What is Screen Time passcode in iOS 12?

I just upgraded to ios12. Screen Time was enabled by default. I want to turn it off. It demands a pass code. Obviously, I never set a pass code for Screen Time, since it didn't exist prior to the upgrade.

1) Restrictions, aka Parental controls, was not on when I upgraded. It's possible I messed around with it in the distant past and set a pass code at some point.

2) My screen lock pass code is 6 digits, while the Screen Time pass code is 4 digits, so the ST pc default is not the same as the screen lock pc.

3) I have tried several obvious (to me) pass codes, including 0000. Nothing works. I am now up to a 5 minute wait between tries.

[Insert nasty comments about Apple here]

[Re-Titled by Host]

Posted on Sep 17, 2018 6:09 PM

Top-ranking reply

janiemac13

Level 1

8 points

Posted on Sep 18, 2018 3:58 PM

Mine did the same thing. During the initial welcome pages of iOS 12 it just spontaneously displayed a message saying “Screen Time Passcode Set.” After 5 tries on the “Change Screen Time Passcode” screen in Settings, I got it to accept an older passcode I’d used to put restrictions on my phone back when my kid didn’t have one. Somehow it resurrected that code and supplied it for the new feature. Clearly a hiccup in iOS 12 that will break that feature for some people until Apple pushes out a fix (or until you set up your new XS!). Cuz personally, that feature (by itself) would never be worth the pain of a full restore on my 256GB phone. But I can confirm that, for me, it was indeed an old restrictions passcode that got put in there during setup without my having anything to do with it.

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171 replies

Phil0124

Level 10

217,982 points

Oct 28, 2018 6:41 PM in response to Joe Sixpack

Which means the passcode was still set by someone for Restrictions or Guided Access (if that is actually a thing that happens) before updating to iOS 12.

Point being, Screen Time does not magically get a passcode if there wasn't one set before.

I have not however seen Screen Time acquire the Guided Access passcode and use it for its general passcode. Its more likely people forget they set restrictions passcodes and then blame Apple.

Oct 28, 2018 7:37 PM in response to Joe Sixpack

Joe Sixpack wrote:

So all Apple had to do, was say something like, "The features and setting of the Restrictions app has been rolled into a new App called Screen Time. You will have to reset the passcode."

And also not use the Guided Access passcode for Screen Time, as GA is a completely separate app.

However, Guided Access is also a parental control. So it would be logical to use it if it was set, and use the less restrictive Restrictions passcode if there was no Guided Access passcode. I agree that this should be documented somewhere.

Nov 5, 2018 6:13 PM in response to Joe Sixpack

I just changed mine after not remembering it I was up to 15 min waiting time ...I started with turning on “share across devices “ to on after that I got option to set password for screen time ... I changed to something I remember after that password I set was the one I could use to control screen time and that was it. My luck was my “share across devices “ was not on and that aloud me to set a password again ....

deggie

Level 10

167,537 points

Dec 2, 2018 5:53 AM in response to xavierfromsherbrooke

There won't be any update to "fix" this, since Apple made the decision to move Restrictions to Screen Time that automatically brought over the passcode for Restrictions. You may not have turned on Restrictions but someone did and it was not through the update. So now you will need to put your iPhone in recovery mode and restore it as a new iPhone to clear that passcode and set it up as a new iPhone. And then don't activate Screen Time or restrictions.

Sep 19, 2018 3:18 PM in response to Joe Sixpack

I read the replies here. I tried my very first passcode I used and it worked.

Arj121

Level 1

4 points

Mar 25, 2019 7:21 AM in response to Joe Sixpack

Every one who forgot their or did not know their restrictions passcode can use PinFinder and can do encrypted backup to their laptop and decrypt that using pin finder

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What is Screen Time passcode in iOS 12?