in response to frale55

frale55 wrote:

I can also set it to not allow him to change account settings.

This looks interesting because it appears it will block him from messing with the icloud settings, find my settings and apple ID password etc. I'm wondering though if I do that if he will eventually have an issue if there is an iOS update to install since it seems to block off that whole section in settings. As it is now, I have updates set to not automatically download. The less he has to interact with the iPad the better. Can he still approve/allow an update if Apple pushes it through with the account settings not allowed in Screen Time? Also, will "find my" still work on my end if I need to reset his iPad via the iCloud?

Any other potential dangers - dangers meaning my father being confronted with something confusing - by not allowing him to change account settings?

Continuing from your post of yesterday...

The described measures will not impede use of the iPad. ScreenTime and other controls (e.g., Parental Controls) are intended to limit access to features and functions deemed inappropriate for the user - and this is exactly what you are attempting to achieve.

The measures employed thus far are a very “light touch” that does only limits changes to areas that are known to cause [you] significant difficulties.

Disabling automatic updates is also very wise - as this, of itself, removes another area that is known to cause difficulties is some circumstances. Manual update will remain available - although doing so should perhaps be discouraged unless supervision is available.

Insofar as I can predict, you should not encounter any situations that are any more confusing than is already the case.

There is a further avenue that you may wish to explore. Apple do have a team of Accessibility Specialists that may be able to offer additional suggestions and guidance for preparing devices for end-users with cognitive problems or other disabilities. This support page may be helpful:

Accessibility - Mobility - Apple

It may be worthwhile to directly contact Apple Support - and ask to speak with an Accessibility Specialist. Apple have a team dedicated to offering support for accessibility issues. They will be able to offer help and support with suggestions and specific settings for users with difficulties with motor function and other disabilities.

You can contact Apple Support using the Get Support link at top-right of this page. Alternatively, you can initiate contact, or open a support case, using the excellent Apple Support App. If not already installed on your iPad, the App can be downloaded from the App Store:

https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/apple-support/id1130498044

I hope this information is helpful in obtaining the specialist help that you need.

Reply

Answer 2

Apr 8, 2021 1:36 AM in response to frale55

Unfortunately, Apple Configurator 2 is only available on the Mac platform - hence was not offered as a potential tool for your situation.

When using external Enterprise management tools, such as Configurator and commercial MDM platforms, many other control avenues become available. For most consumer devices, the native Screen Time and Parental Controls are often the only practical tools that can be employed.

Given that you too have Apple devices, don’t forget that you can set-up Family Sharing - where you can share Apps, Services, Purchases and Subscriptions. This provides another level of service sharing and control that might provide some useful functions. Unless Family members AppleIDs are configured for a “minor”, you won’t have much in the way of additional restrictive controls - but nothing prevents you from creating a “child” AppleID for an adult...

Family Sharing - Apple

What is Family Sharing? – Apple Support

Set up Family Sharing – Apple Support

Share App Store, iTunes Store and Apple Books purchases with Family Sharing – Apple Support

Reply

Answer 3

frale55 Author

Level 1

24 points

Apr 7, 2021 11:21 AM in response to frale55

I had to get the iPad to my father so I wasn't able to look into Apple help and the accessibility specialists before doing so. But I will over the next week or two check it out and see if they have any helpful suggestions.

As it is now, as long as he can remember to enter the correct passcode which is a 4 digit numeric code that I set for him and is basically the same lucky number repeated 4 times, I think it should be good. So what I did to his iPad to try and improve this situation where it seems he is being prompted to create a passcode (with none set) and then doing so and then forgetting it ... since the disabled ipad situation suggests that as the only possibility... is:

Created and set a simple passcode for him and I set it for an every hour scenario. This way he is not entering it too much but also not too little. I let the folks at nursing home know the passcode and the situation so they can watch out for him. They are pretty busy there so this is not always easy for them...
I enabled the Screen Time feature and passcode protected it with a different passcode than iPad passcode. I set Passcode Changes and Account Changes to not allow. This way he can't change passcodes or mess with some of the other account related settings.
I toggled Automatic updates to off in Settings/General/Software Update... iPad is currently up to date in any case.
. Made sure Netflix is saving the sign in email and password. Sometimes it will ask him to re-sign in and this is usually trouble. Noticed earlier though that is will save login credential in password area in Settings.
Made sure Find my is enabled. I'm thinking maybe if he disables the ipad again I could erase the iPad from my computer and his iCloud account (Apple ID account) and then have an easier time restoring a backup. I think wifi must be working for that to work. We'll see. Hopefully don't need that.
Went through pretty much all settings and apps and disabled most if not all unimportant notifications. The less surprises the better.

I think that is it. I'll see how it goes. And also see if Apple specialists have any other helpful suggestions.

Thanks again.

Reply

Answer 4

Apr 7, 2021 12:00 PM in response to frale55

In addition to the above, have a look at the (free) Apple Configurator 2 app from the Mac App Store, and using that and loading profiles. Profiles can be used to keep changes from being (easily) made. I've had several folks that are or were fond of poking at app configuration settings, and profiles are harder to poke at.

Reply

Answer 5

frale55 Author

Level 1

24 points

Apr 7, 2021 11:30 PM in response to MrHoffman

Thanks. Is that only avail for Mac? I don't have one so don't think I can use it. I only have a couple of iPhones.

I think I did run into reading about that app though. Thought I read that the number of passcode mistakes allowed before iPad disabling could be raised or something like that. Maybe that was wrong. Sounded like something to try. But then again maybe he would just reach that max whatever it could be altered to if it could be adjusted.

I think he should be good though. Whenever I've fixed his iPad in the past, I've always sat down with him after and would just quickly go over anything and show him how to do it and have him replicate it and see that he understands. Now, with the restrictive rules in place, I'm not able to do that as often. That's the hardest part. He's had more problems with the iPad in the past 4 months then in the nearly 9 years or so prior. I think mostly because I'm not there to check in on status of iPad and correct stuff before it becomes an issue and just to show him things.

But I think the suggestions given here should be really helpful so I'm optimistic things will improve.

Reply