Hello, Between April 20 and April 25 of this year, I submitted a request for the Family Controls Distribution entitlement through the following page: https://developer.apple.com/contact/request/family-controls-distribution After submitting the request, I clearly saw the message: “Thank you for your submission. We’ll review your request and contact you soon with a status update.” However, I have not received any further update or feedback since then. Afterward, I contacted Apple multiple times. Unfortunately, the responses I received consistently indicated that the relevant teams were unable to check the status or progress of the entitlement request, and no clear timeline or follow-up commitment was provided. Eventually, I was informed via email that the issue had already been escalated to the operations team for handling. However, many more days have now passed without any progress or update. At this point, it has been nearly one month since I submitted the entitlement request, yet I still have not received any result, status update, or meaningful feedback. I genuinely do not understand why the tracking and communication process for this entitlement request is so unclear and slow. I would sincerely appreciate it if the relevant team could provide a clear update regarding the current status of my request and the expected next steps. Thank you.

It has been 20 days since we applied for Family Controls (Distribution) permission, but the status still shows as Submitted. Is there any way to expedite the review process?

Hello, I submitted a request for Family Controls (Distribution) approval, and it has now been over 12 days without any update on the status. I understand that review times can vary, but I wanted to check if this delay is expected or if there’s anything I might need to do on my end to help move the process forward. Could anyone from the Apple team or the community provide insight into: Typical processing times for Family Controls distribution requests Whether delays beyond a few days are common Any steps I should take to follow up or expedite the review For reference: Status: Submitted Submission time: April 29, 2026 Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Hello, Between April 20 and April 25 of this year, I submitted a request for the Family Controls Distribution entitlement through the following page: https://developer.apple.com/contact/request/family-controls-distribution After submitting the request, I clearly saw the message: “Thank you for your submission. We’ll review your request and contact you soon with a status update.” However, I have not received any further update or feedback since then. Afterward, I contacted Apple multiple times regarding this issue through Case ID: 102881595688. Unfortunately, the responses I received consistently indicated that the relevant teams were unable to check the status or progress of the entitlement request, and no clear timeline or follow-up commitment was provided. Eventually, I was informed via email that the issue had already been escalated to the operations team for handling. However, many more days have now passed without any progress or update. At this point, it has been nearly one month since I submitted the entitlement request, yet I still have not received any result, status update, or meaningful feedback. I genuinely do not understand why the tracking and communication process for this entitlement request is so unclear and slow. I would sincerely appreciate it if the relevant team could provide a clear update regarding the current status of my request and the expected next steps. Thank you.

Hello, Between April 20 and April 25 of this year, I submitted a request for the Family Controls Distribution entitlement through the following page: https://developer.apple.com/contact/request/family-controls-distribution After submitting the request, I clearly saw the message: “Thank you for your submission. We’ll review your request and contact you soon with a status update.” However, I have not received any further update or feedback since then. Afterward, I contacted Apple multiple times regarding this issue through Case ID: 102881595688. Unfortunately, the responses I received consistently indicated that the relevant teams were unable to check the status or progress of the entitlement request, and no clear timeline or follow-up commitment was provided. Eventually, I was informed via email that the issue had already been escalated to the operations team for handling. However, many more days have now passed without any progress or update. At this point, it has been nearly one month since I submitted the entitlement request, yet I still have not received any result, status update, or meaningful feedback. I genuinely do not understand why the tracking and communication process for this entitlement request is so unclear and slow. I would sincerely appreciate it if the relevant team could provide a clear update regarding the current status of my request and the expected next steps. Thank you.

Some of our users encounter an issue after updating their iPhone/iPad to iOS 17.5.1. The tokens passed in the Shield Configuration extension don't match the tokens they selected in my app using the FamilyPicker before updating to iOS 17.5.1. It seems the tokens changed for no reason. My app can't match the token from the ShieldConfigurationDataSource to any tokens stored on my end, causing my shield screens to turn blank. The same applies to tokens in the Device Activity Report extension. The only workaround I've found is to tell affected users to unselect and reselect apps and websites to block in my app. This gets them new tokens from the FamilyActivityPicker, which solves the issue. However, for some users, the bug reoccurs a few days later. Tokens seem to change again, causing the same issue in the Shield Configuration extension. I am not able to reproduce the issue on my test devices so I have no sysdiagnose to attach. However, this issue is affecting other screen time apps: https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/732845 https://forums.developer.apple.com/forums/thread/756440 FB14082790 FB14111223 A change in iOS 17.5.1 must have triggered this behaviour. Could an Apple engineer give us any updates on this?

Hoping to get visibility on a Family Controls (Distribution) entitlement request pending without status updates after an app transfer. Context: Digital wellbeing app, 500K+ active iOS users Previous team had Family Controls (Distribution) approved and shipping to production App transferred to new team (H2HM68H8PP) ~1 month ago; entitlement re-requested immediately Capability page shows "View Requests (6)" with no approvals, rejections, or updates Developer Support cases opened (102883853173, 20000112879750, 102875975624) — confirmed they cannot check entitlement status Impact: Core app feature depends on Family Controls. Production app for 500K+ users will break once transfer fully propagates at provisioning level. This is a continuity issue, not a new-app launch — entitlement was previously approved on the prior team. Questions: Recommended escalation path for post-transfer entitlement requests? Should I stop resubmitting to avoid queue deprioritization? Could the entitlements team provide a status update? Happy to share bundle ID, previous team ID, and request dates privately with Apple staff.

Subject: Family Controls (Distribution) — 2 pending requests for 9 days, no status update (WA2MPH4572 + HCQXH9P8VM) Tags: family-controls Body: Hello Apple Developer Forums and DTS team, I am requesting visibility on the status of two pending Family Controls (Distribution) entitlement requests submitted 10 days ago with no email confirmation or status update. REQUEST DETAILS App: SHIELD Bundle ID: app.shieldme Team ID: 4452N28RUS Request IDs (both submitted on May 6, 2026): WA2MPH4572 HCQXH9P8VM Status: Both showing "Submitted" in Identifiers → app.shieldme → Family Controls (Distribution) → View Requests USE CASE SHIELD is a Brazilian app focused on personal device usage management. The category covers the scenario the app addresses: device owners who want to apply additional access controls to their own apps in case of phone theft or loss, which are widespread concerns in Brazil. SHIELD is NOT a parental control app and does not facilitate management of devices belonging to other people. The device owner is the sole operator. The owner uses the system-provided picker to select which of their own apps should require additional access controls, configured and controlled exclusively by the owner. The use of FamilyControls + ManagedSettings is the iOS API path that allows a third-party app to offer this access-control layer on user-selected apps for the owner's own protection. Without this entitlement, the iOS version cannot offer parity with the Android version of the same product. ALIGNMENT WITH FAMILY CONTROLS USAGE TERMS Device owner is the sole operator (no third-party monitoring) Owner manages access to their own apps only Use case is personal device usage management No advertising or data broker use of device or usage data No organizational deployment Privacy disclosures complying with Brazilian LGPD law are included in-app at first launch ASK Could a DTS Engineer or the entitlements review team confirm whether the two pending requests are visible in the queue and share an approximate timeline? If additional clarification on the use case would help the review proceed, I will provide it the same day. The Android version of SHIELD is feature-complete and currently in beta testing, approaching public launch. The iOS version is designed to launch alongside Android, since the product relies on a referral mechanism where an existing user can invite a contact who may be on either platform. Releasing only one platform breaks the onboarding flow for invitees on the other. Family Controls (Distribution) is the single remaining blocker on the iOS side. If there is a recommended channel for aligning entitlement timing with a coordinated multi-platform release, please advise. Thank you for your time.

Hello, I have submitted multiple requests for the Family Controls Distribution Entitlement through this form: https://developer.apple.com/contact/request/family-controls-distribution After submitting my requests, I waited for about 1 week but did not receive any response. Since I heard nothing, I contacted Apple Developer Support by email. After that, I finally received a response from an advisor asking for additional information, including my follow-up number. I replied with all the requested information immediately, but it has now been 5 more days and I still have not received any further response. In total, I have been waiting for about 2 weeks for this entitlement request. My app is a Screen Time control / digital wellbeing application that helps users reduce screen time through exercise-based challenges and healthy habits. My app uses the FamilyControls, ManagedSettings, and DeviceActivity frameworks and requires the Distribution Entitlement for App Store release. Here are my details: Case Number: 102866460896 Request Type: Family Controls Distribution Entitlement I understand the team may be busy, but I would appreciate any help checking the status of my request or escalating it if possible. Thank you very much.

I have been building an app where I have the user select what apps they would like to track and then I display a device activity report of only those apps. The device activity report shows data perfectly for the selected apps if the users apple account is "Adult". If the users apple account is "Parent/Guardian" or "Organizer" randomly the device activity report will show 0 minutes (no screen time data). Among randomly happening I have found a trigger for the bug to be opening any FamilyActivityPicker (even not the one used for filtering the device activity report extension) then going back to the device activity report extension on the profile page anywhere from 3-50 times. Once the bug happens repeating that process 1-2 times fixes it or removing screen time restrictions permission then adding it back.

Hi, I submitted my Family Controls entitlement requests on April 21 for my iOS app, but I still haven’t received an approval, rejection, or any status update. This is blocking my ability to properly test and move forward with the app, since it depends on the Screen Time / Family Controls APIs. Has anyone had a similar delay recently? Is the recommended next step to file a code-level support request with my Team ID, or should I continue waiting? Thanks.

Hello, I submitted a Family Controls Distribution entitlement request on May 1st, 2026 and received the generic confirmation page. It has now been 13 days with no approval, rejection or status update. Timeline: May 1st: Submitted request via developer.apple.com/contact/ request/family-controls-distribution → Received confirmation page May 8th: Opened Entitlements ticket via Developer Support → No response after 6 days (despite the stated 2 business day response time) My app Knipsi is a parental control app for the DACH market. It helps families manage screen time by letting children earn credits through completing real-world tasks, with parents approving via Face ID. The app is 100% finished and ready for TestFlight — this entitlement is the only remaining blocker. App Details: Team ID: 5GW9CM8T7U Bundle ID: aquilano.Knipsi Case: 102883106983 Frameworks: FamilyControls, ManagedSettings, DeviceActivity I understand the entitlement review takes time — but what concerns me is that the support ticket opened under Entitlements has also gone unanswered for 6 days, despite the advertised 2 business day response time. Could anyone share how long the Family Controls Distribution approval currently takes? And is there a recommended way to follow up when support tickets go unanswered? Thank you

I've been waiting on the Family Controls distribution entitlement for my app for over two weeks with use case to self direct app and sites blocking Setup: Development entitlement: ✅ approved and working Request ID: 27684X55GC The blocker: Xcode warns: "Bundle identifier is using development only version of Family Controls (Development) capability. Please request access to Family Controls (Distribution)." Archiving for App Store fails with provisioning profile errors on all my targets Questions: Is 2+ weeks normal for distribution entitlement approval? Any recommended path to escalate besides the request form and have also emailed apple support?

Hi, I submitted my Family Controls entitlement requests on April 15 for my iOS app, but I still haven’t received an approval, rejection, or any status update. This is blocking my ability to properly test and move forward with the app, since it depends on the Screen Time / Family Controls APIs. I've tried contact to apple developer support and filed a code-level support on app connect dashboard. and still nothing received. Here is the request information: code-level support case id: 19834379 apple developer support case id: 102878196850 Family Controls Distribution RequestId: BT4C47F5VB,SLP56WRZ3J,BZ7MF3R4FF,5HAY5UF5X2,P49SM5C859,KG2T2X2L76,N353H759C4 Thanks.

Hi everyone, I'm dealing with a critical issue regarding the Screen Time API and hoping someone here has experienced something similar. We recently completed an app transfer to a new developer account. Upon successful transfer, the app completely lost its previously approved "Family Controls" entitlement. We immediately submitted a new request for the entitlement on the new account, but it has now been stuck on "Pending Approval" for over 12 days. We haven't received any feedback, emails, or status changes, and Developer Support has been unresponsive so far. This is completely blocking our production updates. Has anyone successfully transferred a parental control / Screen Time app recently? Is it normal to lose the entitlement during a transfer? For those who had to reapply, how long did the approval take? Are there any effective ways to escalate this to get an actual human review? Any advice, workarounds, or shared experiences would be hugely appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Hi, I'm building a wellness app called that helps users manage their phone usage based on their consumption, using the Screen Time API. I need the Family Controls (Distribution) entitlement to ship it. I've already submitted multiple requests across all my bundle IDs, but due to the lack of confirmation feedback after each submission, I may have submitted more than needed. Regardless, the oldest request submitted was on April 22nd (exactly 2 weeks ago), without any reply or change. Is this normal ? Also, I came across a forum post (https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/821964?answerId=885672022#885672022) suggesting that the entitlement is now scoped at the team level rather than per bundle ID, and that I should resubmit a single request. I want to do the right thing here but I'm not sure whether to resubmit or wait and I don't want to make the situation worse than it already is. We're about a month away from our launch date and this is the last remaining blocker for both TestFlight and App Store submission. Any guidance on next steps, or help prioritizing this, would mean a lot. Thanks so much,

I've been stuck on Guideline 2.3 for two weeks now and I'm running out of ideas. My app is iPhone-only (UIDeviceFamily = [1]) and has been on the App Store since January. Version 2.1.9 passed review fine. The only change in 2.1.10 is adding two DeviceActivity extensions — a DeviceActivityMonitor and a DeviceActivityReport — for screen time-based stress detection. Every build since then gets rejected with the same message: "The UIRequiredDeviceCapabilities key in the Info.plist is set up in such a way that the app will not install on the device used in review." Review devices: iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, iPad Air M3. Here's what I've tried across 13+ submissions: UIRequiredDeviceCapabilities as ["arm64"] (array) — rejected Empty array [] — rejected Removed the key entirely — upload validation fails, Xcode re-injects arm64 anyway Post-build script to force ["arm64"] — rejected Dictionary format {"arm64": true} — rejected Added com.apple.developer.family-controls to extension entitlements — rejected Enabled Family Controls (Distribution) on extension bundle IDs — rejected Fixed CFBundleVersion mismatch between host app and extensions — rejected Set TARGETED_DEVICE_FAMILY=1 on all targets including extensions — rejected Tried GENERATE_INFOPLIST_FILE=YES with minimal plists — rejected Tried ExtensionKit type for the report extension — rejected In the exported IPA, every target has UIRequiredDeviceCapabilities = ["arm64"] and UIDeviceFamily = [1]. The entitlements, provisioning profiles, and code signing all look correct. arm64 is supported on every review device they listed. The previous version (2.1.9) without DeviceActivity extensions passes review with the exact same UIRequiredDeviceCapabilities and signing configuration. Has anyone shipped an app with DeviceActivityMonitor + DeviceActivityReport extensions successfully? Is there something specific about these extension types that affects device capability validation? Or is there a known issue with the review system and FamilyControls extensions? I've replied to the review team multiple times asking which specific capability is causing the failure, but the response is always the same generic template. Any guidance would be really appreciated — I'm completely blocked on shipping this update.

I submitted a Family Controls Distribution entitlement request on April 21, 2026 for my app Dopfast. I also resubmitted on April 29, 2026. I received the confirmation page both times but have not received any approval, rejection, or status update. I contacted Developer Support (Case #102879238806) and was told the request is handled by another team and they cannot check the status. Details: Team ID: HSJ6KB4WEZ App: Dopfast (digital wellbeing / screen time management) Bundle ID: com.dopfast Purpose: #2 — individual device management for focus and productivity (personal screen time tracking and app blocking) This entitlement is the only remaining blocker for our App Store submission. The app is fully built and ready to ship. Has anyone experienced similar delays recently? Is there a recommended way to expedite this request?

Hi, Our team already has the Family Controls (Distribution) entitlement approved for the main app and existing Screen Time extensions. We recently added a new Shield Configuration extension to show a custom on-device shield UI using ManagedSettingsUI. It is only used for UI rendering and does not collect or send any user data. However, the entitlement does not seem to be applied to this new extension yet, and we are blocked from proceeding with builds. We have already contacted support but haven’t received an update yet. Case ID: 102881099623 It’s been days without any update, and this has become really stressful for our team since we’re completely blocked at the final step after months of work on this app. Could someone please help to apply/sync the Family Controls distribution entitlement or guide us on the next steps? Happy to share app details privately if needed. Thanks.

We are developing an MDM agent app that uses FamilyControls with .individual authorization to enforce Screen Time restrictions (app blocking, domain blocking via ManagedSettingsStore and DeviceActivityCenter). The Problem We are actively subscribing to AuthorizationCenter.shared.$authorizationStatus to detect authorization changes. However, when the user revokes the app's FamilyControls authorization through Settings (either via Settings > Screen Time > Apps With Screen Time Access, or Settings > Apps > [Our App]), the publisher does not emit any value. All ManagedSettingsStore restrictions are lifted immediately by the system, but our app receives no notification of this change. The only scenario where the publisher reliably emits is when a debugger is attached (i.e., running directly from Xcode). Without the debugger, the publisher is completely silent — even when the app returns to foreground. Code Example We tried subscribing directly to AuthorizationCenter.shared.$authorizationStatus with no intermediary, exactly as shown in the documentation: AuthorizationCenter.shared.$authorizationStatus .sink { status in print("[DIRECT] authorizationStatus emitted: \(status)") } .store(in: &cancellables) This subscription is set up at app launch and stored in cancellables. The result is the same — the publisher does not emit when the user revokes authorization in Settings without a debugger attached. Documentation Reference The documentation for authorizationStatus states: "The status may change due to external events, such as a child graduating to an adult account, or a parent or guardian changing the status in Settings." And: "The system sets this property only after a call to requestAuthorization(for:) succeeds. It then updates the property until a call to revokeAuthorization(completionHandler:) succeeds or your app exits." This suggests the publisher should emit when the status is changed via Settings, but in our testing it does not — unless a debugger is attached. What We Verified We tested with a development-signed build (which includes the com.apple.developer.family-controls entitlement), launched from Xcode, then disconnected the debugger, killed the app, and relaunched from the home screen. Scenario Publisher emits on revocation? Running from Xcode (debugger attached) Yes, immediately Development-signed build (no debugger) No — silent even on foreground return We also confirmed: MDM configuration profiles can disable Screen Time entirely, but cannot restrict the per-app authorization toggle — the user can always freely revoke the app's Screen Time access The Security Gap This creates a significant gap for parental controls use cases: User leaves the app (app goes to background) User goes to Settings and disables Screen Time access for the app All restrictions are immediately lifted User uses the device freely User re-enables Screen Time access and opens the app Everything syncs back to normal — administrator never knows Questions Is there any supported mechanism to receive a notification (background or foreground) when FamilyControls individual authorization is revoked? We are subscribing to AuthorizationCenter.shared.$authorizationStatus but it does not emit. Is the $authorizationStatus publisher expected to work only when a debugger is attached? Is this a known limitation or a bug? Can DeviceActivityMonitor extension detect authorization revocation? Based on documentation it appears limited to schedule/threshold events, but we haven't confirmed this. Is there a planned API improvement to address this gap? Environment iOS 26.2 Xcode 26.3 Swift 6.2.4 FamilyControls .individual authorization Related Threads Screen time API can be disabled easily Changing Screen Time Passcode does not protect apps