App to limit screen time for tweens/ teens

[Anonymous]

I tried limiting my kids screen time for certain apps through the family settings on my iPhone, but my screen time limits were disappearing after 24 hours.
I researched this issue and it seems that this is an Apple issue that has been going on for a while as described in this article:

https://www.theverge.com/2023/7/30/23813106/apple-screen-time-bug-parental-controls-family-sharing

I wonder if Apple is not fixing it on purpose to get our kids addicted to their devices!

Are there any 3rd party apps that you were able to use successfully to limit screen time?

[Anonymous]

Get a new router. You can shut WiFi off to their device through the router’s app on your phone. Or you can set a screen time max
Limit also- or both

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get a new router. You can shut WiFi off to their device through the router’s app on your phone. Or you can set a screen time max
Limit also- or both

NP here. Thanks for the tip. Can you recommend your router that does this? I am totally ignorant about this and I'm not sure what type is needed, so that I can shut off kids access without shutting off my own. Thank you!

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for the WiFi tip.
The problem is that they’d still be able to use their phones through 5G.

I was hoping to find an app that can limit screen time on certain “ time wasting “ apps but still enable them to call or text when they need to. This should technically be possible through the Apple family settings but it doesn’t work

[Anonymous]

It's incredibly frustrating – yes the Apple screen time is notoriously dysfunctional, you can Google it.

The tech industry has made it nearly impossible for parents to have any degree of control over their kids screen time, access to porn, violent contact etc.

[Anonymous]

No you take their phone and do it directly on their phone. And just back it up with family services on find my.

Go to their phone:

Screen time
Set a parent password - add your Apple ID to it.
Downtime (set a set time each night) Toggle block after time limit.
Communication Limits (set close family only or they can contact all people)
App time - pick each app and set EACH one( snap, FaceTime, tik tok, Instagram, etc…) and set a time to each. The important part is there a toggle that says block after time limit. You MUST click it on (green on) Otherwise they can bypass it and add more time without a parent code. This is where most parents mess up the most.

Check each individual screen time each day to make sure they aren’t figuring a hack. So if you allow 2 hours of Snap and the next day you see they used it for 3.5hrs they are bypassing your limits somewhere.

If they are using it more but the screen times are consistent, then they probably have an s device in your house or from a friend hidden in their room. So turn off the wifi at night.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No you take their phone and do it directly on their phone. And just back it up with family services on find my.

Go to their phone:

Screen time
Set a parent password - add your Apple ID to it.
Downtime (set a set time each night) Toggle block after time limit.
Communication Limits (set close family only or they can contact all people)
App time - pick each app and set EACH one( snap, FaceTime, tik tok, Instagram, etc…) and set a time to each. The important part is there a toggle that says block after time limit. You MUST click it on (green on) Otherwise they can bypass it and add more time without a parent code. This is where most parents mess up the most.

Check each individual screen time each day to make sure they aren’t figuring a hack. So if you allow 2 hours of Snap and the next day you see they used it for 3.5hrs they are bypassing your limits somewhere.

If they are using it more but the screen times are consistent, then they probably have an s device in your house or from a friend hidden in their room. So turn off the wifi at night.

Awesome thank you!!!
So appreciate you typing this up, kind parent!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No you take their phone and do it directly on their phone. And just back it up with family services on find my.

Go to their phone:

Screen time
Set a parent password - add your Apple ID to it.
Downtime (set a set time each night) Toggle block after time limit.
Communication Limits (set close family only or they can contact all people)
App time - pick each app and set EACH one( snap, FaceTime, tik tok, Instagram, etc…) and set a time to each. The important part is there a toggle that says block after time limit. You MUST click it on (green on) Otherwise they can bypass it and add more time without a parent code. This is where most parents mess up the most.

Check each individual screen time each day to make sure they aren’t figuring a hack. So if you allow 2 hours of Snap and the next day you see they used it for 3.5hrs they are bypassing your limits somewhere.

If they are using it more but the screen times are consistent, then they probably have an s device in your house or from a friend hidden in their room. So turn off the wifi at night.

Thx so much ! I’ll definitely give this a try…
OP

[Anonymous]

One more thing:

Go into Screentime and then scroll down and click

Content and Privacy Restrictions
-click iTunes and App Store purchases
-click “don’t allow” for installing and deleting apps.
- click “always require” for password.

This is because teens tend to bypass time limits by deleting and re-installing app. They also will change the time zone to turn over a new day earlier at night. That doesn’t work if a downtime is set.

It’s so hard to stay on top of it. I find a lot of the teen hacks on tik tok and try to keep “in the know” on how to prevent them.

[Anonymous]

NP. Just want to say that you have to look for other apps like Life 360, WhatsApp, etc… and make sure they aren’t allowed during downtime. They will text thru there as well as tik tok, DM in Instagram too.

I found out my kid had an extra device when I logged into my own Instagram and saw he was last on 12min ago and his downtime started 2 hours prior.

It takes a village people!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One more thing:

Go into Screentime and then scroll down and click

Content and Privacy Restrictions
-click iTunes and App Store purchases
-click “don’t allow” for installing and deleting apps.
- click “always require” for password.

This is because teens tend to bypass time limits by deleting and re-installing app. They also will change the time zone to turn over a new day earlier at night. That doesn’t work if a downtime is set.

It’s so hard to stay on top of it. I find a lot of the teen hacks on tik tok and try to keep “in the know” on how to prevent them.

This is a great tip. The other extreme measure would also be to just delete all the time wasting apps on their phone and just keep the phone, text, map and camera app and enable the requirement to always ask before downloading an app.
Not realistic for older teens but would probably work when you hand a phone to an 11 year old where your main motive is them being able to call you in case of an emergency.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP. Just want to say that you have to look for other apps like Life 360, WhatsApp, etc… and make sure they aren’t allowed during downtime. They will text thru there as well as tik tok, DM in Instagram too.

I found out my kid had an extra device when I logged into my own Instagram and saw he was last on 12min ago and his downtime started 2 hours prior.

It takes a village people!!

Wow! How old is your child? I have a 13 and a 14 year old and I’m not sure how they could purchase a device without me knowing. How did your child get the other device?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP. Just want to say that you have to look for other apps like Life 360, WhatsApp, etc… and make sure they aren’t allowed during downtime. They will text thru there as well as tik tok, DM in Instagram too.

I found out my kid had an extra device when I logged into my own Instagram and saw he was last on 12min ago and his downtime started 2 hours prior.

It takes a village people!!

Wow! How old is your child? I have a 13 and a 14 year old and I’m not sure how they could purchase a device without me knowing. How did your child get the other device?

They don’t purchase a new one. It’s old iphones, iPod touches, and old iPads in your own house, or a friend gives them. They only work on wifi but teens can use them to download apps and log into their social media accounts.

Some use them when their downtime shuts off, others use them when they are punished. Kids at school sell or rent their old products to others. Cheap like $25

[Anonymous]

Thank you for this thread!!

I couldn’t figure out how my DD was getting extra screen time and I realized I didn’t move the toggle. I mean why limit it only for the kids themselves to be able to easily over ride. It’s a dumb button to even have.

Huge help!!

[Anonymous]

Burner phones (old iPhones and old iPod touches) are very popular in my kids school