Apple Admits There Was a Problem With Screen Time and the Company Promises Further Improvements

According to a report published over the weekend in The Wall Street Journal, Apple has admitted the existence of a problem in the parental controls feature known as Screen Time found on the iPhone and iPad. The company has also promised to take additional steps to rectify the matter.

Parents Dissatisfied with Screen Time Settings

Screen Time gives parents the ability to remotely supervise their children’s electronic devices, giving them the ability to restrict device use to certain times of the day, limit the amount of time spent using individual apps, and block undesirable information. However, some parents have voiced their dissatisfaction with the fact that the Screen Time settings can randomly reset themselves or fail to sync with the rest of the devices in a Family Sharing group.

“We are aware that some users may be experiencing an issue where Screen Time settings are unexpectedly reset,” an Apple spokeswoman said in a statement from The Wall Street Journal. “We take these reports very seriously, and we will continue to make updates to improve the situation,” the company said in a statement.

Updates and Fixes

With the release of iOS 16.5, which took place in May, Apple was able to fix a problem with Screen Time settings not being retained. According to the report, even after updating their smartphones to iOS 16.6 or the public beta of iOS 17, some parents have still been affected by the bug. When exactly Apple intends to push out more changes to Screen Time needs to be made clear as soon as possible.

The Introduction of Screen Time

Screen Time was introduced in 2018 as a part of iOS 12, giving parents a built-in option for controls previously only available in third-party applications.