Screen Time Downtime blocking "Always Allowed" Safari & Chrome

Same exact issue here. We ended up downloading the app called Opal. It’s $100 a year, but it works pretty much the same. We set the schedules and then set each others pins, so we can’t just ignore and turn it off. So far it’s working for us.

Really sucks the free system that comes with the IPhone is bugging out and not allowing it anymore!!

Possible Workaround.

I needed downtime on all apps accept for the allowed apps, including the web browser on my kids iPad. However it blocks every individual website. Even if I add “allowed websites only” some websites loop through multiple sites like signing in to school so it just doesn’t work.

I turned off downtime completely. Then I set app limits on all entertainment and social media apps (they make it easy to check mark each category). That way the web browser and any day to day apps work. Essentially giving each individual app a downtime restriction just so the browser will still work. Hopefully they fix the bug.

This is happening on my kids watch after the update. None of the always allowed apps work during downtime. He can’t even text or call me/his dad (always allowed and emergency contacts) when downtime is on. All the settings are right, I’ve turned them off and on, restarted both devices (his Apple Watch is managed with my phone) etc. my other 2 kids have the same settings but don’t have the update yet and everything works fine.

I had this exact issue but I’m now posting this from Firefox on an iPhone running iOS 26.1.2 with Firefox “Always allowed” and Downtime manually enabled until tomorrow. Safari is not available to add to “Always allowed”, which I guess means it’s never allowed during downtime? Not sure if this is deliberate or a bug, but it seems to be still restricted for me now, while Firefox is not.

I honestly can’t say whether the update fixed it. I had been trying every possible combination of disabling and re-enabling the downtime and screen time features in every possible order up until a few weeks ago before giving up. I may have just lucked out and stumbled onto Apple’s secret sequence to get this to work, or it may have been the update. The update feels more likely so for those still struggling with this, maybe worth a try using a non-Safari browser and see if it gets you anywhere too?

If it doesn’t work, sorry for the infuriating and unhelpful message. If I could be more categorical about it I would.

I’ve been running into this issue too, but have also have had it block content in other apps that I have whitelisted, like Uber Eats, and it seems that every section for these apps is treated like a separate instance—I can open the NPR app, but the content gets blocked, when I add in the passcode, it lets me see the articles list, but then I get challenged for the passcode on every article I try to click on. Similarly, when I have the passcode added for Chrome or Brave, I have to have the passcode added just to perform a search, then I get challenged for the passcode on every link I try to click on.

Since I have set up a system where my partner is the one who has the passcode for the screen time override, this has made my phone completely unusable for certain key functions.

Finally, someone with the same issue as me. It literally aggravates me so much. I talked to Apple about it, but they just said to wait 24 hours, blah blah blah. I've waited 72 hours since the update, and nothing has changed. Before the update, all of these apps were always allowed, and you could access Safari and Google (especially if they are always allowed apps). I have to use Safari and Google to sign into Infinite Campus and access my assignments through Google from Infinite Campus, which is an always allowed app. The update is cool and all but the jacked up screen time is not.

I talked to Apple support on Tuesday and she was puzzled. I added and readded to screen time, deleted and redownloaded chrome, tried swapping default browsers (then we realized safari is doing it too). 3 supervisors were called. The only thing she suggested was to completely reset my settings on my phone! She started explaining what I needed to save before I did that, and how to do it - I stopped listening and said yeah I’m not doing that. It’s not worth it. Meanwhile my IT husband on the couch next to me kept whispering, “it’s a bug!”

Same here. Literally every app that relies on WebView (shows website as part of the app) like Amazon, Kindle (statistics, some books), StoryGraph and many other I use can't be used and only show "Time Limit". It's so frustrating. It all worked just fine on iOS 18 and it's been months with no fix.

Yeah, same here. I use Arc Browser, and it is blocked even though it is in the Allowed Apps section. Safari is blocked as well, although Safari doesn't show as an app option in the Allowed Apps section.

I had this issue and it was so irritating that I just turned off downtime for now. If I find out that they’ve fixed, I might turn it back on but it is not worth the frustration. It sucks because I liked the feature. Maybe someday Apple will fix this so it is usable again.

Yup. Also experiencing this issue. My partner has my screen time passcode because my ADHD has a mind of its own and can’t control itself at night with most time doomscrolling apps (negatively impacting my sleep, etc.). Guess I’ll be exploring a paid app like Opal…

[Edited by Moderator]

Same! Updated daughter to a new phone and have had this issue with screentime since. She had to switch to Chrome a while ago because of this same issue with safari. Now chrome has the same problem as well as other apps. Ridiculous that the downtime that we’ve been using successfully to manage her screen time is now making it a pain to utilize. She has to ask for screen time for every website, several things that are on the always allowed list. Clearly a problem for others for awhile. Fix the bug already.