How Does Apple Screen Time Work? An Honest Guide to Apple Screen Time

The evidence is clear: too much screen time can be harmful for kids. To guard against these risks, it’s important that parents take an active role in regulating and monitoring their child’s screen time. Apple’s free Screen Time settings are a great place to start, but how does Apple Screen Time work? And what happens when Screen Time doesn’t work? 

Read on to learn more about Apple Screen time, including the pros and cons, and what options are available to parents looking to fill in the gaps. 

What is Apple Screen Time? 

Apple Screen Time is a free, built-in feature on all Apple devices. It allows parents to view how much time their child spends in particular apps and websites and control the amount of time they spend on each screen activity. 

How do I set up Screen Time on my child’s iPhone?

There are two ways you can manage Screen Time for your child: on your device through Family Sharing or directly on their phone. Here’s how:

Managing your child’s Screen Time using Family Sharing

First, you’ll need to add your child to a Family Sharing group. You can do that by adding a family member with their Apple ID. 

Once you’ve added your child to Family Sharing, follow these steps:

1. On your computer, phone, or tablet, go to Settings > Screen Time.
2. Scroll down to Family and select the name of the child you want to manage.
3. Follow the on-screen instructions to customize Screen Time settings for your child. You can set time limits, app limits, and even limit App Store and iTunes purchases (we recommend turning this one on!). 
4. Be sure to enter a Screen Time passcode when prompted so your child can’t change the settings. If you don’t have a Screen Time passcode, here’s how to set it up.

Managing your child’s Screen Time on their device

1. On your child’s device, go to Settings > Screen Time.
2. Follow the on-screen instructions to customize Screen Time settings for your child. 
3. Enter a Screen Time passcode so your child can’t change the settings. 

The pros and cons of Apple Screen Time

While Apple Screen Time is an excellent tool for parents, it has some downsides and doesn’t address every concern parents may have. Here’s what works and what doesn’t: 

Pros

• Provides customizable parental controls on most areas of concern, such as content filtering and blocking specific apps and websites.
• Gives parents the ability to limit who can contact their child through text, phone, and FaceTime. 
• Parents can limit purchases made on the device. 
• Allows parents to set screen time limits. 

Cons

• Parents can’t see what their child does online, only where they spend their time. 
• It’s complicated (especially when managing multiple kids). 
• It can be unreliable. It’s not uncommon for screen time limits to randomly go away.
• Sometimes, settings don’t show up on a child’s device right away. 
• Kids can get around Apple Screen Time
• It’s limited to Apple devices, meaning your child’s school device likely isn’t covered. 

How BrightCanary fills in the gaps

If you want to take advantage of the benefits of Apple Screen Time, but are concerned it’s not robust enough, BrightCanary is an excellent companion. 

BrightCanary is a child safety app that gives parents increased visibility into what their kids see, search, and send online. It covers activity across Google, YouTube, social media, and text messages. 

And because all parents can use a helping hand, BrightCanary alerts you if your child encounters any danger online, so you don’t have to look at everything on your own.

Think of it this way: Apple Screen Time helps you limit how much time your child spends on their device. BrightCanary shows you what your child encounters when they’re online and messaging friends.

FAQs

Will Apple Screen Time block or filter my child’s device?

Yes. Using Content & Privacy Restrictions in Screen Time, parents can block or limit specific apps and features on their child's device. They can also restrict explicit content and prevent purchases and downloads. 

What can parents see on Apple Screen Time?

On Apple Screen Time, parents can see how much time their child spends on specific apps and websites. 

Does Apple Screen Time show text messages?

No. Apple Screen Time does not allow parents to view their child’s texts. For text message monitoring for iPhone, you’ll need an app like BrightCanary.

In short

Apple Screen Time provides parents with useful, but limited, options to manage their child’s screen time. If you want to understand your child’s online activity when they’re using their device, BrightCanary provides parents more insight for iOS devices.