Apple promises to do better with its screen time feature.
The popular tech giant recently acknowledged that something was wrong with its screen time parental control feature affecting various iOS devices in the past few days.
Despite its promise, the company has yet to reveal when a fix is coming for the issue.
Apple Screen Time Mishap
Parents who gave their children iOS devices are in a bit of a pickle. A report from the Wall Street Journal mentioned that they have been complaining on Apple forums and Facebook groups that screen time settings aren't "sticking."
According to the report, the parental control settings sometimes reset or fail to sync across all devices within a Family Sharing group, allowing their kids to use their devices when they shouldn't have.
For those unaware, screen time provides parents with a setting to remotely manage a child's iOS device, per an Apple support page. This feature allows parents to manage their children's app use, schedule time away from their devices, and set communication limits, among others.
Thanks to this feature, parents can ensure that their kids don't spend too much time on devices and protect them from accessing inappropriate content. That is until the issue occurred.
Apple tried patching it out with an iOS 16.5 update it released in May, citing an issue with syncing across devices as its cause, per 9to5Mac. However, parents still reported the problem occurring on devices updated to iOS 16.6 and the iOS 17 public beta.
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Apple officially acknowledged the persistent problem in its recent message to the Journal, saying that some users may be experiencing an issue where screen time settings are resetting unexpectedly. It added that it takes the reports the parents made very seriously and that it has been, and will continue, making updates to improve the situation.
Unfortunately, the company didn't share a timeline of when a fix will become available. It is probable that Apple will release a fix on its latest iOS update, but this is only speculation that should be taken with pinches of salt.
What Parents Can Do For The Mean Time
While Apple's screen time feature is handy, the resetting issue knocks it out for the time being. As such, parents have to look to other options to manage their kids' screen time and what they access on their devices.
According to RaisingChildren.net, parents can have their kids take a break after completing a game level or do something else when they do. They can also set their kids' expectations with using their devices for a certain period before they can use them.
Empowering Parents advises that parents can establish rules of their own that Apple's screen time feature normally enforces. However, they must consider their kids' maturity level, their priorities and values as parents, and their children's responsibilities in the home.
Whatever rules they make, parents have to be realistic with them and be engaged with their kids; giving them the attention they need is better than distracting them with a device.
