Screen time limits disappearing

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Level 1

24 points

Screen time limits disappearing

Since iOS16, I noticed that my kids' screen time limits keep getting disabled on a daily basis, that includes app limits, downtime and content restrictions.

I was finally able to figure out the bug that allows kids to bypass screen time from their devices.

Parent sets Screen Time limits: downtime, app limits (all Games and Entertainment categories), content restrictions
Child clicks on 1st app that is locked. It shows the message that the app is locked and they have the option to select "One more minute".
Child clicks "One more minute" on 1st locked app. Exits screen.
Child clicks on a different locked app and selects "One more minute". Exits the screen.
Child clicks on a 3rd locked app and selects "One more minute." Exits the screen.
Child's apps are now fully unlocked, and parent's device shows that Screen Time app limits have disappeared.

I noticed that in Reddit, parents are baffled how their toddlers and tweens are hacking their screen time passcodes. This bug needs to be addressed.

iPhone 14 Pro

Posted on Dec 24, 2022 7:46 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

jbackus1

Level 1

8 points

Dec 30, 2022 5:11 AM in response to Cori.Lee

Great detective work Cori. I can verify that this does indeed break screen time. I have the same issue. Please fix this bug, apple. Screen time is useless when kids can break it every single day. And while you are at it, can you please eliminate the “one more minute” feature? Or at least make it “one more minute” globally - and not one more minute per app?

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Answer 2

dearreid

Level 1

9 points

Dec 25, 2022 7:20 PM in response to Cori.Lee

I have had the same issues since iOS 16. All screen time, down time, app limits and content restrictions are wiped out almost daily. I have turned off screen time, reset the passcodes, rebooted all family devices, and re enabled limits, per previous suggestions. Still every couple of days all of my kids’ limits are wiped out.

Have not experimented with the one more minute option but I know my kids use it. They also send extension requests, and I’m pretty sure more than 1-2 granted extensions results in the limits being wiped out.

Effectively, I now have to set new limits each time my kids use an iPad.

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Answer 3

Jan 29, 2023 5:07 AM in response to Cori.Lee

I’m so glad I’m not going crazy! I kept thinking at first my kid was figuring out the passcode. The part that bothers me the most is it seems to be turning off the content restrictions for web browsing too. So not only can she play games all day, now I have to worry about monitoring her web usage constantly

and of course apples “solution “ is to reboot her phone

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Answer 4

Jan 31, 2023 11:16 AM in response to OutdoorsLvr

I am having this problem as well. My iphone and all kid devices are on 16.3(the latest). I have 4 kids and it works fine on their other devices and the settings stay where I put them. Its just this iPad pro that keeps resetting all the settings within an hour.

The Screen time settings for this ipad are all wiped out within a few minutes to an hour hours. This even happens with it sitting here on my desk doing nothing. No one touches it and the settings still disappear within a couple hours.

Kind of frustrating.

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Answer 5

Cori.Lee Author

Level 1

24 points

Jan 31, 2023 11:41 AM in response to ShawnTheDad

I have also noticed another scenario where Screen time limits are turned off automatically at 9pm PT / 12am ET. And I know that the kids devices were not being used at that time. And within 15 min or so, they disappeared again. It's getting worse.

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Answer 6

slg188

Level 1

20 points

Jan 1, 2023 7:38 PM in response to Cori.Lee

I‘m having this issue as well. I talked to two apple reps, and the only advice was to update the phone. It did nothing to help… it almost seems more buggy with the update.

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Screen time limits disappearing

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