General: Forums topic: Family Controls Forums tag: Family Controls Configuring Family Controls documentation Requesting the Family Controls entitlement documentation Screen Time Technology Frameworks documentation FamilyControls documentation What's new in Screen Time API video Meet the Screen Time API video

App Store Connect returns the following message when the NSExtensionPointIdentifier key in the Info.plist of a Device Activity Monitor extension contains an invalid value: ITMS-90349: Invalid Info.plist value - The value of the NSExtensionPointIdentifier key, <value>, in the Info.plist of ".../PlugIns/...appex" is invalid. To resolve this issue, set NSExtensionPointIdentifier to com.apple.deviceactivity.monitor-extension. The expected Info.plist structure for a Device Activity Monitor extension is: <plist version="1.0"> <dict> <key>NSExtension</key> <dict> <key>NSExtensionPointIdentifier</key> <string>com.apple.deviceactivity.monitor-extension</string> <key>NSExtensionPrincipalClass</key> <string>$(PRODUCT_MODULE_NAME).DeviceActivityMonitorExtension</string> </dict> </dict> </plist> After you apply this fix, build and archive your app, then re-upload to App Store Connect to confirm the error is resolved.

PLEASE ADDRESS ASAP: Muse is #1 on the App Store and Facebook is one of the most blocked apps for Screen Time. This is affecting a vast number of people. Description: When a user blocks the Facebook app in any screen time app, iOS automatically blocks Meta's Muse app too. Every single time. There is no way for the user or the developer to prevent it, allowlist it, or even detect that it happened. Muse shows Apple's generic blocked-app "Restricted" screen instead of the screen time app's own design, so the user cannot tell who blocked it or why. This is the worst possible combination of apps: Facebook is one of the most-blocked app across screen time apps. Muse ("Muse from Meta") is currently the #1 app on the App Store. A huge and fast-growing number of users block Facebook and silently lose the world's most popular new app. Muse launched Sept 8, 2026 and adoption is still climbing -- the affected population grows every day. There is NO workaround whatsoever: Users cannot allowlist Muse: it does not appear in Settings > Screen Time > Always Allowed. Developers cannot prevent it: the Screen Time API offers no opt-out; the extra block is applied by iOS itself. Developers cannot detect it: Muse's token (listed separately in FamilyActivityPicker) corresponds to no real identity anywhere else. Developers cannot customize it: their ShieldConfiguration is never consulted -- Muse gets Apple's generic shield UI. Users cannot even block Muse on purpose: shielding Muse's own token is a silent no-op. Screen Time usage statistics are also wrong -- Muse usage is recorded as "Facebook." This Screen Time bug renders screen time apps effectively unusable if users want to block Facebook and use Muse, which is extremely common. How can we get this addressed as soon as possible? Feedback Assistant ticket: https://feedbackassistant.apple.com/feedback/25019832

Dear Screen Time Team! The current 6 MB memory limit for the DeviceActivityMonitor extension no longer reflects the reality of modern iOS devices or the complexity of apps built on top of the Screen Time framework. When Screen Time APIs were introduced with iOS 15, hardware constraints were very different. Since then, iPhone performance and available RAM have increased significantly…but the extension memory limit has remained unchanged. My name is Frederik Riedel, and I’m the developer of the screen time app “one sec.” Our app relies heavily on FamilyControls, ManagedSettings, and DeviceActivity to provide real-time interventions that help users reduce social media usage. In practice, the 6 MB limit has become a critical bottleneck: The DeviceActivityMonitor extension frequently crashes due to memory pressure, often unpredictably. Even highly optimized implementations struggle to stay within this constraint when using Swift and multiple ManagedSettings stores. The limit makes it disproportionately difficult to build stable, maintainable, and scalable architectures on top of these frameworks. This is not just an edge case…it directly impacts reliability in production apps that depend on Screen Time APIs for core functionality. Modern system integrations like Screen Time are incredibly powerful, but they also require a reasonable amount of memory headroom to function reliably. The current limit forces developers into fragile workarounds and undermines the robustness of apps that aim to improve users’ digital wellbeing. We would greatly appreciate if you could revisit and update this restriction to better align with today’s device capabilities and developer needs. Thank you for your continued work on Screen Time and for supporting developers building meaningful experiences on top of it. Feedback: FB22279215 Best regards, Frederik Riedel (one sec app)

Hello Appleians, Before purchasing an individual Apple Developer Program membership, I would like to clarify whether my intended use is supported. I will be the only developer and user, physically located in Türkiye. The app will run on my personal iPhone, without App Store or TestFlight distribution. My iPhone already displays Screen Time usage from my Mac through Share Across Devices. I will not install a collector on the Mac or monitor anyone else. Could you please clarify: Can an individual membership obtain both Family Controls and Family Controls App and Website Usage entitlements for development testing in Türkiye? Is ongoing, sole-user personal use permitted with a development provisioning profile? If not, which supported installation method permits this use in Türkiye? Can DeviceActivityData.activityData(filteredBy:using:) retrieve the shared Mac’s category durations without an app installed on that Mac? Under section 3.3.3(P), may the app upload daily category-duration aggregates to a private Cloudflare backend accessible only to me, and compare them with my own sleep and mood check-ins to flag changes from my personal baseline? The proposed system will not provide medical diagnosis or treatment, contain advertising, or collect messages, page titles or company content. Please distinguish technical development access from permission for ongoing personal use and off-device processing. Thank you.

After transferring the App ownership to a different account, if you update the app on iOS, two identical apps will show up in Settings > Screen Time. Users can't control the blocking settings from before the update - the only fix is to restart the phone. After the next execution of manageStore.shield.applications, users still can't manually disable the restrictions - their only option is to uninstall and reinstall the app. I believe this is related to how Screen Time API's authentication works - it's not just tied to the app's bundle ID, but also linked to the developer account's organization ID. Any suggestions for a clean solution that would allow smooth app updates after the transfer without running into these issues?

I’m evaluating an iOS app that uses Family Controls / DeviceActivity for an adult user’s voluntary personal device-management and digital-wellbeing goals. The app would also have an optional social competition feature where friends participate in fantasy-style leagues based on completion of their individual digital-wellbeing goals. I’m trying to understand the restrictions in Apple Developer Program License Agreement Section 3.3.3(P), specifically whether a privacy-preserving result derived locally from Family Controls / DeviceActivity can leave the device when the underlying usage data never does. I’m considering three architectures: A — Locally derived fantasy score DeviceActivity information is evaluated entirely on-device and converted locally into an abstract score. The server receives only: fantasy_points = 82 No Screen Time duration, app identity, website activity, bundle identifier, or underlying usage information leaves the device. B — Binary goal completion A user creates a private usage goal, such as remaining below their chosen daily device-usage threshold. The goal is evaluated entirely on-device. The server receives only: goal_completed = true The server then awards predetermined fantasy points. It never receives the underlying Screen Time value. C — Opaque challenge completion A user privately selects an app/activity goal. DeviceActivity evaluates the threshold locally. The server receives only: challenge_id = C928 completed = true The server knows C928 is worth a predetermined number of points, but does not receive the selected app identity, usage duration, Screen Time quantity, or other underlying DeviceActivity information. In all three approaches, raw Screen Time duration, per-app usage duration, application/bundle identity, website activity, DeviceActivity reports, and underlying historical usage records would remain on-device. Friends would only see fantasy points, matchup results, standings, and/or achievements. My question: Under Section 3.3.3(P) and the Family Controls requirements, are any of A, B, or C permitted? More specifically, does Apple consider an abstract score, boolean goal-completion result, or opaque challenge-completion result to itself be “device or usage data” when it was derived from Family Controls / DeviceActivity? If none of these architectures are permitted, is there a supported privacy-preserving architecture that allows an on-device DeviceActivity evaluation to affect a server-side social or multiplayer feature without transmitting the underlying device/usage information? I’m trying to establish the compliant architecture before development rather than build around an incorrect interpretation of the Family Controls requirements.

I'm developing an iOS parent-child app that uses FamilyControls and DeviceActivity. Before distribution, I need to test AuthorizationCenter.shared.requestAuthorization(for: .child), including the guardian approval flow. So far I have tested .individual, which authenticates the device owner and does not exercise the child flow. Apple Developer Program Support directed me to this forum. What is the Apple-supported way to test this flow in this situation? Is there an Apple-supported test-only account or setup for this flow without using a child's personal Apple Account? If so, where are its requirements documented? If not, what is the recommended alternative? Can Sandbox Apple Accounts used for StoreKit Family Sharing tests be used to sign in to iCloud and test FamilyControls .child, or are they limited to purchase testing? Is there a supported simulator or other test method for guardian approval, or must this be verified using a child Apple Account in a real Family Sharing group on physical devices? I want to follow Apple's account rules and test the actual parental authorization path before distribution. References to official guidance would be appreciated.

When I tap on one of the buttons in the ShieldAction extension I want to close the shield and open the parent app instead of the shielded app. Is there any way of doing this using the Screen Time API? class ShieldActionExtension: ShieldActionDelegate {      override func handle(action: ShieldAction, for application: ApplicationToken, completionHandler: @escaping (ShieldActionResponse) -> Void) {     // Handle the action as needed.           let store = ManagedSettingsStore()               switch action {     case .primaryButtonPressed:       //TODO - open parent app       completionHandler(.defer)     case .secondaryButtonPressed:       //remove shield       store.shield.applications?.remove(application)       completionHandler(.defer)         @unknown default:       fatalError()     }   }   }

I’m designing a voluntary self-control/safety app for adults using FamilyControls/ManagedSettings with individual authorization. When a user voluntarily starts a timed protection session, can the app hide or block itself for the duration of that session so the user cannot easily locate the app and uninstall it? When the DeviceActivity schedule ends, could an extension remove that restriction so the app becomes available again automatically? I understand that an adult may ultimately be able to revoke Family Controls authorization through Settings. I’m specifically asking whether the app itself can be hidden/blocked during the active session.

On iOS 26.4, I set a Screen Time passcode. However, when I go to Settings > Apps > [Our App] and turn off Screen Time Access for the app, the system asks for Face ID instead of the Screen Time passcode. As a result, Screen Time access can be disabled without entering the Screen Time passcode. Steps to Reproduce 1. Set a Screen Time passcode on iOS 26.4. 2. Open Settings > Apps > [Our App]. 3. Turn off Screen Time Access for the app. Expected Result The system should require the Screen Time passcode before allowing Screen Time access to be disabled. Actual Result The system asks for Face ID instead of the Screen Time passcode, and Screen Time access is disabled.

I'm building a parental-control app using FamilyControls, ManagedSettings and DeviceActivity. A guardian can lock a child's device from their own device, and the child's device applies the shield locally. The delivery problem: a background push can't wake our app once it has been force-quit, which is common on a child's device, so guardian-initiated changes sit undelivered until the child happens to open the app. I've found that DeviceActivityMonitorExtension still receives intervalDidStart / intervalDidEnd while the app is force-quit, and that a URLSession request started from the extension completes. So I could register a couple of short recurring DeviceActivitySchedule activities purely to wake the extension every ~15 minutes, check the server, and apply the resulting shield. My question: is using DeviceActivitySchedule purely as a wake mechanism — where the schedule doesn't correspond to any real usage-monitoring window — a supported use of the API, or is it working by accident? I'd rather not build on it if it's the latter. Two smaller ones, if anyone knows: Is network activity from the monitor extension expected to be given time to complete, and is there a documented execution budget? I've seen reports here that the extension stops being invoked after some days without the host app launching. Is that expected, and what re-arms it? If there's a supported mechanism for this that I've missed, I'd much rather use it.

Hi, I am developing a Screen Time App and I am having issues with the ShieldConfigurationExtension (ShieldConfigurationDataSource). I know this extensions is sandboxed but I should be able to read data from the main app. I am using SwiftData as my database, but I am unable to initialize it in the extensions with an error indicating insufficient file permissions. I have App Group set up and I am able to share data using UserDefaults but that is just inconvenient. Is there any way I could just open the SwiftData in read only mode so that I could display the user some info on the shield? SwiftData Init: private func setupContainer() throws { let schema = Schema([ DogEntity.self, HouseEntity.self ]) // Use app group container if available let config: ModelConfiguration if let containerURL = FileManager.default.containerURL( forSecurityApplicationGroupIdentifier: "group.\(Bundle.app.bundleIdentifier ?? "")" ) { config = ModelConfiguration(schema: schema, url: containerURL.appendingPathComponent("default.sqlite")) } else { config = ModelConfiguration(schema: schema) } self.container = try ModelContainer(for: schema, configurations: [config]) } Error in extension: fault: Attempt to add read-only file at path file:///private/var/mobile/Containers/Shared/AppGroup/51431199-5919-4AE6-940C-6FE3C53EEB46/default.sqlite read/write. Adding it read-only instead. This will be a hard error in the future; you must specify the NSReadOnlyPersistentStoreOption. error: (3) access permission denied error: Encountered exception error during prepareSQL for SQL string 'SELECT TBL_NAME FROM SQLITE_MASTER WHERE TBL_NAME = 'Z_METADATA'' : access permission denied with userInfo { NSFilePath = "/private/var/mobile/Containers/Shared/AppGroup/51431199-5919-4AE6-940C-6FE3C53EEB46/default.sqlite"; NSSQLiteErrorDomain = 3; } while checking table name from store: <NSSQLiteConnection: 0x154100300> error: Store failed to load. <NSPersistentStoreDescription: 0x15402d590> (type: SQLite, url: file:///private/var/mobile/Containers/Shared/AppGroup/51431199-5919-4AE6-940C-6FE3C53EEB46/default.sqlite) with error = Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=256 "The file “default.sqlite” couldn’t be opened." UserInfo={NSFilePath=/private/var/mobile/Containers/Shared/AppGroup/51431199-5919-4AE6-940C-6FE3C53EEB46/default.sqlite, NSSQLiteErrorDomain=3} with userInfo { NSFilePath = "/private/var/mobile/Containers/Shared/AppGroup/51431199-5919-4AE6-940C-6FE3C53EEB46/default.sqlite"; NSSQLiteErrorDomain = 3; } Any help appreciated 🙂

Hi there! My claim is that ManagedSettingsStore.TokenExpiryMessage API family doesn't work properly. I'm curious if that's only me, or others have also found it confusing, or non-working? I haven't found much public discussion about it, so this is the start of it. There are multiple confusing scenarios from my playing with it, but the simplest example is that ~30% of my apps NEW users get the ".tokensDidExpire" as soon as they approve Screen Time Permissions. Note that they haven't even seen the FamilyActivityPicker! FB23391495 is the feedback. Apple dev responded, but it didn't give confidence that my bug report was deemed correct (which can be fair!). However, it's current status is "Potential fix identified - For a future OS update," so maybe there is something to it. The API is likely quite difficult to get right, so I am happy to provide feedback on potential implementation so it's 100% solid.