Why isn’t my child’s Screen Time showing?

by
Family Sharing

Screen Time is a useful Apple feature that allows you to see the amount of time you spend on your device and on which applications. Then, it enables you to set restrictions, time limits, and downtime for the apps.

Even better, you can monitor your kids’ devices and set restrictions for them too—thanks to Screen Time for Family Sharing.

Unfortunately, just like most tech features, malfunctions are almost inevitable. So, if after setting up Family Sharing, your child’s Screen Time is not showing, we’re here to help.

This article will discuss possible reasons why you can see your child’s Screen Time on iOS and how to solve the issue.

How do you enable Screen Time for Family Sharing

There are two ways to enable Screen Time with your Family Sharing account so that you monitor your kid’s device usage. They are:

  • From the Screen Time settings.
  • From the Family Sharing Settings.

Enabling Screen Time from the Screen Time Settings

  • Launch “Settings”.
  • Select “Screen Time”.
  • Tap on “Set Up Screen Time for Family”.
  • Follow the prompts to enable it for your child’s account. If you’re doing this for the first time then you’ll have to create a new child’s account.

Enabling Screen Time from the Family Sharing Settings

  • Launch “Settings” and tap on your name at the top.
  • Tap on “Family Sharing”.
  • Select “Screen Time” to enable it.
  • Select your child and tap on “Turn on Screen Time”.

After enabling Screen Time for Family Sharing, you should adjust the following features as per your preference.

  • Schedule downtime: This feature lets you dictate the period your child can’t use the device. Pick the times you want the device to be unusable and tap on “Set Downtime”.
  • Set app limits: You can use this feature to limit the time spent on specific apps. It’s as simple as selecting the app category you want to limit and assigning it a time limit for each day.
  • Set the Screen Time or Passcode: This is to prevent anyone from accessing the Screen Time settings and making adjustments.

There are many different settings to customize like content and privacy restrictions, store purchases, downtime days, and app limits days.

READ: How to set parental controls on your iPhone

Why your child’s Screen Time is not showing

Reasons your child’s Screen Time is not available include:

  • The Screen Time is turned off.
  • The child’s device doesn’t have the latest software (iOS, iPadOS, or MacOS).
  • Screen Time was already enabled on the child’s device.
  • You aren’t set up as the parent/guardian. In this case, you’ll notice the Screen Time has been restricted and greyed out.
  • Your child’s device is not added to Family Sharing.
  • Some Screen Sharing settings are not enabled.

How to fix your child’s Screen Time problems

To fix Screen Time issues on your child’s iOS device:

1. Reboot your device

Force-restarting the iOS devices is the easiest and fastest way to patch up system issues that prevent your child’s Screen Time from showing. The reboot will start everything afresh, minus the glitch. Here is how to restart different iPhone models:

How to restart iPhone 8 and later models

  • Press and release the Volume Up button.
  • Press and release the Volume Down button.
  • Press and hold the side button until you see the Apple logo.

Restarting iPhone 7 and 7 plus

  • Press and hold the side button and Volume Down button simultaneously until the Apple logo appears on your screen.

How to restart iPhone 6s and earlier models, iPad

  • Press and hold the home and the side/top button simultaneously until you see the Apple logo.

2. Turn Screen Time off then back on

Switch off Screen Time then turn it on to see if it refreshes and starts working normally. This action will also erase the Screen Time data. Follow the steps below:

  • Launch “Settings” on your device.
  • Select “Screen Time”.
  • Go to the bottom and tap on “Turn Off Screen Time”.
  • You may have to enter your Screen Time passcode.
  • Tap on “Turn Off Screen Time” from the slide-up.
  • Reboot your device using the first guide.
  • Launch “Settings” then select “Screen Time” and turn it On.

If you still have the problem, go to the next solution.

3. Check Apple server status for Screen Time

Sometimes Apple servers could be the problem. Either, there’s an outage or they’re under maintenance. Hence, the device is unable to reach Apple’s Screen Time service.

To be sure, open a web browser and go to the Apple Server Status page to check the Screen Time status. If you see a green dot next to the Screen Time then it’s okay. But, if there’s a red, yellow, or orange dot, there’s a problem and you have to wait for Apple to resolve it.

4. Check the date and time

Incorrect date and time settings on your device cause a system glitch that affects your child’s Screen Time. ensure they’re set correctly and for your time zone. In fact, you should turn on the “Set Automatically” option. Use the guide below:

  • Open “Settings” on the iPhone or iPad.
  • Tap on “General”.
  • Select “Date & Time”.
  • Toggle On “Set Automatically”.
  • Correct the Time Zone if it’s false.

5. Sign out of your Apple ID then sign back in

Apple ID

You can also try to sign out of the Apple ID on your device and your child’s device too.

Simple open “Settings”, tap on your name, then scroll down and tap on “Sign Out”. You can reboot your device before signing back in.

6. Delete old devices from the child’s phone

Did you replace your child’s device recently? Well, the Screen Time settings may not have transferred from the old device, hence the unavailability issue.

To fix it, delete old devices from their Apple ID using this guide:

  • Open “Settings”.
  • Tap on the “Apple ID”.
  • Scroll to the bottom and tap on the previous device.
  • Tap “Remove from Account”.

7. Reset all settings

Still, you can’t see your child’s Screen Time on iOS? Chances are someone messed with the settings. You can check each of them or just reset and set up afresh. The latter will save you a significant amount of time, so here is how to reset all settings:

  • Open “Settings”.
  • Tap on “General”.
  • Select “Transfer or Reset”.
  • Tap on “Reset”.
  • Select “Reset All Settings”.
  • Restart your device then turn on Screen Time and Set Up the restrictions anew.

8. Ensure you’re added as the parent/guardian

Another reason your child’s Screen Time is not available for 7 days is you’re not added as the parent/guardian. So, it’s impossible to monitor their activities from your device. To correct this, follow the steps below:

  • Open “Settings”.
  • Tap on your profile and select “Family Sharing”.
  • Tap on your child’s name.
  • Under the “Family Role”, tap “Parent/Guardian”.

Note that the child must have been added to Family Sharing. If not, use the next guide.

9. The child must be added to Family Sharing

To start with, if it’s a new device for a child under 13 years, here is how to add them to Family Sharing:

  • Open “Settings”.
  • Tap on “Apple ID”.
  • Select “Family Sharing” then “Add Member”.
  • Enter an email for the child and their correct date of birth (you can’t change this).

Next, if the child is over 13 years and has an Apple ID, invite them to the Family Sharing group:

  • Open “Settings”.
  • Tap on the profile followed by “Family Sharing”.
  • Tap on “Add Member”.
  • Type the child’s name or email address.
  • Send an invitation to their device

READ: How to delete your keyboard history on the iPhone

10. Enable sharing across devices

The next solution is to enable sharing across devices so that you can monitor the Screen Time for all devices linked with their Apple ID. her’s how to do it:

  • Launch “Settings” on your child’s device.
  • Tap on “Screen Time”.
  • Toggle On “Share Across Devices”.

11. Toggle on “Block at end of limit” and “block at downtime”

Most parents realized the reason their child’s Screen Time is not showing or Screen Time has been restricted and greyed out is that the child was sabotaging the feature to bypass the restrictions.

In such cases, you can try and enable both “Block at downtime” and “Block at end of limit”.

  • Open “Settings” on your child’s device.
  • Tap on “Screen Time”.
  • Tap on “Use a Screen Time Password” and set it up.
  • Go to “Apple Limits” and toggle On “Block at End of Limit”.
  • This will ensure that when the child reaches the maximum screen time for an App, the app gets blocked.

Next, follow the same steps then select “Downtime” and toggle on “Block at Downtime”. You can adjust the Downtime limits for different periods during the day when the child is supposed to be away from their phone.

12. Update your device

You need to run the latest software to avoid software glitches and bugs that mess up systems like Screen Time. Both devices should have the same iOS version.

To update the iOS, ensure the phone is plugged into power and connected to Wi-Fi.

  • Open “Settings”.
  • Tap on “General”.
  • Tap on “Software Update”.
  • If there’re any available updates, download and install them.
  • Restart the device and go to Screen Time to see if it’s available.

Conclusion

We hope you managed to correct your child’s screen time problem using our tips above. However, if nothing worked, get in touch with Apple support for further assistance.