Apple acknowledges glitch in Screen Time functionality reported by The Wall Street Journal

Apple has recognized a defect in its parental management feature, Screen Time, on the iPhone and iPad. The Wall Street Journal indicated that Apple is actively working on resolving the screen time glitch, which is expected to be fixed shortly.

Screen Time configurations enable guardians to remotely oversee their child’s device, allowing them to restrict usage during specific periods, control app usage, and prevent access to undesirable content. Nevertheless, several parents have voiced frustration as the Screen Time configurations occasionally fail to synchronize across all devices within a Family Sharing group or reset altogether.

As a result, children might be excessively engaging in activities such as gaming and social media usage, surpassing the limits set by their parents.

The screen time bug was initially highlighted by The Wall Street Journal.

As per the report, despite Apple having addressed an issue with Screen Time settings not persisting with iOS 16.5 (released in May), some parents are still encountering the same issue on devices updated to iOS 16.6 and the iOS 17 beta. The timeline for Apple to introduce enhancements to Screen Time remains uncertain.

An Apple spokesperson communicated to The Wall Street Journal, “We acknowledge that some users may encounter a situation where Screen Time settings reset unexpectedly. We are taking these reports seriously and are continuously making updates to enhance the situation.”

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Since the introduction of Screen Time as a component of iOS 12 in 2018, parents now have an all-in-one solution for controls that were previously only accessible via third-party applications.

If Screen Time malfunctions or users opt to await an update from Apple, the reassuring aspect is that Apple is cognizant of the issue. This problem is a cause for concern for many parents who fear their children developing an addiction to their mobile devices.

Moreover, this screen time issue is not a recent occurrence. It was first observed in October of the previous year, as disclosed by a parent using the alias Drmorin, who shared a message on the Apple Community website in December.

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