iPhone Screen time keeps auto resetting

I have the same bug since last year. Apple support checked my iPhone and I could reproduce the bug on the remote screen support, however they told me that is looks like a hardware error and need to replace iPhone.(I had iPhone 12 Pro at that time)

That was 2022/Feb. I didn’t exchanged but now I own an iPhone 14 pro. The problem still persists.

The screentime setting keeps resetting, sometimes after 1 hour, sometimes lasts for 3 days etc. Even no one uses the iPhone of my kids beside me, it keeps resetting.

When I wait loading of the screen time data, sometimes the setting comes back, but mostly it doesn’t and I have to set it back again. I am pretty sure it’s something wrong with iCloud server and syncing the screentime data.

So it looks like I’m not just one that has this problem. I am thinking to delete my family group and recreate, however I have to move my kids account to different group before I can destroy my own group, and I have not enough information what will happen to my family’s account as I only have iCloud subscription. Like photos or iCloud data my family are using currently.

Did anyone tried to recreate the family group?

We have the very same issues with Screentime. It did work reliably before us until the last update. Now it’s useless. I keep my kids phone with me and can watch the restrictions /always allowed disappear like magic when the phone is in my own hands. Apple has really pooped the bed on this. They could fix this. I see over 100 people complaining of the very same issues. Most parents just set them once and assume they work (ignorance is bliss), but Apple should be ashamed of itself for telling parents their kids are safeguarded by this when they in no way are. It takes constant monitoring by a parent and I’m ready to pull my hair out. I know about the 24hr feature, changing times, and getting 1 more minute kid hacks- none of these are responsible for what people are largely talking about here. Here things I put in “always allow” get reset (no reason for a kid to do that) and there are times communication limits and all app limits duplicate or disappear. Craziness. Fix this Apple!!

@trackpoint

How long do you wait to see if the device ends up showing the limits you set after you are in down time?

Asking because I am still having a delay, but I am noticing more of a delay with one kid one night and then another kid a night or two later. Sometimes the delay seems longer than the night before.

However, so far nothing has reset.

Maybe wait and see if the down time limits you set appear. Like a good minute to 1 1/2 minutes. I’m starting to wonder if during that delay and depending on how long of a delay people have, that’s where a lot of people (including myself) say it’s not working. It shouldn’t take that long, but I know when I saw it was reset, I was clicking right away and resetting.

Just another thought of mine as to why down time is acting up 🤷🏻‍♀️

@Marney1959

What trackpoint said! I haven’t had any issues since I did that. Also, there seems to be a delay after you click on downtime under screen time. So give it a minute (or what feels longer) and see if it shows up to the settings you had set.

But…the iTunes logout seems to have been the best fix for now at least 😊

I have spent a long time on the line to Apple support about this, but as I could not re-create the error at the time - not surprising when the problem is intermittent - I could not progress the case forward.

Apple support requested I do something to address: Immediately after noticing the problem, make contact with them, so they can analyse the logs on the device I am on from the previous minutes.

There are a few problems with this - getting escalated to someone who trusts that you aren't making a bone-headed mistake is not easy at all. Tier 1 support staff ask the most tedious questions, seemingly based on the premise that most problems are caused by user-error... So, you need time and patience to make the report at the time it happens, when all that's really on my mind is securing the iPhones, iPads, MacBooks and HomePods my kids have access to.

Further, I'm skeptical that the logs of the precise device I am using at the time will show anything - who knows which device made the change? And when? I'm not an expert, so perhaps the device's own logs would be useful, but there are a multitude of devices involved in the problem and there's no way of knowing for how long the settings have been wrong.

This is a serious problem for families who trust that the Apple products and services they are using and paying for have their back when it comes to kids' online safety.

Please, when you notice this, call Apple about it. Who knows how well-monitored this forum is by staff, and we need multiple voices letting Apple know there is a serious problem.

I called Apple Support about this, but I could not re-create the error. They have asked I call back as soon as I note it again, so they can investigate logs. If anyone also experiences this problem, I recommend calling as soon as it happens.

Hi All,

I cannot urge everyone enough to please submit support tickets for each of these instances. I've logged one with video captures showing the reset of features (heavily emphasizing my concern at content restrictions resetting to Explicit/Allow All) and an Apple engineer witnessed it when sharing my screen and kids ipads were my possession. The support folks are amazing and it's not difficult or time consuming.

Official Apple Support

Also, folks with kids that have figured out hacks can you also please log these. These should be even easier to replicate/fix as they appear to be repeatable.

Thanks!

Ok thanks.

I have re-renamed my iCloud name and I logged out from "iTunes store" and relogged in again, just in case and so far it didn't reset anymore...for two days I think lol. I think just changing the iCloud name of yourself will temp fix...

I'm also having the same problem with my kids screen time apparently randomly resetting and/or reverting to previous settings. For example, some settings I've had to set, and re-set, and re-set again perhaps 20 times over and over again during just the past 2 weeks of time. Apple's screen time is a real and true failure, and obviously is not a very high priority for them since if it was, they would have debugged all of these issues by now.

I'm trying a few of the options above. For those of you trying the "itunes store" option on the iphone, what you do is open up the "itunes store" app, then hit the bottom left "music" button, then scroll all the way to the bottom and you'll see an "Apple ID: <username>" field that is grey. If you tap on that, it should give the option to log out and then in again. I had trouble finding this. I'm not sure if this approach works however, but at least this is how you find it.

This has nothing to do with limits. The software has a glitch. The schedules you set for downtime (like it shutting off their access for bedtime), and the content restrictions just reset. It’s pointless. I set it where they can’t delete apps or change their passcode and that resets too. It’s a huge issue and Apple doesn’t acknowledge it. Thousands are complaining.

The time limit is a joke. The reset will happen the moment you restart the device. My daughter somehow found this loophole and keep doing it for a while until I realized.

Spent 2hrs with escalated Apple support resetting devices and modifying settings blah blah. Fortunately we spent so long doing all this it happened when I was screen sharing with engineer and with kids iPads in front of me. Both limits disappeared and content restrictions turned off. Issue apparently know acknowledged and apparently being looked at. Will keep the group updated.

@trackpoint

So this is what I see if I choose to switch to another Apple ID. I just chose not to do this being that I still have a child under 13 and all the extra little steps involved. Not to mention, I would literally be be starting over with everything (purchases, subscriptions).

I have noticed the delayed response more with the content & privacy restrictions settings. After I have reset all the downtime settings for all the kids, the restriction settings magically reappear back to what I originally set up for each kid.

I watched the YouTube video and I do get the same exact issue. I believe it has something to do with the connection between iCloud server and IOS as well.

Do you mainly stay on Wi-Fi or use data? Or switch on and off? Might be an odd question, but I’m just thinking of everything.

Just as an update, the "itunes store" option mentioned above did not work for me at all.

I ended up contacting apple support about the problem. After spending some time explaining that this has been a problem for several years, and that I'm having it on multiple devices, that I've tried many different fixes, and it has been going on through multiple different iOS versions, they acknowledged that they know about the problem and that the engineers are working on it, but they were not able to give a time of any fix.

I agree that this does not satisfy the "it just works" mantra that people used to associate with apple. Also, it's a major hassle since I have to constantly monitor the children and it is particularly bad since I can't get messages to shut down past bedtime (so I have to physically take the phones away when the kids go to sleep).

The limits resetting daily means, for example, if you give them 30 mins daily for YouTube, and they used it up, the next day, the time resets and they will get 30 mins to use again.

BUT, there is still a problem where the limits aren’t sticking and the apps aren’t blocked once the kids reach the limit. The settings itself keep resetting, this is a problem Apple has yet to fix.