Screen Time
By MacRumors Staff on May 6, 2025
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Screen Time How Tos
How to Set Communication Limits on Your Child's Allowed Screen Time and Downtime on Mac
Wednesday June 3, 2020 2:18 pm PDT by Tim Hardwick
With the release of macOS Catalina 10.15.4, Apple added new Screen Time options to let parents control who their children are able to contact on Mac.
If you're not familiar with Apple's Screen Time functions, they enable users to keep track of their usage and place self-imposed limits on the time they spend using their Mac. Screen Time also serves as a parental control system for parents....
How to Use Screen Time on Mac
Wednesday June 3, 2020 2:16 pm PDT by Tim Hardwick
With the release of macOS Catalina, Apple introduced Screen Time functions that enable users to keep track of their usage and place self-imposed limits on the time they spend using their Mac. Screen Time also serves as a parental control system, since it can be used to place restrictions on what a child can access, who they can contact, and how long they spend on apps, websites, and more....
How to Set Communication Limits on Your Child's Allowed Screen Time and Downtime on iPhone and iPad
Wednesday December 11, 2019 12:10 pm PST by Tim Hardwick
In iOS 13.3, Apple added new Communication Limits to its Screen Time options, which let parents control who their children are able to contact.
If you're not familiar with Apple's Screen Time functions, they enable users to keep track of their device usage and place self-imposed limits on the time they spend using their iPhone or iPad. Screen Time also serves as a parental control system for...
Screen Time Articles
iOS 18.5 Includes a Useful Change to Screen Time
Tuesday May 6, 2025 10:22 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple today shared release notes for iOS 18.5 and iPadOS 18.5, ahead of the updates being released to the general public next week. The updates are minor overall, but they do include a useful change for the Screen Time feature on iPhones and iPads.
Specifically, Apple says that parents will now receive a notification when their Screen Time passcode is successfully entered on their child's...
Apple Promises to Fix Long-Ignored Parental Control Bug After Media Spotlight
Wednesday June 5, 2024 4:47 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple will finally address a Safari restriction workaround that has been around for years after the bug was highlighted by The Wall Street Journal's Joanna Stern. Kids who are restricted from viewing certain websites with the Screen Time feature are able to paste a string of characters in the address bar in Safari in order to get around parental controls.
In a report on Screen Time, Stern...
iOS 17.1 Improves Screen Time Syncing Across Apple Devices
Tuesday October 17, 2023 10:34 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
iOS 17.1 improves syncing of Screen Time settings across Apple devices, according to the release notes for the upcoming software update.
Screen Time provides parents with settings to remotely manage a child's device, allowing them to restrict device usage to certain times, set time limits for apps, and block inappropriate content. However, some parents had complained that Screen Time...
Apple Acknowledges Screen Time Bug, Promises Further Improvements
Sunday July 30, 2023 5:50 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple has acknowledged a bug with its parental controls feature Screen Time on the iPhone and iPad, and promises it will take additional steps to remedy the situation, according to a report this weekend from The Wall Street Journal.
Screen Time provides parents with settings to remotely manage a child's device, allowing them to restrict device usage to certain times, set time limits for...
Apple Makes Screen Time API Available to Third-Party Developers
Monday June 7, 2021 3:29 pm PDT by Juli Clover
With the launch of iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS Monterey, Apple is making its Screen Time API available to third-party developers, which will let official Screen Time data be used in parental control apps.
Apple first unveiled Screen Time in the iOS 12 update that was released in 2018, allowing users to keep track of the amount of time spent in iOS apps. Parents were also able to use Screen...
Tim Cook Questioned on Apple's 2019 Ban on Parental Control Apps Using Mobile Device Management
Wednesday July 29, 2020 2:35 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple in early 2019 removed or restricted many popular screen time and parental control apps on the App Store due to their use of Mobile Device Management, or MDM, which the company said put user security and privacy at risk.
During today's antitrust hearing with the U.S. House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee, Cook was questioned about Apple's decision to remove the parental control apps,...
Apple Working on Fix for Screen Time Communication Limits Workaround Exploited by Kids
Thursday December 12, 2019 12:58 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple on Tuesday released iOS 13.3, a new update that includes Communication Limits for Screen Time, designed to allow parents to limit who can contact their children and who children can contact.
As it turns out, though, there's a bug in the feature that's allowing children to communicate with anyone who texts them.
As outlined by CNBC, Communication Limits is designed to prevent...
Persistent Kids Finding Loopholes in Apple's Screen Time Limits
Tuesday October 15, 2019 9:44 am PDT by Eric Slivka
Apple is currently engaged in a cat-and-mouse game with persistent kids looking to circumvent Screen Time restrictions, but the company has been receiving some criticism for not moving quickly enough to lock down some of the loopholes, reports The Washington Post.
A few of the loopholes and ways for parents to shut them down are documented on the site Protect Young Eyes, while these and...
Apple Reverses Course and Allows Parental Control Apps to Use MDM Technology With Stricter Privacy Requirements
Tuesday June 4, 2019 10:00 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
As one of many updates to its App Store Review Guidelines this week, Apple has indicated that parental control app developers are again permitted to use Mobile Device Management (MDM) technology in their apps, so long as they do not sell, use, or disclose any data to third parties for any purpose.
An excerpt from the newly added Guideline 5.5:You must make a clear declaration of what user...
Parental Control App Developers Urge Apple to 'Put Kids First' by Releasing Screen Time API
Friday May 31, 2019 9:55 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Over a dozen parental control app developers have come together with a shared message for Apple: it's "time to put kids first."
Together, they have launched a new website called Screen Time API that urges Apple to release a public API granting developers access to the same functionalities that iOS 12's Screen Time feature uses. The developers have even proposed their own API, complete with...
Parental Control App Developers Urge Apple to Make Screen Time APIs Available for Third-Party Apps
Wednesday May 1, 2019 1:45 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
Last weekend, The New York Times reported that Apple has removed or restricted many of the most popular screen time and parental control apps on the App Store since launching its own Screen Time feature in iOS 12 last year, raising concerns over potentially anticompetitive behavior.
Apple was quick to respond. In both an email to a concerned customer and a press release, Apple indicated that ...
Apple Shares More Details on Parental Control App Crackdown
Sunday April 28, 2019 7:12 pm PDT by Eric Slivka
Following an email from Phil Schiller to a MacRumors reader yesterday addressing a report from The New York Times on Apple's removal of a number of App Store apps focused on screen time monitoring and parental controls, Apple has issued a public statement sharing additional perspective on the situation.
The statement, entitled "The facts about parental control apps," is very similar in its...
Phil Schiller Lays Out Apple's Case for Cracking Down on Screen Time Monitoring Apps
Saturday April 27, 2019 6:33 pm PDT by Eric Slivka
Earlier today, a report from The New York Times highlighted Apple's removal of a number of App Store apps that had allowed users to monitor usage of their devices or those used by their children. The report suggests that Apple's move to pull the apps is related to having rolled out its own Screen Time feature in iOS 12 that competes in some ways with these apps, raising concerns over...
Apple's Greg Joswiak Speaks About Screen Time in New Podcast
Monday October 1, 2018 12:49 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Greg Joswiak, Apple's VP of iOS, iPad, and iPhone Product Marketing, recently sat down with Arianna Huffington on the Thrive Global Podcast to discuss the new Screen Time feature that Apple implemented for the iPhone 5s and later in iOS 12.
According to Joswiak, information is the "cornerstone" of what Apple is doing with Screen Time. The company's goal is to provide people with information...
Hands-On With iOS 12's New Screen Time Feature With App Usage Stats, App Limits and More
Wednesday June 13, 2018 1:00 pm PDT by Juli Clover
The iOS 12 update introduces a comprehensive set of built-in features designed to help you focus, limit distraction, monitor your iOS device usage, and get a better understanding on how you're using your time throughout the day.
These new features are housed in the Screen Time section of the Settings app, which we decided to take a closer look at to give MacRumors readers eagerly awaiting the...
Apple Explains How iOS 12 Will 'Help You Limit Distractions' With New 'Screen Time' Settings and More
Monday June 4, 2018 11:21 am PDT by Mitchel Broussard
Apple's iOS 12 update will greatly "reduce interruptions" and help users manage their digital device use, which has been an increasingly focused topic of conversation in recent months. For its implementation, Apple at WWDC announced a new section of the Settings app called "Screen Time" that breaks down how much time you spend on your iPhone or iPad each day and week. Screen Time is found under...
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