Hi there,
I am flagging for extra attention that it feels to me that something feels extra off about Screen Time tracking in iOS 18.3 Beta. There's been many days now where I can't reconcile the time spent (it's much higher than expected - by multiple hours).
Feedback is here with an image: FB16270245.
Not sure if happens on Beta 2 - just upgraded.
Device Activity
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Hello,
In one of our apps we use DeviceActivityReportExtension to show the user how much screen time is remaining. The calculation is working as expected, but we have noticed that the labels in our ScreenTimeBriefReport are not localized to the device language.
Example:
Device with language set to Swedish
App fully translated to English and Swedish
Result:
All labels in app are using the Swedish translations, except the strings in our ScreenTimeBriefReport instance. These labels are using the English localization. I've verified it's using the English localization from our Localizable.xcstrings file.
I tried logging device language from our ScreenTimeBriefReport instance, but I could not see anything in Console.app. I guess this is intentional so no sensitive user information can be extracted.
Is this a known feature or bug? If it's the latter, is there a known workaround?
Sincerely,
César
Am showing daily screen-time of a user in my app in Device Activity Report Extension. The only way to get that is to sum up all the activityDuration of apps/categories/domains. But it differs a lot from phone's settings screen-time, why?
I have debugged in details and counted manually the time spent on each app and it turned out that the calculation is appearing correctly in my app but Phone settings showing quite less time on top (Day).
After setting up all permissions, family members not showing up on the device list
Topic:
App & System Services
SubTopic:
General
Tags:
Family Controls
Device Activity
Managed Settings
Screen Time
This is more a general question of whether it is possible to share persistent/coredata from the main app to Screentime-related extensions such as DeviceActivityReportExtension.
I've set my code up (e.g., App Groups, files to different targets, using nspersistentcontainer with app group url, etc.) in a way that it builds, and the extension seems to recognize my CoreData schema (able to query using fetchrequest). But the data returned is always null. So i'm wondering if it is even possible to READ app data from the extension.
I understand it is not possible to write or pass data from the extension back to the app. I've also been able to read data that was saved in main app from UserDefaults in my extension.
I am working on a SwiftUI app using the Screen Time API and the DeviceActivityReport view to display app usage data. My current implementation successfully shows daily app usage using a DeviceActivityFilter with the .daily(during:) segment. However, I need to filter this data to show app usage only for a specific time period during the day, e.g., 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM.
I created a DeviceActivityFilter with a .daily(during:) segment and passed a DateInterval for the desired time range:
let now = Date()
let startTime = calendar.date(bySettingHour: 16, minute: 0, second: 0, of: now)!
let endTime = calendar.date(bySettingHour: 17, minute: 0, second: 0, of: now)!
let timeInterval = DateInterval(start: startTime, end: endTime)
let filter = DeviceActivityFilter(
segment: .daily(during: timeInterval),
users: .all,
devices: .init([.iPhone])
)
I applied this filter to the DeviceActivityReport view:
DeviceActivityReport(context, filter: filter)
Even with the DateInterval set for the specific time range, the report still shows the total daily usage for each app, instead of restricting the results to the specified 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM range.
I'm working with the Screen Time API in iOS and have successfully implemented the following:
Granted Screen Time Permission: The app asks for and obtains Screen Time permissions without any issues.
Blocked Specific Apps: Using FamilyActivitySelection, I can block access to certain apps.
Monitoring Device Activity: With DeviceActivityCenter().startMonitoring(), I’m able to successfully start monitoring.
DeviceActivityCenter().startMonitoring(.myActivity, during: schedule)
Now, I’m wondering if there’s a way to detect exactly which app the user opens, so I can fire an API from my own app based on that event.
Is this kind of real-time app usage detection possible with the Screen Time API? If so, how might it be implemented?
Hello
I am wondering how and if it even is possible to grab the amount of times a user has opened a specific app. Of course these apps will be selected for tracking by the user through the FamilyControls API, but is it possible to then list those selected apps and their amount of openings?
I know Screen Time API is very strict with giving developers control of this information outside of just displaying a view so I don't know if this is possible.
I saw that DeviceActivityData.ApplicationActivity has a value called "numberOfPickups" but I'm not sure how to access that value and display it in my app.
Thank you
I am getting this error when I try to show device activity report view by this
DeviceActivityReport(appsContext, filter: filter)
Attempt to map database failed: permission was denied. This attempt will not be retried.
I have taken access by this way.
AuthorizationCenter.shared.requestAuthorization(for: .individual)
Hi everyone,
I've been going through the forums and documentation, but I'm still unsure about how the Screen Time API works or whether it can achieve what I have in mind.
Specifically, I want to display the current screen time value on a widget. Additionally, I’d like to use that screen time value for some calculations and represent the results in a different way within the widget.
I’d really appreciate any guidance or insights. Thanks in advance! 😊
let schedule = DeviceActivitySchedule(
intervalStart: startInterval,
intervalEnd: endInterval,
repeats: false,
warningTime : DateComponents(hour : 0 , minute: 0 , second: 30)
)
```
I hope it will only be executed on the same day, but the monitoring is still there the next day. My system version is 18.2
Hello, we are building an app to limit children's screen time and using Screen Time API. We found bug on the screen where the user selects app category and apps, if the user selects Other category, the screen will crash (he will be empty, but if you reload screen, it will show apps again as usual). We hope that Apple will fix it someday, but we are trying to notify our users about this problem, and the problem is that we don't know what the user selects on Apple screen with apps till the user clicks Save or Done. But we need to notify him either when he clicks on the Other category or when he faces crash of this screen. We want to show a pop-up to user with explanation why screen crashed.
When I use the screen time API, the app occasionally crashes in the morning. I mean the UI freeze lasts for more than ten seconds.
But the weird thing is that I work normally during the day, that is, in the morning, when I just woke up. (There is no Do Not Disturb mode). This problem has been bothering me for several days, please help.
The specific crash log is as follows, and the specific code is as follows.
Model: iPhone 15 Pro, iOS: 18.1.1
Thanks for your help!
Code:
private func startAppMonitoring(application: ApplicationToken, seconds: Int, isFromNow: Bool) {
let schedule = DeviceActivitySchedule(
intervalStart: isFromNow ? Calendar.current.dateComponents([.hour, .minute, .second], from: Date()) : DateComponents(timeZone: TimeZone(identifier:TimeZone.current.identifier), hour: 0, minute: 0, second: 0),
intervalEnd: DateComponents(timeZone: TimeZone(identifier:TimeZone.current.identifier), hour: 23, minute: 58, second: 59),
repeats: true,
warningTime: DateComponents(minute: 1)
)
let event = DeviceActivityEvent(
applications: Set([application]),
threshold: DateComponents(second: seconds)
)
let center = DeviceActivityCenter()
do {
try center.startMonitoring(DeviceActivityName("\(application.hashValue)Usage"), during: schedule, events: [DeviceActivityEvent.Name("\(application.hashValue)Event"): event])
} catch {
print("Error starting monitoring schedule: \(error)")
}
}
Crash report:
Hi everyone, I need to display a Graph based on Screen-time of apps per hour, from 12Am to 11PM. Am able to get the screen-time data for whole day with each app's total screen-time value.
Am kind of confused how can I get the per hour screen-time of apps. I have applied filter of day
DeviceActivityFilter(
segment: .daily(
during: Calendar.current.dateInterval(
of: .day, for: .now
)!
),
users: .all,
devices: .init([.iPhone, .iPad])
)
Am also using this data to display apps with their usage just like Apple's Screen_time in settings.
I need to display exact same graph just like Apple's screen in phone settings for a Day.
Topic:
App & System Services
SubTopic:
Health & Fitness
Tags:
Family Controls
Device Activity
Screen Time
I have a app with two targets: a main DeviceActivityApp target and a DeviceReport target. In the DeviceReport target, I have a TotalActivityReport struct conforming to DeviceActivityReportScene. Inside its makeConfiguration method, I update a dynamically generated list of AppReport items. The list updates correctly in the DeviceReport target.
// Define which context your scene will represent.
let context: DeviceActivityReport.Context = .totalActivity
// Define the custom configuration and the resulting view for this report.
let content: (MonitorDeviceReport) -> TotalActivityViewFirst
@ObservedObject var activityData:ActivityData
func makeConfiguration(representing data: DeviceActivityResults<DeviceActivityData>) async -> MonitorDeviceReport {
// Reformat the data into a configuration that can be used to create
// the report's view.
var appList:[AppsReport]=[]
let totalActivityDuration = await data.flatMap { $0.activitySegments }.reduce(0, {
$0 + $1.totalActivityDuration
})
for await _data in data{
for await activity in _data.activitySegments{
for await category in activity.categories{
for await app in category.applications{
let name=app.application.localizedDisplayName ?? "No Name"
let bundleId=app.application.bundleIdentifier ?? "nil"
let duration=app.totalActivityDuration
let appIcon=app.application.token
let app=AppsReport(id:bundleId,duration:duration, name:name, icon:appIcon)
appList.append(app)
}
}
}
}
DispatchQueue.main.async {
activityData.list=appList
}
return MonitorDeviceReport(duration:totalActivityDuration, apps:appList)
}
}
public class ActivityData:ObservableObject{
@Published var list:[AppsReport]=[]
public static let shared = ActivityData()
}. // This is in MonitorReport target
However, I need to access this dynamic list in my MyApp target, specifically in ContentView.swift. I tried using an ObservableObject (ActivityData) to share the data between targets, but the list always appears empty in the MyApp target.
Here’s what I’ve tried so far:
Created a shared ActivityData instance using @Published
Passed the ActivityData instance to TotalActivityReport
Used dependency injection and a singleton pattern for ActivityData
Verified that makeConfiguration updates the list correctly in DeviceReport
What could I be missing? How can I correctly share and access this data across targets?
I am working on the device activity report. and fetched data is loading on the chart. I am developing app using TabbarController. when I go to another tab and come back to the chart screen, it disappears.
Here, I am working on a storyboard using Swift language, and device activity reports can be fetched only with SwiftUI. So, the problem is with it? Following the current code.
@State private var context: DeviceActivityReport.Context = .init(rawValue: "Daily Activity")
@State private var report: DeviceActivityReport?
@State private var filter = DeviceActivityFilter(
segment: .daily(
during: Calendar.current.dateInterval(
of: .day, for: .now
)!
)
// users: .all
// devices: .init([.iPhone, .iPad])
)
@State var isReload: Bool = false
var body: some View {
ZStack {
if isReload {
LoadingView(title: "Data is loading...")
} else if let report = report {
report
} else {
DeviceActivityReport(context, filter: filter)
}
}
.onAppear {
DispatchQueue.main.async {
report = DeviceActivityReport(context, filter: filter)
}
}
}
struct LoadingView: View {
var title: String = "Please wait..."
var body: some View {
HStack {
ProgressView(title)
.font(.system(size: 14, weight: .medium))
.progressViewStyle(.horizontal)
.tint(Color(.darkGray))
.padding(8)
}
.background(Color(.white))
.cornerRadius(8)
.clipped()
}
}
When I try to load the device activity report, it takes too long to load data. Is this because of development time? Will the problem be solved when the app is live on the App Store?
If it does not depend on the development profile, then please give me a solution for the fast data loading in the device activity report extension.
Thank you