Simple steps to stop your kids from hacking Screen Time

Simple Steps to stop your kids from hacking Screen Time

Apple’s Screen Time, which is built into their iOS, has come a long way since it was first implemented. Initially, kids were very easily finding ways to get around it.

It is like most software, it isn’t watertight and there will always be tiny windows that people can get through.

Having said that, Apple have continued to make updates to improve Screen Time. Although fairly intuitive to setup, there are some settings that are easily missed or not turned on that allow kids to continue using the device after down time or an app after it has been blocked.

I recommend setting up Screen Time on your phone and adding your children’s accounts and devices so that you can make changes easily from your phone. Of course, this isn’t always possible…….. If you use an Adroid phone, you can setup Screen Time directly on your child’s iPhone or iPad.

Use a Strong Passcode

Your Passcode needs to be difficult and super secret. If they have the passcode they can change screen time settings or turn it off all together. I’ve heard of kids looking over their parents shoulders and even turning on screen recording before their parent puts the passcode in!!!!!! In the content restrictions area you are going to need to tap don’t allow for screen recording.

Stop them changing the Time Zone.

If your child can manage to change the time zone on their device, then they can get around the settings you have put in place for Down Time.

Use the following steps on your child’s iPhone or iPad:

If screen time has been enabled then you need to disable them to start.
Go to Settings>General>Date & Time > Toggle on ‘Set Automatically’
Now, got back into screen time and enable it.
Then tap “Content & Privacy Restrictions” and toggle it on
Scroll down and tap ‘Location Services’
Go down to ‘System Services’
Make sure that ‘Setting Time Zone’ is toggled off and then tap ‘Back’
At the top of the ‘Location Services’ screen, check ‘Don’t Allow Changes.’
When you scroll down now you will notice that ‘Setting Time Zone’ is greyed out – meaning that changes can’t be made!
Go back to Settings>General>Date & Time and you’ll see that this has been greyed out too.

Block access to YouTube through iMessages

Did you know that you can access YouTube videos from iMessages?

Many parents have deleted the YouTube App or blocked it, only to find their child watching it!

You can stop this from happening by adding the YouTube website [www.youtube.com] to ‘never be allowed’ under Content Restrictions.

Go to Settings>Screen Time>select Content & Privacy Restrictions
Select Web Content and then Limit Adult Websites
Now scroll down to ‘Never Allow’
Type in ‘www.youtube.com’ and press Done.

It is also worth taking an extra step to prevent them accessing YouTube via iMessages. You can remove the iMessages app from being always allowed (that it, make sure they can’t access it during Downtime.)

To do this:

Go to Screen Time
Always Allowed
Remove iMessages from Allowed Apps by tapping the red circle with the white minus sign.

Enable Block at Downtime

An easy setting to overlook when setting up Screen Time is toggling on ‘Block at Downtime.’

Follow the step below to enable it:

Go to Settings>Screen Time
Scroll to Downtime and toggle ‘Block at Downtime on’

Block at End of Limit

If your child is still using an app after the limit is reached then you need to enable Block at End of Limit. If this setting is not enabled, your child will be able to ignore the app limit suggestion-

Go to Settings>Screen Time>Family>Your Child’s Name.
Select an individual app or app category and tap NEXT.
Enable Block at End of Limit.

Disable Siri to stop your childing from from using iMessage during downtime.

On your phone, head to Settings>Screen Time>Family>Your Child’s Name.
Select Content and Privacy Restrictions
Type in Passcode
Select Allowed Apps
Locate Siri & Dictation and toggle it off.

You might also be interested in these posts:

Apple iPads & iPhones

Parental Controls for Apple & Android Devices

OpenDNS

YouTube Parent Supervised Accounts for Tweens & Teens

Parental Controls for Gaming Consoles

Communication Limits

The Communication Limit allow parents to manage who their child can call/text/video/chat with during Downtime and outside of Downtime.

The trick with this one is to disable Allow Contact Editing. If it hasn’t been disable, kids can change contact details and get around the communication limits that you have set.

Go to Settings>Screen Time> Family>Your Child’s Name.
Select Communication Limits and set your preferences for Allowed Communications and Allow Introductions in Groups.
Go to Allow Contact Editing and toggle if OFF.

Factory Resets

Some desperate kids are willing to do to a factory reset to get around screen time. If you are keeping on eye on screen time reports then you will notice a dramatic difference in screen time. If they are willing to do a factory reset then there could be a bigger problem at play here.

Check out these Recent Posts:

Comments

Dorota Nvotova says

January 19, 2022 at 8:04 am

So what do i do when he is using the factory reset to get around screentime?

- TheTechMum says
  
  January 24, 2022 at 10:50 am
  
  Hi Dorota! Thanks for your question. If a child is willing to continually do a factory reset to get around screen time then I would suggest that there is could potentally be an underlying issue. Sometimes children turn to excessive screen time to escape an issue and counselling can be helpful. Alternatively, depending on your location and your child’s device type, there are other parental controls you can use to manage internet access to devices. I hope this helps.
  
Rick says

October 3, 2022 at 8:26 am

what about if they turn on airplane mode to get around screen time?

- TheTechMum says
  
  October 4, 2022 at 12:52 pm
  
  Hi Rick
  Great question! Yes, kid’s can get around screen time settings by putting their device into Airplane mode. Unfortunately, Apple don’t provide the ability to lock the airplane mode setting. There is a work around but it involves a bit of mucking about. You can create a shortcut that automatically turns Airplane mode off when it detects it has been turned on.
  
Charles Coons says

December 25, 2022 at 1:08 pm

Hi, great work. What if my child will adjust the screen time out limits to “never” so the device won’t lock. I need a way for screen time to allow me to block the entire settings app. Thoughts?

- TheTechMum says
  
  December 30, 2022 at 1:39 pm
  
  Hi Charles. Thankyou for submitting your question.
  Without reviewing all of you the settings on your child’s device, I would encourage you to make sure that your child’s device is using a Child AppleID.
  If the device has been set up with yours (an Adult AppleID) then often it is easier for children to get around the settings.
  I would also encourage you to use Setup Family Sharing on your phone so that you can manage the settings on your child’s device without actually having to touch it. This is a more watertight way of stopping them from changing settings that have been set up directly on their device.
  You can also block background app activities by doing the following:
  Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions.
  Scroll down and under Allow Changes, Tap Backgroup App Activities and set it to don’t allow. This can help to lock in VPN settings so that your child can’t change them as well as stop them from making changes to Cellular data settings and changing passcodes.
  
Lindsay says

December 28, 2022 at 1:50 pm

My daughter figured out she can reset password and lock me out!! How can I stop that?

- TheTechMum says
  
  December 30, 2022 at 1:42 pm
  
  Hi Lindsay
  
  Thanks for your question!
  
  Without knowing exactly how you have applied the settings (ie. Using Family Sharing or setting up Screen Time Directly on your child’s device) I can just offer the following general advice to stop your daughter from changing the passcode.
  
  Go to Settings > Screen Time > Content and Privacy Restrictions.
  Scroll down to Allow Changes and tap Background App Activities.
  Set it to don’t allow – make sure you don’t allow Passcode Changes.
  
  I hope that helps!