Screen Time shows "Ignore Limit" on child's iPhone

I've updated our family's iPhones to iOS 12 and I'm using Screen Time to manage my kids' iPhone usage. Screen Time is pretty buggy which is no surprise since it's still early, but there's one issue that basically makes it totally ineffective for parental controls.


Normally when my kids try to open an app that's been blocked by Downtime (the schedule you set), there's a message that says it's blocked with a link to "Ask For More Time". But yesterday we noticed that when one of my kids opened up a blocked app the link said "Ignore Limit". This basically allowed her to open the app and use it with no restrictions. I restarted her iPhone by holding down the home and power buttons until the Apple logo appeared. I checked the blocked apps again and this time the restriction was working correctly. But there was one app that wasn't being affected by Downtime at all. I checked it this morning and somehow it's working correctly.


But this evening my other kid needed some more time with an app so I told her to request more time. She said she requested it but I didn't receive any request on my end. Turns out her Screen Time had the same issue where it was showing the link to "Ignore Limit". So I looked at her Screen Time settings and saw that "Block At Downtime" was turned off. I turned it on and it changed the blocked apps to "Ask For More Time". But her Messages app wasn't being affected by Downtime. I'm guessing it was because she ignored the limit? So I restarted her iPhone by holding down the home and power buttons until the Apple logo appeared. The Messages app is still available and now all blocked apps are showing "Ignore Limit".


Would appreciate some thoughts on a solution from others who might have come across this.

Posted on Sep 24, 2018 9:50 PM

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Posted on Oct 28, 2018 10:21 PM

I think I’ve figured it out. I got a new phone and had to redo some settings and all of a sudden my kids were able to just start ignoring their limits when their time ran out. When you go to set an app limit, there’s a button that says BLOCK AT END OF LIMIT. That needs to be toggled on for each app you’re setting a time limit for.

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Oct 28, 2018 10:21 PM in response to v6v6v6

I think I’ve figured it out. I got a new phone and had to redo some settings and all of a sudden my kids were able to just start ignoring their limits when their time ran out. When you go to set an app limit, there’s a button that says BLOCK AT END OF LIMIT. That needs to be toggled on for each app you’re setting a time limit for.

Feb 2, 2019 1:17 PM in response to cpv123

If you are using the same password on your device and your child’s device this will happen because the ignore limits already has the password stored on your child’s phone so to fix this you will need to change the password for the limits on your phone and when your child trys to ignore the limits it will prompt to enter the new password or will need a parents approval

Mar 28, 2019 11:19 AM in response to v6v6v6

Guys please, when you set up the time limit for your kid,

settings-screen time-name of the kid-app limit - (code) - add a limit

when you set up a new limit or edit a pre existing one remember to turn on (green) the option:

Block at End of Limit


my suggestion is to remove all the limit you already set up and do it again clicking block at the end of limit


in my case it worker

Oct 6, 2018 11:52 AM in response to azimuth77

I think I know what the solution is. If you you use the option “Downtime” and “Block at downtime” is not selected then your kid will be able to ignore the restrictions during this downtime without asking for a parent’s approval. If your kid already selected “ignore for the rest of the day” then you’ll have to wait u til the next day for it to work. User uploaded file

Oct 6, 2018 12:22 PM in response to v6v6v6

I think I know what the solution is. If you you use the option “Downtime” and “Block at downtime” is not selected then your kid will be able to ignore the restrictions during this downtime without asking for a parent’s approval. If your kid already selected “ignore for the rest of the day” then you’ll have to wait u til the next day for it to work. The solution is to select “block at downtime”

User uploaded file

Jan 28, 2019 2:36 AM in response to adolfgarlic

I think I found the solution to the ignore limits so if you are using the same password on your phone and your child phone when you set up the family sharing account on your child’s phone that might be your issue because the child’s phone is atomaticly igniring the limits because the password is already there for them to be able to do so. So to solve this issue under family sharing change the password for the limits that you set up and when your child presses ignore limits her or she would need the new password to do so.

Jan 4, 2019 6:26 AM in response to Katrell86

I’m also experiencing this problem. When my daughter’s friends began getting iPhones three years ago, I held out, waiting for Apple to provide strong, reliable parental controls. After the release of IOS 12, with all its touted parental controls, I finally gave in and bought her an iPhone. I spent hours watching tutorials and testing all the screen time features. I set it up a time limits applied to all apps and categories, toggled on block at end of limit, and created a screen time password.


Initially I was impressed, and the screen time limits worked properly for several weeks. But then last week something changed. Now when my daughter’s screen time limit is reached, she is asked if she wants to ignore the limit. (Well of course she wants to ignore the limit, she’s a child. If children could limit themselves, then we wouldn’t need parental controls in the first place!)


At first I thought she had somehow found a way to circumvent the controls. But I’ve now tested the phone for several days myself. Repeatedly I’ve powered down and restarted the phone, updated the IOS, removed and then reinstated all the screen time settings, uninstalled and reinstalled the apps — nothing works. Or, to be more specific, theblimits work for a day or two, but then for no apparent reason it starts prompting her to ignore the limit.


Between the time when the screen time block worked and when it stoped working, the phone has been in my possession the whole time, no new apps were installed, no changes were made in the settings, and the phone didn’t leave my strong password protected home WIFI. Nothing on my end changed and yet the parental controls went from working to not working. Anf the only way to know the limits have stopped working is to manually check her phone after the time limit has been ignored and exceeded.


So I now have to constantly monitor my daughter’s phone and physically remove it when her time limit is met — which is precisely the reason I didn’t want her to have a phone without parental controls in the first place. I would much rather she have no phone at all than to have an expensive iPhone that provides the illusion of parental controls that fail to function.

Jan 3, 2019 8:31 PM in response to Eve000

I have the same issue. This feature worked great until today on my son’s iPad that he received for his birthday on December 27th. Now the apps have the option to ignore limit during downtime. The screen time for the iPad is not displaying on my phone for today. It’s almost as if the two are no longer connected to each other. I have tried everything suggested here. I really hope Apple fix this.

Oct 15, 2018 9:16 AM in response to blizaine

I'm experiencing the exact same issue you've described above. Also , all seems to work just fine with my 12 year old ( no ignore issue, blocks when its supposed to), but with the same settings, i experience the "ignore " issue on my 15 year old's phone. 12 year old has a iPhone 6 and 15 year old has an iPhone SE. Following closely for a solution. Both are up to date

Oct 23, 2018 3:45 PM in response to v6v6v6

I also have this issue. I have turned off and back on the "block at downtime" button a few times. I've rebooted phones, I've turned off the downtime feature and reconfigured it a few times. The problem always seems to come back.


APPLE- This is a much needed and KEY feature for your products. PLEASE take the time to fix this issue and make the feature work properly.

Jan 20, 2019 3:47 PM in response to v6v6v6

I have been having the toggle issue as described in addition to limits not being enforced with the toggles set correctly. This is just one of many issues in this disaster called screen time. The usage reports do not report accurate time in all cases. One example is Fortnite that is classified as a game however the total time shows over an hour and the details show Fortnite maybe 20 minutes when my child was playing Fortnite the whole time. Detailed example below where Fortnite usage was way higher than the report reflects.


I really think Apple needs to go back to the drawing board to squash the bugs and allow more functionality. My suggestions would include:

  • Lockout mode toggle for the parent to lock out the device on demand
  • Do a better job at eliminating work arounds that kids know about
  • Ability to limit time for specific apps better than today
  • Have an option to split up the usage time such as an hour and then a set downtime break until another approved time period instead of a one or two hour binge fest


Like someone else mentioned it gets really annoying to keep checking all the devices once or twice per day to ensure that the settings haven’t changed IF they already haven’t granted themselves access for the rest of the day. Totally ridiculous!


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Screen Time shows "Ignore Limit" on child's iPhone

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