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Remove old devices from screen time

I seem to have about 3 devices listed as ’iPhone’ when I select devices in IOS 12 ‘Screen Time’ How do I remove them from the list as the other devices listed are actual device, but those 3 are blank and not in use. Thanks.

iPhone Xs Max, iOS 12

Posted on Sep 23, 2018 1:18 AM

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Posted on Oct 1, 2018 3:42 AM

I spoke to a senior technician in Apple Support, he basically said as the feature is new it has teething problems and will hopefully be addressed in the future. He has logged a support/fault report to the iOS team maybe for a future fix.

22 replies

Oct 30, 2018 2:30 PM in response to sergiyr

Well that is frustrating. I’ve had Screen Time turned off for the last few weeks because not only could I not remove old devices but it would reset every 3 days. In its current form it is completely useless for me. I spoke with Apple support several weeks back about not being able to remove old devices and he added me to a case number tracking the issue. Looks like we have to wait for 12.2. :(

Jan 28, 2019 7:09 PM in response to 24hrs

On my daughter's account, post migration to a new phone, not only is there a ghost device (prior phone) but Screen Time controls are not working despite setting "Share Across Devices". I think the ghost device is causing problems for Family Share remote control Screen Time. Hope 10.2 has a fix! (the device was wiped, it's removed from her iCloud and iTunes device lists.)

Feb 9, 2019 3:58 PM in response to Ryan K.

Totally frustrating. I see 5 devices listed in the reporting but only have three. This application was released before it was finished. And there are no improvements whatsoever so far in the 12.2 iOS beta. Yet Apple makes a big deal about it as if it’s production ready.


Apple...if you’re reading any of these threads, you can do better! Your users are asking for some basic changes that should be easy to tweak.

Feb 10, 2019 3:50 PM in response to Mike Gillespie

Great, I wrote this detailed post and apple is silencing me.


“We removed your post "Remove old devices from screen time" because it contained a poll or a petition. We understand wanting to share experiences, but these forums are meant for technical questions that can be answered by the community.”


EDIT: Added original post, edited out “petition”.


Yea. I’ve never seen Apple so ignorant on fixing an issue like this, especially one that’s been out for so long. I’ve contacted support, and spoken to a senior advisor. All everyone says is that it’s a known issue and that the engineering team is working on it. However, it’s hard to believe since the issue has been present since iOS 12’s initial release. We’re 4 months away from the first beta of the next major version of iOS, so to be honest, I don’t see this being fixed until then at least.

Remove old devices from screen time

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