How to restrict apps on iPhone, iPad at certain times
Level: Easy
Will power, “control exerted to do something or restrain impulses”, is very much a struggle for adults let alone for children. For most adults, we tend to learn to live with the fact that our phones are the very last thing and the very first thing that we interact with despite it being highly recommended to “stop watching television and using your phone or computer for at least 30 minutes before bedtime”. The Sleep Foundation is a great source for all information on sleep-related including how electronics affect sleep.
Given the chance, my teen would be on a device 24x7 including in the shower. Fortunately, I no longer need to take phones away before bed and still give my children the feeling that they have options. With Apple’s Screen Time you can manage the time your children spend on devices and this is made even easier when you are already using the Apple Family Sharing.
Set up Screen Time for a family member on iPhone
By following the guide for iOS 4.0 https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/iphone/iph7f15d92dd/14.0/ios/14.0 you can set downtime and app limits on a family member’s device. This also allows you to:
Set unique days and times when this should come into effect
Allows you to specify extended times on non-school days for app usage and other phone features
Some Things to Consider
Block at Downtime
This feature needs to be explicitly enabled to prevent further usage. The great thing about this feature is it warns children before coming into effect and also gives them an option to request more time from a parent or guardian. When enabled the device will be blocked at downtime.
Communication Limits
We found that despite having enabled Downtime and blocking, my child was still able to message friends. By going into the communication limits section, you can be more explicit as to who can be contacted during the downtime period.
This is by the far the most valuable tool for any parent or guardian trying to establish a bedtime routine while avoiding those pre-bed nightly confrontations with your child, taking devices away, and constantly remind them that have “10 more minutes before turning off devices”. The best thing is, these settings apply regardless if your child’s device is connected via your home wifi or direct from your child’s device for those that have been enabled with internet access through a phone provider. (Disconnecting from local Wifi is a way tech-savvy children use to get around restrictions applied to home-based routers or other wifi solutions)