Screen Time not working on Tiktok, Snapchat, Instagram?

We’ve got the exact same problem, tried apple support but they were next to useless. Only suggested everything we have already tried, we managed to briefly get it working again by setting up a new apple childs Apple ID but this lasted a day at most, Apple definately has an issue with screen time and it seems to be from approx when 16.1.2 was installed.

Apple. Still an issue and a major problem right now for families. Tried apple support and every idea out there. Kick the apps out until they fix it

Me too. We have the same issue.

I’ve spent more than 16 hours over the past few months working with Apple to do various resets, refresh, new device, etc. and they finally admitted today it doesn’t work.

The Apple Support agent was very nice but he has been told by his supervisor to blame the third party developers for the problem.

Wow! I’m shocked. Apple activately prompt the parental controls as a key selling feature and now they blame the third party developers for their failure to impose restrictions!!?

i’m angry because this was a key feature which encouraged us to proceed with Apple products for our kids.

The agent agreed revert back to his supervisor the contradiction of blaming third party developers for their platform failure.

Hopefully someone finally does something.

I am having the exact same problem. I find it highly suspicious that TikTok is the primary culprit. Strange that the only app with this issue is not calculator or compass! Knowing about the screen time function was what convinced me to allow my child a device - now it’s not functioning for one of the most child hypnotic apps available! Grrrr!!! Apple: must fix please!

I’ve spent hours trying all the other suggestions I’ve come across. It’s outrageous that Apple are dodging responsibility for this and saying there’s no known problems. Maybe it’s strictly not a bug, but at the very least it’s appalling user design - and for a company whose name is synonymous with great design to try and defend this Norman Door of Apps is puzzling, bordering on suspicious. And I’m sure some third party developers are trying to get around these restrictions but ffs Apple - ban them from the App Store!

TikTok is definitely the biggest issue for us too - have a 5m app limit and still regularly see reports from Screen Time itself like this:

What a joke - the app displays the 5m restriction and the 2.5hrs of use today ON THE SAME PAGE

And let’s look at my daughter’s TikToK usage today - the one whose devices I’ve tried to time limit TikTok in. I’m now down to seeing if a 5 min restriction works…

nope, still not working. She’s clocked up 1h 25 mins on TikTok today. While there’s a 5 m time restriction in place.

still no known faults, Apple?

I'm running into the same issue. I have App Store downloads disallowed, but the App Store is still showing up on my daughter's phone. I also have it disabled on my two son's phones and the App Store (correctly) was removed from their devices. It's a bug!

[Edited by Moderator]

Jack - there is a known issue with Screen Time, as the 40+ answers to this thread show. I too cannot block TikTok with Screentime, even with the workarounds suggested by other users.

I suggest you run upstairs & tell the grownups that their vaunted functionality has an issue. Here’s your chance to shine.

Thank you for posting this, I wonder how many other former and current Apple employees would be willing to speak up on this issue.

This is at best wilful blindness on Apple’s part. As a parent with a child suffering from ADHD and anxiety, this is not just a minor annoyance, it is the single greatest source of conflict in our household. And we can see the effects of addiction on our kids - but unlike any drug it is simply not an option in todays world to remove use completely.

Screentime is a tool provided by Apple, which we buy from Apple when we. It iPhones, which is meant to be able to help us limit use. It should be clear by now that it does NOT work as it is meant to. Apple’s response so far to users on this forum seems to have been dismissive.

Apple’s behaviour is incredibly disappointing but will come back to bite them, because this has all the elements of an extremely costly class action - both in terms of lawyers’ fees and settlements, and damage to the brand.

Tik tok cannot be restricted using screen time parental control for me either - this is huge inconvenience. I have it set for 5 min for my kids and they constantly rack up more then 2 hrs of Tik tok use a day!!! Apple - fix this, this is every parents nightmare!

Have an iPhone 11. Snapchat and others seem to restrict with the settings. I did go into the allow all

apps then restrict individual ones just to be safe. TikTok however I can’t restrict even if I put it down to a minute!!

feel only answer is to delete this

why aren’t apple fixing this obvious issue.

Unfortunately the only way to restrict at this moment is to to start an Account with tictok and link your own tiktoc Account to your child’s. The maximum restriction possible is 40 minutes a day (which is still beyond acceptable)

I don’t think it’s iOS related, I think it’s device related as screen time on our sons iPhone 8 still works, I noticed the issue when our daughter upgraded to iPhone 11, the phone refuses to abide by screen time rules.

This is so bizarre, I’ve been on to apple, had 3 different senior techs call me - weirdly the calls keep dropping but I’m not giving up, I’ll try again later today.

Since I’ve carried out the force restart on the problem device, screen time/downtime has been half working. It doesn’t lock the social media apps at the time I have set but at some point over night they do lock because when I get up in the morning and check the phone, they’re locked and then they stay locked until the downtime clock allows them to open. (It’s currently 04:33 and they’re all locked).

as I said I’ve been on to apple, so far I’ve spent about 1.5hrs on the phone with them, screen sharing the device, going through all the settings - all of which checked out ok so I’m doing nothing obviously wrong - I knew this because I’ve got the exact same settings on our sons older model iPhone and screentime works perfectly on that device.

the second apple tech I spoke to was starting to conclude that it looks like a ‘glitch’ in iOS but then mysteriously the call dropped!

ill keep the thread updated with any new info as and when…

I also still have this problem after spending 9 hours dedicated to it, going up the chain with Apple support, and still no fix. It's ridiculous, and also ridiculous that when I called (a few months ago now) it was BRAND NEW INFORMATION that they had never heard of before. There are so many aspects of Screentime that are a disappointment, like giving my kids the option to "ignore this limit," or the fact that you have to turn on "block at limit." In what world would you want to set an app limit, and then NOT have it automatically block at the limit? Why do you need to go the extra step of turning on "block at limit" after setting a limit???? Mind bogglingly poor design.