Apple Screen Time app limits not working

I've talked to someone and then seemed to be getting somewhere and then they set up a link for me to send stuff to if the problem continued. It did, I sent information and not reply and no follow up. This is awful customer service. The only way around this for me is downtime on ALL DAY. But the way I have it set up, then my kid can't text friends on the weekend or after school. Yes I can then change the contact restrictions but then remember to change those back. For me this worked before iOS 16 and Apple seems to not care. When I did talk to the advisor they were surprised. They hadn't heard about it. There are multiple threads about it and no one there has heard of it? I don't want to switch myself and child over to Android but maybe their parental controls actually stay on.

Update to 16.5 worked somewhat - App limits seem to be ok, albeit a little slow to sync. I still have to force close the settings app when changing the downtime switch or changing times, then re-open Settings and do it again.

Shocking.

Apple - You HAVE to fix this!!! This is a safety issue for children. I am pretty close to swapping my whole family to Android because I can't worry that my kids are getting into stuff online that they shouldn't. I know they are accessing things they shouldn't and I have no way of keeping them safe online unless this gets fixed or I just take away their phones. DO BETTER!!!

What a complete pile of crap this screen time system has become… it’s obvious Apple doesn’t give a flying F to try and correct it. Instead we will keep remaking the same phone in new colors and slightly change the camera and ask for another $1200. 🍎💨

Finally looks like this issue is getting some traction. The issue has been acknowledged by Apple and reported in the Wall Street Journal - https://www.wsj.com/articles/apples-parental-controls-are-broken-55a2aa52. (If you don't have a WSJ account, several other outlets picked up the WSJ coverage). Good job turning up the heat on Apple folks!

I was about to shell out $100 for Qustodio. They have a ridiculous one year upfront commitment. I'm hopeful Apple will get this resolved within 12 months so I suppose I'll hold off on Qustodio...

been having this issue for months now. On one child’s phone the downtime schedule does work, but won’t allow

me to add app limits. I go to that setting, fill it all out and then the “add” button just sits there. On my other child’s phone I can not get anything to work. No downtime schedule nothing. I have tried all the suggested things. Even chatted with apple live support who tried taking over the phone remotely and even they couldn’t get it to work.

Been a while since I have replied - I know this is frustrating for everyone...as a dad with 4 daughters (one of whom is aging out this year) I have been dealing with this since the inception of screen time. Our best hope is IOS 17 which is supposed to come out this Fall. I will say, as someone who has spent way WAY too many hours on the phone with customer support about this issue - the most recent national news (WSJ in particular) - is the first time Apple has responded publicly about fixing the issue. If we can hang until 17 comes out, I think there is a shot. If they don't fix it through that update - they truly do need to start again. Fingers crossed everyone.

iPhones aren't built for kids - even with working screen time functionality. There are too many loopholes, workarounds, and yes - bugs. iPhones are built for adults who prioritize privacy. I've opted to go with a smartphone that was built for kids for my son. Apple won't do that. They won't sacrifice their privacy stance and they won't work with third-party parental controls/monitoring software that can actually help parents protect their kids. Much better to go with a smartphone that arrives safe and has parental controls built into the operating system - vs. one you have to keep checking and tweaking with every update. I love all of my Apple devices. Just not for my kids.

For me, I've been locking my kid's phone in my safe every night and checking it again the next morning and every time the settings have changed. He has no other devices so he does not have my password. I've even taken screen shots of what the Screen Time settings looked like the night before and what they looked like the next morning to make doubly sure they changed and they did. When I open his phone after having it locked up all night, some or all of the settings have changed themselves. And I can go into his phone, open Screen Time and change any setting I want even though I have it set to NOT allow that. His phone should prompt for a password (mine) in order to do anything in Screen Time. But it doesn't. I've spent hours and hours on the phone with Apple Support, logging out of both of our Apple accounts, logging back in, changing my Apple password, changing his password, making sure both our phones are updated and on the same iOS version number, but nothing has stopped this issue. It's insane that Apple does not care to fix this.

Same issue for us. This is so frustrating.

Did you figure out the issue? It’s been happening to me for weeks and it’s so annoying.

I wish. I’m on my 5th Senior Apple Advisor since October. Told not a known issue and asked to erase all devices and set up new. So all data will be gone.

does anyone from Apple monitor this? Is there a fix coming??

not really what you expect from Apple…

Only turning off, logging in and out on seven devices is doable. Maybe I'll try that at least.

@Technosaurus-guy

Be a parent...if they cannot act responsible take the phone away. It is a privilege not a right.