Level 1

75 points

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

Top-ranking reply

jayleefromtempe

Level 1

21 points

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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58 replies

blizaine

Level 1

4 points

Oct 13, 2018 9:29 PM in response to Iara_a

Yes. Unfortunately, the option to block at downtime is already checked. It’s been checked from the beginning and used to actually block them, but no longer does.

Mar 7, 2019 7:48 PM in response to v6v6v6

My phone says ¨ignore limit¨ if i press it will my parents get a notification?

Oct 7, 2018 6:14 PM in response to Iara_a

Thank you for this tip! This absolutely resolved this issue for me on an iPad. I still haven't downloaded the new iOS 12 for iPhone. I will wait till 12.1 comes out before downloading, but in the mean time, at least it works on my iPad now. =)

ddrbs

Level 1

8 points

Dec 13, 2018 3:37 AM in response to v6v6v6

Same happened to me. Was working fine until last night. Now, my children have the option to ignore a restriction without a passcode. Also, my son’s Snapchat and Twitter aren’t locked at all even thought they’re on his blocked list and we’re within the restricted timeframe. Tried all the suggestions listed here and nothing has worked.

Dec 30, 2018 2:28 PM in response to rb123

I have reset screen time, reset phone, changed screen time passwords, selected each place to select “block at downtime” limit downtime, and everything else we are supposed to do probably 30 times.

DEVICES with issues

Iphone X

Ipad air 2

PROBLEMS

screentime passcode randomly turns off
block at downtime randomly turns off
Ignore limit is a choice... WTF Apple?! That is the selling point for IOS12! Kind of defeats the whole purpose of the screen time feature when my children can just select a button to continue to do what they want.
I have every limit that can be set selected... Supposed to be 1hr 30min overall limit per day. This past week was a holiday and they AVERAGED 4hr 44min... (I knew it wasn’t working, allowed a lot of it due to seeing what it would allow. Long story, it will not block and will allow anything the kids wants)

APPLE NEEDS TO FIX OR GET RID OF THIS FEATURE! Parents (including this one) believe our children are protected. As parents figure out how bad this feature is there will be an uproar.

Hoolada

Level 1

4 points

Jan 1, 2019 9:57 AM in response to blizaine

I have the same issue described above. I have set the limits, set to block at the end of the limit. Yet it shows she is using the apps I have blocked for extended periods of time. It’s very frustrating. There doesn’t seem to be any fix for this. If anyone out there has a solution or if Apple could resolve this, it would be wonderful.

Eve000

Level 1

4 points

Jan 3, 2019 7:25 AM in response to jayleefromtempe

We have selected all options: block at end of limit for each app and Block at down time. However, our daughter still gets an option Ignore the time limit, which makes screen time pretty useless. We didn’t have this problem before, but now it persists.

Jan 23, 2019 11:43 PM in response to Thrombokinase

Doesn’t work at all

no matter how often I go and set up

downtime
app linits
content restrictions

i go and check later to find they have either been wiped or altered on the child’s device

in addition even when the apple limit is not removed the device does not respect the limit

e.g. Set a limit of 30 mins on a given app then see it’s been used for over an hour and a half!

this is not acceptable from apple

this has obviously not gone through rigorous testing

Luv4all

Level 1

4 points

Feb 2, 2019 2:18 PM in response to Thrombokinase

Probably not justvthat. For messages probably. I have the same issue. Sometimes she is blocked and has to request more time but other times it does nothing. I actually put the limit in as she was watching something beside me and nothing happened. Diwn time came and went nothing. I did adjust all the settings so she has access only to phone messages and kindle.

Feb 25, 2019 2:27 PM in response to koprivaqi

This is beyond frustrating! It’s a great concept but doesn’t consistently work. The password disappears, the time limits increase without me doing so, and all the settings I input randomly change or disappear. Please Apple fix this much needed parental control or come up with another option!

Mar 7, 2019 10:37 PM in response to DougQc

I have the same issue (and other technical issues) and called in to Apple for help. I'm amazed at how little knowledge Apple support has about their own app! And until they release an update much suffering will occur :(

Apr 26, 2019 2:11 AM in response to v6v6v6

hi, Did you get a meaningful response from Apple? I have also discovered that Apple seem to have back-doors to everything and are not taking child-protection seriously at all. They state that they have parental control, but on inspection, its meaningless. Ive not had helpful reponses from Apple - have you?

Katrina_

Level 1

4 points

Jan 24, 2019 3:25 PM in response to DougQc

Dougqc, did Apple ever get back to you? Am having same problem. :/

Jan 27, 2019 10:03 PM in response to blizaine

I had not noticed that, will try it. Thanks!

crTopher

Level 1

4 points

Jan 9, 2019 1:30 PM in response to v6v6v6

Same issue for me. Screen time was working great. Something changed. Now the block at the end of limit toggle keeps toggling off.

Screentime is now useless. Apple - GET IT FIXED.

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