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Screen time limit and app limits for family

I have tried for months to get the Screen time, app limits and downtown controls through family sharing on the iphone to work to set limits for our kids.....while they used to work I haven't been able to get them too for months. I have reset them, turned off, changed time allotments/apps, etc. and nothing seems to work. I have seen pages and pages of similar comments from the past year from many apple customers, but no comments from Apple support. Has anyone been able to find a solution that works? This is a huge disappointment and one of the stipulations on getting apple phones for our family was to have limitations and boundaries and this allows 24/7 access which is not what we were told or sold when we purchased. Help! Sincerely, a mom loosing her mind

iPhone 14 Plus

Posted on Jun 28, 2023 8:44 PM

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Posted on Nov 10, 2023 7:11 PM

I am in the same boat as you. I have been trying to limit my son’s screen-time on his iPhone for months now. I physically went to the Apple store to get help. I was told that it just doesn’t work for all. It appears to work but then kids can bypass without knowing screen time password code - I’m beyond frustrated!!!!!!!


Why can’t Apple help parents — Android does which means we are about to cancel Apple and go with Android

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12 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Nov 10, 2023 7:11 PM in response to psulion1992

I am in the same boat as you. I have been trying to limit my son’s screen-time on his iPhone for months now. I physically went to the Apple store to get help. I was told that it just doesn’t work for all. It appears to work but then kids can bypass without knowing screen time password code - I’m beyond frustrated!!!!!!!


Why can’t Apple help parents — Android does which means we are about to cancel Apple and go with Android

Feb 24, 2024 10:46 AM in response to psulion1992

Does anyone have a solution to this problem? I have three children, all with phones, and set their downtime and app limits remotely from my MacBook using family sharing; and yet they are all able to bypass them. When I go back into settings on my MacBook I find that the "block at downtime" option has just toggled itself off, with nothing done by me. Likewise "block at end of limit" for the app limits. It is beyond frustrating, as a parent who wants his children to have phones but use them safely and responsibly.


Please engage with this, Apple. It is the kind of issue that would make me think seriously about switching.

Dec 6, 2023 3:32 PM in response to Leeboy76

Screen Time feels like a cruel joke, because Apple has claimed in each of the last major updates to fix it (the last two iOS 16 point releases and then in iOS 17, if I recall correctly), and it still works NOT AT ALL.


I thoroughly appreciate at least seeing the confirmation on here from real people that it's also not working for them either.


I've got a zillion Apple products, but how can I buy another when this critical family-management feature is such a perpetual mess?


(And I'd happily detail the exact symptoms, products, configurations, and steps taken, but I don't feel like it'd make a difference. I'm just here, looking for hope, and confirming for the next person that yes, Screen Time for many people is absolutely currently broken beyond repair.)

Feb 24, 2024 10:55 AM in response to SravanKrA

Thank you, but you are missing the issue (at least as it arises for me). I do these things and all restrictions show properly on my device for my children's profiles. Everything set up perfectly. A day passes; I note my children are using their phones after hours, log back on to my device and find that the "block at downtime" toggle has just turned itself off with no intervention by me. Same for "block at end of limit". It's as if there is some hidden step required to save the settings that I am not taking - but to my knowledge there is none.

Aug 17, 2023 5:32 AM in response to Maverick2505

There is even worse flaw in screen time that allows to bypass content restrictions (allowed sites only) in few seconds.

This should be no brainer for every kid.


  1. Go to screen time and enable content restriction (allowed sites only)—> add google.com
  2. To access any site include  “google.com” somewhere in the URL placed after site where you want to go.

For instance to access twitter.com:

https://twitter.com/google.com


There - that’s all there is to it. 

Jun 28, 2023 11:34 PM in response to psulion1992

You should pay attention to two commonly overlooked aspects...


  1. Configuring device restrictions for your child's device.
  2. Setting up a screen time passcode on your own device for your child.



Set Screen Time Restrictions for your Child in your Family using Parental Control.


Please see the pic below which is self-explanatory.





Set Screen Time Passcode for your child's device through your device.


Please see the pic below which is self-explanatory.




Go to Settings and tap Screen Time. Tap Content & Privacy Restrictions and enter your Screen Time passcode. Tap Content Restrictions, then tap Web Content. Choose Unrestricted Access, Limit Adult Websites, or Allowed Websites Only.


Use parental controls on your child's iPhone, iPad, and iPod ...



Set up parental controls with Family Sharing on iPhone

  1. Go to Settings > [your name] > Family Sharing > Screen Time.
  2. Tap the name of a child in your family group, tap Turn On Screen Time, then follow the onscreen instructions.


Set up parental controls with Family Sharing on iPhone



Aug 10, 2023 6:37 PM in response to psulion1992

Same issue. I just cannot get screentime to work for my kids devices. And it used to work before. Now it keeps locking me out.

i cant even “stop managing” screen time for my childs devices.


The “recommended” response from apple is accurate steps to setup/manage screentime but not the solution for this question.


additional data points, i tried to do this via my iphones/ ipad/ macbook, it does not work.


Sep 15, 2023 8:17 PM in response to michalw2

Contacted Apple about this and the guy was really helpful, quick to reply etc etc. But they couldn’t come up with a solution despite software updates being applied etc. Contacted them again regarding the same ticket…radio silence, guess that’s what I should expect from Apple when something isn’t working on their end. Really disappointed given this appears to be an iCloud issue and I pay the highest tier One plan to access all the features (I know screen time isn’t a paid feature, but given they are still touting it as a feature in iOS 17…it had better work as expected).

Screen time limit and app limits for family

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