iPhone parental controls

[James_N]

Hi

We have an autistic son. Simply put, he doesn't do well on games. We put a screen time password on his iPhone (phone supplied by the dad) so he couldn't go on certain things past 8pm

Somehow the apps always allowed section on it has become unpassworded meaning that when said child is on the iPhone, he can simply go into the apps always allowed and select the games he wants to be always on, so when 8pm rolls around, the games simply stay on.

This bit of the iPhone used to fall under the screen time password so it couldn't be altered without the passcode, but now it seems it's open.

Does anyone know how to change it so it's passworded again?

It's an iPhone 12.

Thanks 🙏

[Magnum 475]

Does he use other devices, and if so - how far do you want to go?

I use a platform called Qustodio, which is basically device management for kids devices. It works across Windows / MacOS / iOS / Android, and applies one policy to every device. May be overkill for you at the moment, but also could be something to think about in future. It's also immune to device / app updates, and the child whose device it's on doesn't know that it's there - there is no sign of it, you can't see it in apps or anywhere else on the device.

[fat80b]

James_N said:

Hi

We have an autistic son. Simply put, he doesn't do well on games. We put a screen time password on his iPhone (phone supplied by the dad) so he couldn't go on certain things past 8pm

Does anyone know how to change it so it's passworded again?

Snap. Our boy is the same.

It sounds like there is some mismatch between the app limits and the downtime settings

I tend to leave the app limits alone and control everything with the downtime settings.

It sometimes fails to save the settings and I’ve found that turning on “scheduled” and then going back to the menu before returning to set the actual time seems to be more reliable.

If that doesn’t work, I’d try the “reset screen time passcode” bit to see if you can set it up again.

[chrisch77]

The biggest problem we have with the screentime parental controls is if the iOS version on the child's device isn't updated in line with the parent's device then it can 'lose' control over any of the settings. If they have an older device that doesn't update to the latest iOS (not in your case OP) then it's probably a lost cause and time to look at third party apps.

[James_N]

Thanks guys, I'll have to have another look. The dad controls most of the settings I think, but would be good to have this back working again.