iOS 17.1 Improves Screen Time Syncing Across Apple Devices

[MacRumors]

iOS 17.1 improves syncing of Screen Time settings across Apple devices, according to the release notes for the upcoming software update.

Screen Time provides parents with settings to remotely manage a child's device, allowing them to restrict device usage to certain times, set time limits for apps, and block inappropriate content. However, some parents had complained that Screen Time settings sometimes reset or failed to sync across all devices within a Family Sharing group.

"We are aware that some users may be experiencing an issue where Screen Time settings are unexpectedly reset," an Apple spokesperson said, in a statement shared with The Wall Street Journal in July. "We take these reports very seriously and we have been, and will continue, making updates to improve the situation."

Apple already attempted to improve Screen Time settings syncing with iOS 16.5, but the issue persisted for some users on later software versions.

Screen Time launched in 2018 as part of iOS 12, providing parents with a built-in option for the type of controls that previously required third-party apps.

iOS 17.1 should be released next week. A final beta version known as the Release Candidate was made available to developers for testing today.

Article Link: iOS 17.1 Improves Screen Time Syncing Across Apple Devices

 

[bobcats9498]

Let’s just hope you can finally approve screen time requests from the messages app on Apple Watch and Macs. Been broke for over a year.

 

[StoneJack]

Most useless feature prize winner!

 

[jonnysods]

Can anyone comment if managing your kids devices from your own phone works now?

A few OS versions ago I realized that my kids had no restrictions, so I had to go on each device to configure it.

 

[Misheemee]

Most useless feature prize winner!

Not useless at all, quite the opposite actually! I have screen time set on my 14yo son’s iphone so he can’t modify account settings or remove his iCloud account. Somebody attempted to rob him at the bus stop but couldn’t remove the iCloud account from the iPhone which made the iPhone useless to him so he didn't end up stealing it because he knew he'd be tracked.

Above aside - I’ve been using screen time on my kids devices for years - a few features of screen time have been reliable are content settings, downtime and app settings

 

[Bladery]

My iPad and iPhone never sync. It doesnt even show that there is another device. Does anyone know how to fix?

 

[nostaws]

Most useless feature prize winner!

Screentime isn’t just an app to summarize phone usage. It is Apple’s app for parents setting restrictions and monitoring kids phones. It has been broken and Apple is fixing it.

Also, we as a family sit down every so often and we look at each others phone usage as a family and talk about how we use our devices: parents included (we are usually the worst offenders).

 

[TVreporter]

This has been an ongoing issue for well over a year - using the program for my kids' iPad time has been a pain with the numerous bugs.

 

[JMStearnsX2]

Let's hope Screen Time works like it should now. I've had several tickets with Apple support over this, and it was never resolved.

 

[arnoz]

Screen Time settings on Mac show I've been using Instagram for 24 hours a day since the update to Sonoma.
Thing is… I've never used Instagram, never downloaded the app, never created an account, and I can safely say I may have clicked on Instagram links from my May maybe a few times over the course of a year.
So yeah, not even tracking my kids, but even my data is useless...

 

[anthb]

It’s one of the most useless services they provide. I have 4 kids in the family. All have iPads. 3 have iPhones. One of the iPhones never seems to show. All 4 off the kids will at some point lose their screen time settings but not any restrictions. Usage doesn’t update. Bed time lock downs vanish and so on and so on. I routinely have to check in just to make sure it’s working. It should just be set up and forget but it’s not.

 

[Arctic Moose]

I use it all the time, so I’m glad to see it improve. Syncing has been a little faster, and more reliable since iOS 17, but it is still far from perfect.

Also, it really needs integration with Siri and Shortcuts.

Multiple taps and scrolls for each child several times every day is a chore. “Hey Siri, turn downtime on for all the children in seven minutes”, or “hey Siri, allow only Pokémon Go for the next 90 minutes” would make life so much easier.

Oh, and “one more minute”? Only the currently used app, please. Otherwise a kid with 60 games can (and will) continue to use the iPad for another hour.

 

[siddavis]

Screen Time settings on Mac show I've been using Instagram for 24 hours a day since the update to Sonoma.
Thing is… I've never used Instagram, never downloaded the app, never created an account, and I can safely say I may have clicked on Instagram links from my May maybe a few times over the course of a year.
So yeah, not even tracking my kids, but even my data is useless...

This happens for my kids all of the time. It is incredibly annoying when you set limits and they are always blocked from doing anything because the Mac screen time shows 24hrs.

Like many of the iCloud based services... hot garbage.

 

[klasma]

Only marginally related, my iPhone on iOS 15 suddenly started to show iCloud tabs from my iPad on iPadOS 14 about two weeks ago, after not working for years (even when the OSs were still up to date). Some of the iCloud-based services are really a mess.

 

[WaterOz]

I wish they'd move the kid's screen time requests back out of messages. Drives me crazy thinking I have new messages and then it's just more screen time requests. Wish it would have its own app to go in and approve the screen time. Past that and the occasional bug though, managing my kid's iPad usage through Screen Time has been a great experience (compared to other solutions I had tried)

 

[fbadini]

We need tvOS!!! Kids go to the tv to bypass the limits!

 

[Any name]

4 digit code is a joke. Give me 32 alphanumeric digits

 

[Osxguy]

I wish navigation didn't attribute to screen time. It would also be nice to be able to disable it to some applications. Also had to turn off the screen distance option as it reminds me way to much of the hand washing feature...

 

[Wags]

I don’t know about ‘unexpectedly reset’. I do know that the settings still show active but are not. Screen time/downtime useless once kids learn can just change the time manually on the device.

 

[tennisproha]

hopefully this also fixes the screen time issue where watch apps don’t show up in the app list

 

[1BadManVan]

Can anyone comment if managing your kids devices from your own phone works now?

A few OS versions ago I realized that my kids had no restrictions, so I had to go on each device to configure it.

Yup, i use it for all 3 of my kids for their iphones and ipads and for the most part has always worked very well for us

 

[spinedoc77]

PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!! let this be true finally! Now they just need to fix my AW not getting any screentime requests, after hours of email support and engineers looking at it they still can't figure it out.

 

[BP9906]

Let’s just hope you can finally approve screen time requests from the messages app on Apple Watch and Macs. Been broke for over a year.

Exactly!

 

[Le0M]

My biggest complain is that the displayed time is most often then not incorrect. So, parents reading this message, beware: the amount of time your kids use apps IS NOT what your phone tells you.

 

[Ddregs]

Been using screen time from day one when it was released. Most probably the most buggy feature ever released by Apple. I even had to create 2 new Apple ids for my kids as their old ones (migrated from MobileMe) had a bug Apple never solved.
With iOS 17 things got a little better. Finally it works from my iPhone (with iOS 16 it was a mess, I had to close the settings app and reopen and try for 10/15 times to modify the screen time settings, without being sure it worked…) , even if sometimes it’s still hit and miss.
It is a feature I love as my kids went through primary school with restrictions and found this app to be fundamental for us parents to manage them correctly between study and play.
Let’s hope Apple can finally fix these outstanding issues from a long time.
I bought a M$ XBox and their family settings app had way less bugs than Apple’s…