Are there any apps that control screen time?

[TheFuzzyStar]

Sorry posting for traffic. Just wondered if there are any apps for controlling screen time on kids (11 & 13) Iphones?

I have heard an ad for one on the radio but it was android devices. I want them to wind down by reading at bedtime but they sneak onto their phones. I have thought about taking their phones at a certain time but they use them for alarm. (My 13 year old likes getting up at 6...I don’t...)

Buy them alarms for their rooms. I really don't think kids that age should have access to smartphones overnight.

I think you’re probably right. I have said the same to them and they think I’m ridiculous because everyone has their phones in their rooms

IPhones have inbuilt screen time controls you can control with a passcode. It's in settings.

Definitely buy a couple of cheap alarm clocks. Phones down at a certain time and away from children is the only way to stop them ‘just checking’ things in the middle of the night!

You can choose downtime (so overnight for example) where they can't use apps at all, put time limits on apps for during the day, etc.

Remove the phones at night. Problem solved

So in this instance, you could set downtime between say 9 and 7 and only allow the clock app to be used during this time.

I think you’re probably right. I have said the same to them and they think I’m ridiculous because everyone has their phones in their rooms

Tbh it's not really up to them and that's exactly what I'd tell them. They go in your room to charge by 9pm and they can have them back when they've had breakfast and are ready for school (will avoid faffing)

@DesLynamsMoustache so they do!!! Have just locked them down from 9pm-6am!

🎉🎉🎉

They'll probably just figure out a way to turn off the downtime tbh

how? I have to put a passcode in from my phone to take it off.

There’s something called Screen time on iOS. Only the most recent versions though (maybe from 11 on but don’t quote me).
You can set time limits on individual apps and have the phone lock down completely between certain hours, if you wanted. It’s in settings.

Seems I’ve cross posted

Thanks @Emmelina

Can’t wait to see what happens at 9pm 😂

I use Kaspersky safe kids. Though my daughter has an Android phone so don't know if it would work with yours. Can do loads of things on there to keep them safe.

Google family link

Good luck, I didn’t tell mine I was doing it! I wasn’t popular the first few nights!!

Just coming on to say Google family link but kitk beat me to it.

I love this app as I home ed so I can lock her phone to enable her to do her work and now I can control bedtime better. I used to remove her phone at bedtime but she would hide it and tell me she couldn't find it, this is so much easier. First week was hard and now it's second nature.

We use Qustodio, which is free for a bit so you can try it out - it's slightly less easy to get round than the Google. There's also another called OurPact. They've both got slightly different features so worth researching to see which might suit you better

You know that they can get around screen time by changing the time on their phone? So if device is set to disable at 9pm, they can change their phone time to say New York and the phone thinks it's mid afternoon and allows access. There's probably other hacks too

If you catch them trying to get around it, they lose the device. It’s not hard to parent

Taking it off them is the easiest way to police it.

How can you catch them if it's after bedtime?

I couldn’t get it to work properly so the rule is phones with me at bedtime now

You just need to add your DC phone on family sharing on your iPhone. I have my DS and limit his screen time from that. It's really
Quite simple