The Complete Guide to Screen Time and Parental Controls on iPhone

All the best iPhones have many great features that beckon you to grab them 24/7. However, if you pay attention to how much time you actually spend on your smartphone, it will be shocking. That’s why people nowadays are taking steps to reduce screen time by doing things like setting daily usage limits.


Sometimes, this falls into the parents’ hands when it comes to pre-teens and teens glued to their screens. But it’s not just about setting time limits. You may also want to ensure that your child does not access age-inappropriate content or use the phone when they are not allowed to do so, such as during school hours or after bedtime.

This is where features like Screen Time and Parental Controls come in, both for limiting your time online and monitoring your kids’ usage.


What is the duration of using the device?

The Screen Time feature is present on both older and newer iPhones like the iPhone 14. It’s a useful way to keep track of how much time you spend In reality You spend on your phone (not how much you are He thinks you are doing). It provides a detailed report that includes the total time spent on the device and the time spent using different apps. Do you spend a lot of time scrolling through Instagram Reels? Or maybe you check your email way too often when your week off is supposed to be. Looking at the report can give you an idea and motivate you to adopt better habits.

Meanwhile, under the Screen Time menu, you can set things like time limits, content restrictions, and even schedules for specific apps that can be used on the phone and when they can’t (or shouldn’t), like when you’re eating dinner.

How to use Screen Time and other parental controls

If you decide you want to explore this further, either for yourself or to relax, the Screen Time menu is easy to navigate. Here, we’ll explore each section and what you can do within it.

go to settings and click The duration of use of the device. There, you’ll see your daily average and how it compares to the previous week, with the data updated in real time.

He chooses Stop. Here you can turn downtime on or off, or even set it on a schedule. With downtime activated, only the apps you allow will be available, as well as phone calls. (You’ll define them later. See step 5.)

After that, go to application limits. He chooses Add a limit And set a daily time limit for apps by category, such as social networking, games, entertainment, and more.

Now, select communication limits. This will restrict access to any communications apps on the phone, such as Phone, FaceTime, Messages, and iCloud Contacts. However, any numbers identified as emergency contacts will not be blocked. You can choose to allow communication with contacts only when Screen Time is activated, or even limit it to only specific contacts, such as Mom and Dad.

under always allowed It is where you can define which apps the user will always have access to, regardless of whether downtime is on or off. This might include the Maps app, a smart home control app for controlling devices like your TV and security camera, a Google Classroom app for schoolwork, and more.

Perfect for parents Content and privacy restrictions, which allows the user to block inappropriate content. You can choose to block things like iTunes and App Store purchases, or set content restrictions for different genres like music, music videos, TV shows, apps, and more, location services, ads, and more.

To make sure your cheating teen doesn’t simply turn off Screen Time when you’re not looking, you can set a Screen time passcode Must be an entry to turn the feature on and off.

iPhone screen time screen passcode

For those on Family sharing planYou can also set Screen Time limits across all devices or just for individual devices. If you enable sharing across devices in the Screen time settings menu, you’ll also see a built-in screen time report for everyone in the house.

iPhone Screen Time Family Screen


It’s worth exploring all the options in the Screen Time app, especially for kids. But even for adults. While you may not have to worry about your content restrictions, you can do things like turn off ads and limit screen time after a certain time.

But even just checking your screen time usage daily will give you a better idea of ​​how much you (probably) use your phone than you think, and prompt you to make positive changes. Maybe you need to stay in touch with others as necessary, but you’ll want to close the most distracting apps when it’s family time in order to focus on the people in front of you. Either way, Screen Time is a great tool, whether you want to use it for your child or yourself.

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