What is Screen Time passcode in iOS 12?

Hmm, something isn’t quite right with Screentime password feature. Have just updated to ios12 and opened screentime. It asked for Screentime passcode when i tried to adjust some of settings but it said that I had already had 10 failed passcode attempts even though I had only just opened this new feature!! I tried (only once) my screen lock code which didn’t work so it now tells me I have had 11 failed attempts and have to wait 60 minutes. I really, really don’t want to do a factory reset - shouldn’t MS be providing at least some guidance on this point as this appaers to be a really useful new feature which, at the moment, doesn’t work properly - i cannot believe I am the only one who has had this experience. All thoughts / help gratefully received 😕

I'm having the same issue and 1111 didn't work for me. I had guided access off on my phone. I refuse to believe I have erase the phone and set it up as new to correct the issue. Do you have any other thoughts?

When I went into screen time I had to put in a passcode to access Downtime. I did what I always do when prompted for a passcode - I input the passcode for unlocking the device and of course it worked, as it always does, because it's the only passcode I've ever set.

Passcodes only exist if the user sets one; they don't create themselves, and there is no default - not 0000, 1234, or anything else.

Of course, passwords don't create themselves. What seems to have happened with the iOS 12 update, is that if you had at some point enabled restrictions in iOS 11, screentime automatically defaults to "on" and uses the restrictions password that you set up at that time.

I personally played with that feature, but never used it. I now have no idea what PIN code I used for restrictions, as I didn't use my standard PIN code (as my kids know it).

Fingers crossed that Apple will release an update, because it's clearly not what they intended with this release.

What update are you hoping for? They won’t release an update that will clear the code. For the millions and millions of people using Restrictions and now Screen Time would be livid if an update cleared the code and now their kids are no longer restricted. You said yourself that you set it and forgot it. Apple has said it has no way of knowing what you set so the only option is to erase the device.

I have the Same problem. Updated to iOS 12 yesterday. While opening up new iOS phone told me there was already a screentime password by default. Never set restrictions on or anything. Still can t figure out wat password is. Tried Erasing the whole phone and set iT up as new one. Doesn t seem to work since you need the screentime password to reset and Erase iT. This most defenintly is a bug ! Hope someone here can help me out. Tried contacting Apple But they don t seem to know either. Hopelfully they have a solution soon because this ***** big time ! Thanks Apple 🎉

I guess I'd hope that they would have the foresight to identify users that weren't using restrictions. I played with it for, literally a few minutes, so I find it strange that it should now completely lock me out of the screen time app.

Maybe just a confirmation to use the same code or set up new. There seem to be a lot of people with the same issue, so hopefully, they'll think of something, rather than have everyone have to set up their phones again as new.

FWIW - I have this same problem as well. Fresh install of iOS 12 on iPhone X, and there is a screentime password in place and I've never used a restrictions password. Furthermore, it's not a combination of the first four of my phone password (as others have suggested), as I use a complex alphanumeric password with mixed case characters.

Thanks singh49, your link was the most helpful of all the replies. Fortunately, I tried a 4 digit passcode I had used for something else and it worked so I didn't have to do anything else but turn off the passcode in screen time.

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.

This is by design. If there was a Restrictions passcode on iOS 11 it transferred the code to Screen Time in iOS 12. I know some people claim they didn’t have it on but most people are trying old codes that they may have used and they’re getting in. Could there be a possibility that something happened on some devices? Yes, there’s always a possibility but in this case it is very, very remote. Those that have passcodes on Screen Time almost guaranteed had Restrictions turned on (even if nothing was actually restricted) when they were on iOS 11. Some people just forgot that it was turned on or a friend, sibling, parent, etc. turned it on.

Anyone out there using iOS 11 about to upgrade to iOS 12 and willing to set up Restrictions with a passcode, turn it off, and then upgrade?

Done that. I support phones for a living. Have toggled a restrictions passcode off/on many, many times.

Done this on iOS 10, 11 and now, 12.

No issues. Make of that what you will.