Apple fixes iOS bug that prevents screen time limits from being applied

Apple fixes a bug in iOS that is preventing Screen Time settings from being saved properly for some users. As a result, for example, screen time limits for children are not applied. The bug was supposedly fixed in an update in May, but still exists.

Apple confirms the existence of the screen time bug to the Wall Street Journal. “We are aware that some users may be experiencing an issue where their Screen Time settings may reset unexpectedly,” an Apple spokesperson said. The company says it is working on updates to ‘improve the situation’.

According to the WSJ, this involves a setting called “downtime,” which can be set through the Family Sharing cloud system. This allows parents to remotely limit how long children can use their iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. In some cases, this setting is not saved properly, causing children to use their device for longer than intended.

A user reports to the newspaper that he had to reapply his screen time settings every few weeks because they were reset. In another case, a WSJ editor had to set screen time limits three times before they were actually applied to his children’s devices. More than 2,400 users have reported that they are affected by the bug since the end of last year via the Apple website.

Apple previously acknowledged the bug. The company thought it had resolved it in May, with the release of iOS 16.5. However, the bug still exists in the latest iOS versions and the iOS 17 beta, the American daily reports.