Prevent a Child from Disabling Screen Time
Parents can prevent a child from disabling Screen Time using a variety of different methods.
If you’re a parent setting up a child’s iPhone, you might have wondered if Screen Time is set up effectively so it can’t be disabled and blocks content as expected. While Screen Time gives parents a lot of control over a child’s iPhone, it’s often difficult to tell if everything is set up correctly, so we’ve created a basic list of items for you to check that prevent your child from disabling Screen Time.
While Screen Time is a great start, we strongly recommend that parents also set up Apple Family Sharing , as it’s a reliable way to manage your child’s iPhone remotely. It’s not a deal-breaker, but it makes things much easier.
Parents should go further than Screen Time alone and consider options that effectively block content and monitor their child’s iPhone .
Choosing an Effective Approach for Screen Time
First, if possible, we recommend parents set up Apple Family Sharing . Parents can use Family Sharing to create a fully managed “Apple account”/profile for their child that parents can change settings for remotely.
This is really only an option if you assume that your child is below the age of 13 (because of how Apple accounts work). If your child is under the age of 18, they can still join your Apple Family Group, but there are some limitations if you try to manage Screen Time remotely.
It’s very important that both you and your child have separate Apple accounts, and you’ve created a Family Group for your own Apple account with you as the parent. If your child is below the age of 13, Apple lets you create a “child’s profile” that is fully managed.
Otherwise, your child can still join your Family Group as a teen. You can enforce Screen Time remotely for a teen or set up Screen Time on their device manually.
Avoid Common Loopholes
These are most of the common loopholes you might want to lock down on Screen Time.
1) Enforce Screen Time Passcode with your own Apple account
If your child is between the ages of 13 and 17, we strongly recommend that parents lock Screen Time behind a passcode on their device:
You’ll usually be asked to provide a recovery account for the Passcode; we strongly recommend you use your own Apple account. Check out our guide to prevent the forgotten passcode loophole to learn more about why.
2) Restrict Changes to Accounts on your child’s iPhone
A particularly tech-savvy child might try to log out of their Apple account; however, Screen Time can also restrict this.
You might also check this list for other options, like Background App Activity or Location Sharing, if you also use a parental control app.
3) Disable “Share Across Devices”
Share Across Devices is a feature that allows Screen Time settings to be synced from other devices, meaning that if your child has a different device, like a Mac, they might be able to adjust their settings unless you’ve also restricted that device as well. If you disable it instead, then this won’t happen.
The only downside to this is that you often won’t get a complete picture of your child’s App & Website Activity via Screen Time (if that’s important to you). This is one of the reasons why we recommend using Apple Family Sharing if at all possible, since your changes apply to all devices your child uses.
Note that you will need to make changes to each device your child uses any time you need to make a change to Screen Time, so this approach can become tedious if you also need to set up Screen Time on other devices. You don’t need to turn off Share Across Devices if you’re confident that your child can’t sign into their Apple account on a different device.
4) Manage Which Apps can be Installed
Screen Time allows parents to restrict which apps can be downloaded to or removed from an iPhone. Here’s how you can manage these settings:
Optionally, you can also block an app that you might not be able to remove by setting an app limit for 0 minutes:
We also recommend fixing a common issue where your child can bypass app limits with the “ignore limit” loophole .
Note that you might also want to check the Always Allow apps section to confirm that an app doesn’t ignore any of the limits you’re setting up.
5) Protect Apps with Screen Time Access
If you use a different app to manage some features on your child’s iPhone, it might be worth protecting this app and ensuring it can’t be removed. See our dedicated guide for protecting apps with Screen Time access for our recommendations.
Go Further with Effective Monitoring on a Child’s iPhone
While Screen Time (and even Apple Family Sharing) are a good place to start, you might consider going a step further if your goal is to effectively monitor your child’s iPhone.
For example, Screen Time can be used to track how much time your child has spent using different apps on their iPhone, but parents often want more assurance that their child is using those apps in a safe way. That’s why additional monitoring layers are very important on iPhones.
The approach that we recommend for parents setting up a child’s iPhone is to use the LivingRoom for Families app, because this app shows you exactly how your child uses their phone (and apps) with screenshot monitoring:
Plus, the LivingRoom app has recently been updated to also detect and automatically block nudity if it appears anywhere on the screen.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is my child able to leave my Apple Family Group if I use Family Sharing?
If you’ve created a child’s profile, then no. This profile cannot leave Family Sharing or the Family Group.
If your child has their own Apple account and has joined Family Sharing, then they are usually categorized as a “teen’s account”, and can leave at any time. This is why we recommend considering more options outside of Screen Time, if possible.
What if my child is too old for Apple Family Sharing?
Your child needs to be below the age of 18 to join your Family Group/Family Sharing. However, you can still set up Screen Time and lock it with a passcode without joining a Family Group.
It’s also possible to change the age of an Apple account if your child’s age isn’t accurate.
Are there reliable alternatives to Screen Time that work on a teen’s iPhone?
Yes!
For older children or adults, we recommend Supervised Mode as an alternative to Screen Time .