Parental controls acting weird and changing randomly.

Screentime is a buggy nightmare right now. What I found is that you have to let the usage stats load completely before changing 1 setting. You can only set 1 setting then you must back all the back out to the main settings page, then go back in and you get to change 1 more setting. This is really fun when you have 30 educational apps that you have in always allow and the list gets wiped clean. Apple absolutely knows about this. There is no way that QA missed this. It works a lot better from a Mac on Ventura. I can set multiple settings without everything getting completely wiped or having to back out for each setting, however there seems to be some kind of app duplication issue from the mac where you may end up with multiple copies of Chrome or another app. Right now my oldest kid has 5 or 6 of the same app allowed listed in her always allowed list.

I've released some terrible code in my day, but this is really something special. Hopefully they will sort it.

This has been an ongoing issue for us since the iOS 16 update. We have updated devices, removed screen time, shut down devices, restarted devices, reset screen time (parental controls) more times than I can even count at this point.

I am on my FIFTH Senior Apple advisor. I jumped through all of the hoops to no avail. I, no lie, have probably spent more than 10 hours on the phone with Apple Support. The only solution they care to give is for us to wipe clean ALL DEVICES and start from scratch.

I asked if it is a known issue and told no. Searched this forum and it’s happening to everyone. So frustrating, but more important UNSAFE for our children.

Apple needs a fix ASAP.

I am experiencing the same symptoms. I called Apple Support, they had me reset network settings on my son's iPad, log out & log back in with his AppleID on the iPad. It seemed fixed for about 24hours then the same erratic behavior resumed and remains several weeks since. This is very frustrating and still broken. Please Apple, make this work as advertised. Parents rely on this feature for their child's tech eco-system. Like another parent mentions here, I also changed the Screentime passcode thinking my 8yr old figured it out. But that is not it. This feature is broken. Apple, please help us parents.

How is it for you? Actually for me it's getting even worse: after prolonged time of 2-3 weeks between the settings resetting by themselves, now it happens every 3-7 days for me (like had to set most of stuff for my kids 3 times during last two weeks).

Also when setting limits etc. again it now acts even worse: sometimes doesn't allow you to set given limit (for example I try to set restritction for content and it just doesn't allow me to, nothing happens when I try to turn it on). I have to re-try several times or wait a minute or so before I'm able to set them again.

This is ridiculous, asks for class action lawsuit, but in my country would be almost impossible to sue Apple for this.

Go to Settings > [your name] > Family Sharing > Screen Time. Tap the child you want to set up Screen Time for. Tap Screen Time, then follow the onscreen instructions. For information about Screen Time settings, see Set up Screen Time for a family member on iPhone.

Set up parental controls with Family Sharing on iPhone

This has just happened at least 3 times in the last two weeks on my kids devices. It has something to do with giving them extra time, but I've not figured out when exactly this happens. And it's definately due to iOS16. I'm especially outraged by allowed content being reset (but not always!), so they get hypothetical access to adult content!

Yes, having the exact same problem and it’s extremely frustrating. It’s to the point I have to check the controls every single day. At first I was blaming him so I changed my passcode on parental controls and my iPhone so he would not have the ability to be sneaky if he figured it out, still happens.

Hi, yes exactly same is happening to me where I change the limits on my child’s profile and it reverts it back again! I’ve recently purchased a new iPad and it’s put a time restriction on social media and messaging, which is very odd as I can’t see where the restrictions are coming from.

Totally agree, this is very unsafe as we've had both bank and personal information spread across each account, over multiple devices, with neither consent or knowledge of it happening!

It really does show how much Apple have messed this up, and with it being an advertised security benefit, especially for monitoring useage for small children as well as parental controls, they really should at least acknowledge this as a major fault and be addressed as a matter of priority which I really think they're ignoring!

There are multimple web forums all saying why aren't Apple rectifiying this.

After multiple calls, yesterday they said there is an internal understanding of the issue at Apple and that they would get back to me when there is a fix. In the meantime, it has been a rough time for our family and we are taking phones away for part of the day. But geez.

Keep calling them- they may need to provide counseling for the xxx and other things seen! Once you see things you can’t unsee them…

This is extremely important and I don’t see the level of urgency from their side- I have apple manager calling me tomorrow.

+1-800-275-2273

Same here. Started happening since ios 16. Tried resetting, changing pssword. Doesnt help. Recently the settings changed by themselves yesterday. This is outrageous!

They also told me this was the first they were hearing of this issue. It happens every few days for me.

Its been happening with my kids phone to, one min the screen time is on the next it turns off. Has anyone had there situation fixed???