How iOS 27 Changes Screen Time and Parental Controls for Parents
iOS introduces a few notable changes to Screen Time, with more upgrades hopefully coming soon!
While iOS 27 is relatively new, there are still a few changes to Screen Time that parents should be aware of. For the most part, iOS 27 is a win for parents, making it even easier to set up parental controls and removing a few irritating bugs that make Screen Time less responsive. However, it still may be worth waiting a little longer before upgrading, as several of the features Apple promised don’t appear to be released yet.
What’s Staying the Same from OS 26?
Apple is notorious for making large updates to Screen Time that can cause glitches or, even worse, completely disable parental controls set up by parents using Screen Time. It’s actually worth considering whether you’d like to update to version 27 or just wait; Apple is still going to support version 26 for quite some time.
If you do decide to make the switch to OS 27, the good news is that some of the more important features from iOS 26 are going to remain largely unchanged:
- First, apps that require Screen Time access (like LivingRoom or other parental control apps) can still be protected using our instructions
- It’s still possible for parents to completely block an app while using Screen Time by setting a time limit of zero minutes
- Apple has made it even easier to create child accounts for younger children under the age of 13
We mentioned a few of these in our previous blog for iOS 26 when it first came out.
Ask to Browse (upcoming?)
A new feature that Apple has hinted at is called “Ask to Browse”, and it looks like this will be a huge game-changer for parents. The problem is that, at the time of writing, Apple doesn’t appear to have added this feature to Screen Time yet, even though its support docs say that Ask to Browse is available.
Hopefully, Apple will release an update to Screen Time and Safari soon, so if you’re considering whether updating to OS 27 will make a huge difference for Screen Time, it may be worth waiting for this feature to be rolled out.
If done correctly, Ask to Browse might be a nice middle ground between blocking individual websites (which is often too tedious) and the more extreme approach of blocking all websites by default. Especially if you want to block websites by default, your child often needs your help to enter the Screen Time pin to manually allow the website every single time, whereas Ask to Browse looks like your child can send a request to you instead (similar to Ask to Buy).
New Scheduled view in Screen Time (upcoming?)
Apple has also mentioned that OS 27 will introduce several changes to Screen Time, with a new scheduled view for apps and content. While this feature hasn’t yet been implemented, some of the screenshots on Apple’s website look very promising.
Updated Siri and AI Controls for Screen Time
OS 27 saw a complete overhaul to Siri, and surprisingly, Screen Time settings have been updated accordingly. Parents can completely disable Siri, or allow older children to experiment with the new assistant while restricting some of the more risky features that they might not be comfortable having their child interact with.
To access new Siri restrictions, open your child’s Screen Time and go to Content & Privacy Restrictions > Siri. You should see a screen like the one below:
Disable Siri using this option:
On your child’s iPhone, Siri should be disabled, and they won’t be able to activate it using the Settings app:
It’s also worth noting that younger children should not be able to use Siri’s new Beta features, at least, until they turn 13. If you’re setting up Siri for a Teenager, you can choose whether Siri is completely disabled or if you’d prefer your child to use the “classic” Siri experience instead.
You might also notice that several other features can be restricted for Siri (assuming it isn’t disabled entirely):
A lot of these features are automatically restricted if your child is below the age of 13.
Private Browsing Restricted for Child Accounts by Default
Younger children may also notice that they can’t access Safari Private Browsing. From their perspective, they can only view or create standard tabs to view websites:
This is actually a good thing, because Private Browsing would prevent some website-blocking or monitoring features in Safari from working properly. This was a much bigger issue on older versions, like 26 or 18.
Unfortunately, parents may want to confirm that private browsing is restricted for older children or teenagers, and here’s how to do this:
Both of these options will disable several features in Safari, including private browsing tabs, clearing Safari data, and a few other features that might bypass monitoring or parental controls.
More Stability with Safari and Blocking Websites through Screen Time
In general, I’ve also noticed that updates that a parent makes using Apple Family Sharing are much more immediate and responsive on the child’s device.
For example, if I want to block a website for my child, Safari can immediately block that website in Safari, even if the child is currently looking at the website (when I tested this, it only took a few seconds each time I made a change). That’s much better than on previous versions of iOS, where you might have to wait several minutes or until the child refreshed the page before Safari recognized the change.
Child Safety Resources
Apple is also making it easier for parents to access resources related to Child and Communication Safety. To view these resources, parents can use these instructions:
It should look something like this:
Obviously, parents should still take precautions of their own. For example, consider monitoring the screen on your child’s iPhone .