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.

I've had the same issue both with my work scheduling app (which uses some form of internal website and is pretty darn important to be accessible whenever I need it) and Google Chrome, as well as a few other apps. Simply using the screen time password every time defeats my purpose in having screen time turned on, as I give the password to a trusted individual who can tell me, 'No, it's late at night, just go to sleep already'.

Since it looks like some people have noticed that the Safari app and WebView, which a lot of apps use to display internal websites and things, are both not available in 'Always Allowed', maybe the issue for a lot of apps is that those are blocked by default. Though arathi80 noted that even just web activity itself is blocked by default.

The real solution probably involves making it possible to allow/disallow all three of these, or at least Safari and general web activity.

It genuinely baffles me that Safari is blocked by default by screen time without any way to allow it, since that's literally the default browser for an Apple device and most apps rely on it in some way.

I’ve been trying to fix this forever and I finally found a real workaround! This is going to sound like an ad but I promise it’s not: download ScreenZen. It’s a free (tip based) parental control type app that seems to interact directly with screen time. It’s pretty confusing to set up, but you can set time frames to block specific apps and add a passcode in settings. And when it’s in place it DOES NOT BLOCK CHROME/SAFARI!

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.

I should note I use Vivaldi (not Safari) and it wasn't working as of the last update. That said, I have now turned off downtime and just reduced my general access to my apps via time limit instead of via downtime.

As of 05/11/26 there is no fix for this, I just called customer support today

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.

Ugh yes! I thought there was a setting I was failing to see but nope! This is so frustrating. The main reason I use downtime is to limit my social media usage. It’s so frustrating that all search engine apps (I use Chrome and Startpage) have their individual websites blocked because there isn’t a way to allow website activity

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.