Bug Discovered by Apple Prevents Screen Time Limits for Kids from Being Effective

If your kid has been mysteriously busting through the Screen Time limits you set on their Apple device, the Wall Street Journal might know why: the publication found that a bug has been preventing certain Screen Time limits set via the Family Sharing system from saving correctly for months. Apple was supposed to fix the issue back in May, but apparently the problem has persisted.

Apple’s Family Sharing system allows parents to put usage limits on their kids’ devices, with one of the key controls being the ability to monitor and limit their usage of specific apps and the device as a whole through a feature called Screen Time. The Journal reports finding that a specific setting known as Downtime, which blocks access to the entire device, has been failing to save correctly; in one case, someone had to set Downtime limits three times before the limit properly saved. In the meantime, kids might have had more access to their device than parents wanted.

Apple confirmed the ongoing bug to the Journal and said that it’s working on solutions, but it didn’t offer any kind of timeline. “We are aware that some users may be experiencing an issue where Screen Time settings are unexpectedly reset,” Apple told the Journal. “We take these reports very seriously and we have been, and will continue, making updates to improve the situation.”