What is Screen Time passcode in iOS 12?

The automatic and manual methods might yield different results. I used the automatic method when I upgraded.

That was missing from your previous post.

All you said was upgrade.

Not sure what you mean by automatic vs. manual. I don't believe there is a difference in the end.

Why would/should there be unique results based on how you upgrade?

That’s just referencing how you want future iOS upgrades to install. Automatically will install them without user input. Manually means you have to select to update a future iOS version. This didn’t have any reference to how iOS 12 was upgraded or installed.

iOS 11 didn’t have that option. It would usually download the update then prompt you during the day that it would install the update that night. You could enter your passcode to confirm or tell it to remind you later at the bottom. This setting for automatically installing updates or turning it off is new in iOS 12.

I would have never had a reason to set up restricions but screen time is asking for a passcode. I tried all of the 4 digit pins I would have ever uses but it won't work. I think this is really just a bug.

I had the Same problem yesterday. Long time ago i’ve must set restrictions on in iOS 11 because after 15 tries it finaly Guesed the pincode password. IT was one I used a decade ago to unlock My phone or restrictions back when iPhone s Still had a 4-digit passcode/unlock screen. So it’s quite stupid for iOS 12 to Suddenly push that old password trough to screen time passcode. Also when I Did the update to iOS 12 restrictions was defenintly Off ! Good luck to everyone having the Same problem. You Just need to keep trying All your old 4 digit passwords you used over the last decade. I hope for everyone Apple pushes an update trough to reset the screen time password with your Apple id password or something simular.

This is same as your restriction password set up in iOS 11. You can upgrade to iOS 12 after removing it or doing a complete reset to iPhone. Read this link for more details.

Hope it helps

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Same issue, my wife phone would not recognize screen time passcode, on first upgrade from 11 to 12 i was asked to create a new passcod for screen time activation hitch I did and it’s promptem me to enter it twice to verify, no screen time active but hen I’m trying to activate or Chang anything in screen time settings it’s asking me to enter my screentime passcode that would not accept the one I just created few seconds ago. Obviously it’s a bug in ios12 and already did full restore thru iTunes like 4 times and even recovering phone as new ( not from previous backup ) will not accept newly created screentime passcode , looks like it’s pulling from some type of IOS account memory her old restriction passcode that were switched off last ng time ago nd was not usEd in a past many months. It’s driving me crazy since I want her to use screentime to monitor kids accounts but in order to use kids supervision I have to activate her screen time first and that generates this endless loop of creating new passcode and no accepting it after. It’s a mojor issue with this option that they introduced in ios12 as on of the main upgrades ! .... even worse bug is if I fail to enter passcode for 5 times it’s Locis it for 5 minutes but as soon as I will enter one of my kids screen time passcode (they are different ) it will clear this 5 minutes limit same second but As expected trying to get in her screen time is not possible as it would not accept her newly created passcode and I’ll just start counting trials again until you fail 5 times and 1 min wait proposed and etc.

anypats wrote:

It's not a bug. If you ever had a passcode for Restrictions then that passcode is now your Screen Time passcode.

That wasn't my experience. I had a Restrictions passcode on both my iPhone and iPad. When I updated to iOS 12 my Restrictions passcode was removed, and I had no Screen Time passcode.

They’ve already said how to fix it. I know it’s not what you want but if Apple releases a tool to override the restrictions or screen time passcodes then using them becomes useless. This goes for the passcode to unlock the phone as well. If you forgot either of them you need to restore to factory settings.

I know I never set up restrictions but it’s still asking for a pin. Over the last few days I’ve tried every possible pin I have ever used. None have worked. I hope Apple makes it possible to reset this code. Perhaps via the Apple ID ?

This happened to me. I set up a Screen Time passcode for my daughter's iPad through my iPhone, and when I went to change my own Screen Time passcode it was already set (and it wasn't the one I had just entered). I had to dig deep in my memory banks to find the 4-digit code from Restrictions. And yes, that worked.

Thanks, Joe. You saved me from a lot of grief!

I had the same issue, eventually worked out it was one I must have set when playing with parental control or something ages ago.

But when I was playing around with settings, I turned on ‘share across devices’ it gave me the chance to set a new passcode.