So when we select an app that needs to have a shield configured for family controls (managed settings), when selecting an individual application (say like Instagram), it works well but when I select a whole category (say like Social) it doesn't work well. here's the exact code for how I choose which application needs to be shielded: class ShieldConfigurationExtension: ShieldConfigurationDataSource { override func configuration(shielding application: Application) -> ShieldConfiguration { return ShieldConfiguration( backgroundBlurStyle: .systemChromeMaterial, backgroundColor: UIColor(red: 220.0/255, green: 20.0/255, blue: 60.0/255, alpha: 1.00), icon: iconImage, title: ShieldConfiguration.Label(text: "You CAN'T give up now!", color: .white), subtitle: ShieldConfiguration.Label(text: "Just a little bit more you got this", color: .white), primaryButtonLabel: ShieldConfiguration.Label(text: "GRINDSET", color: .white), primaryButtonBackgroundColor: .black, secondaryButtonLabel: ShieldConfiguration.Label(text: "Move Fast", color: .black) ) } Now this works well for application selection alone, but there isn't any for category selection as such. And the same is shown in its execution that a category goes back to default shielding. What API should I use for category shielding?

Hello, my app is frequently loosing / forgetting the Screen Time Permission that had been granted previously on iOS 26. I have experienced it myself, sysdiagnose is in this radar: FB18997699 But also also my App Store users who have updated to iOS 26 already have reported this bug. It would be great if Apple could ensure that this bug is addressed before iOS 26 is released to the public.

Hello! I am experiencing some strange bugs around DeviceActivityEvents: When creating a DeviceActivityEvent we can assign a threshold and applicationTokens. The idea is, that after the user has spent said threshold on said apps, eventDidReachThreshold is called. includesPastActivity is set to false. On iOS 26 however, it happens (quite reliably after updating to a new beta seed) quite often that eventDidReachThreshold is called immediately (after a couple of seconds) instead of waiting for the threshold to be met. Is anyone else seeing similar issues on iOS 26? Only workaround I have found is to ask users to re-grant Screen Time permissions. This only holds for about two weeks though or at most until the next iOS 26 beta update is installed. Feedback filed under: FB18061981 FB18927456

I am trying to create an app that allows users to opt in and apply a shield to all of their apps during a specified amount of time each day, but they can always turn the shield off from our app or directly ignore the shield for 1 minute from a shield button. It is important that the user doesn't choose what apps to apply a shield to through the activity picker, as some users might not apply it to all apps. Currently I am doing everything I described in my app and shield all apps and webdomain categories with this: store.shield.applicationCategories = .all() store.shield.webDomainCategories = .all() But the, store.shield.applicationCategories = .all(), seems to block everything except for some system apps like Messages, Phone, FaceTime, Maps, Clock, Settings, Safari, Find My, Clock, Compass, Health, etc. It does block some system apps like Weather, Photos, Camera, Measure, App Store, etc. I know I can fully block applications from it's bundle identifier but I do not want to remove apps from the home screen. I only want to apply a shield to all of them. I have read every apple documentation possible about this and can't see a way to do it, currently how I am doing it seems to be the best way but it is still not enough. Even blocking a specific category token taken from the activity picker won't apply to some system level applications under it unless you get all the application tokens and apply the shield by applications and not category. I am really looking for help to see if there is something I can do to achieve my app's goal.

Hello, I’m building an app that helps people spend less time on social media apps. For that, I make heavy use of Apple’s Screen Time APIs, such as ManagedSettings and FamilyControls. When an app is locked using a ShieldConfiguration, the user has to open my app in order to unlock it (e.g. enter a code). This is very cumbersome because no documented API exists to open the parent app (=my app) from the ShieldActionDelegate (also part of my app) when the user presses a button of the ShieldConfiguration. The ShieldActionDelegate callback just offers three options in its ShieldActionResponse: .none .defer .close .openParentApp is missing. We are working around this limitation by sending a local push notification that the user has to tap on. This has multiple drawbacks: It has to be ensured that notification permission has been granted. It has to be ensured that notifications can be delivered even while focus is enabled. Features such as Apple Intelligence notification summaries and notification prioritization can heavily delay delivering notifications and thus frustrate the user. Neither my users nor myself do understand why this is not possible in a smoother way, at least according to the documentation. There are 3rd party apps that have such functionality, they can directly open their own app from a button press in the Shield, see here: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/applocker-passcode-lock-apps/id1132845904 It would be great if Apple could level the playfield for all developers and document how this is achievable, because technically it clearly is. Thanks a lot and have a great day!

Hi there! I've been getting this error when I've checked multiple times that I've included the right entitlements as well as provisiong profile. My one concern is that perhaps I'm unable to submit to internal or external TestFlight with Family Controls (Development) and need the one for distrubution, but have yet to submit my appplication for this ability. If anyone has any inisght into this issue lmk!

I’m in crisis mode and desperately need advice. Launching in 10 days and just hit a major roadblock. Background: Set up developer account under a business name only because we needed the D-U-N-S number when starting development Have a working app with Family Controls already configured on the main identifier Yesterday my developer discovered we need Family Controls on 3 additional identifiers for launch a week ago (terrible timing) I submitted a business name change request thinking it was good housekeeping The Crisis: Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles portal is completely locked during business name change processing Can’t add Family Controls to the 3 identifiers we need for launch Business name change typically takes 2-4 weeks Launch is in 10 days What I’ve Done: Contacted Apple Developer Support explaining the urgency Case ID: 102633553000 for the name change request Desperate Questions: Has ANYONE successfully cancelled a business name change mid-process for urgent app needs? Any emergency escalation paths at Apple for launch-blocking issues? Would creating a new developer account be faster? (Though that seems nuclear) Any other workarounds I’m not thinking of? The business name change was purely administrative - nothing structural changes. But these identifier updates are absolutely critical for launch functionality and we didn’t realize they were needed until trying to launch into testflight. This is our first time so learning a lot the hard way 🫠. Thanks in advance for any help!

I'm working with the Screen Time API (FamilyActivityPicker) in SwiftUI and need help with a specific scenario. I'm using the FamilyActivityPicker to let users select apps and categories to block. I save the previous selection (both applicationTokens and categoryTokens) locally. When the user updates their selection, I compare the new selection with the saved one to determine which apps or categories were removed. However, I’m trying to handle a specific case: when an individual app token is removed from the selection because its entire category was selected instead. In this situation, even though the app is no longer in applicationTokens, it's still blocked due to its category being included in categoryTokens. Since I need to show users which apps were actually removed, I want to avoid listing apps that are still indirectly blocked via a selected category. I’ve created a mapping between ApplicationToken and FamilyActivityCategoryToken to check whether a removed app is still covered by a selected category before displaying it. Is there any way to check this using the current Screen Time APIs, or does the system not give access to the relationship between apps and their categories? Any help or suggestions would mean a lot!

Hello everyone, I’m developing an app using the FamilyControls framework, I distributed through TestFlight the other day using the “Family Controls” distribution (not Development). Everything works as expected in dev builds — but for external TestFlight testers, nothing in the FamilyControls framework seems to function. I'm using the correct Family Controls capability in Xcode (added via Signing & Capabilities). The com.apple.developer.family-controls entitlement is present in my .entitlements file. All the users who reported the issue had correctly given screen time permissions to the app. Would really appreciate some help regarding where the issue could come from.

I found that in iOS 18.5, DeviceActivityCenter startMonitoring cannot start multiple monitors, even if their names and periods are different, and restarting the phone cannot solve it. My app uses DeviceActivityCenter, which makes the entire function unusable. (I have less than 20 monitors)

Hello, I’m presenting the familyActivityPicker from a presented sheet in my application. When I select some apps, categories or websites and tap “Done”, the familyActivityPicker is dismissed but the presenting sheet is also dismissed on iOS 18.4, iOS 18.5, iOS 26 beta 1 and 2. If I tap on “Cancel” from the familyActivityPicker, the sheet is also dismissed on iOS 18.4, iOS 18.5, iOS 26 beta 1 and 2. The same code works perfectly fine on iOS 18.0, iOS 18.1, iOS 18.2 and iOS 18.3. Is this a known-issue? If opened the feedback FB18369821 for this. Regards, Axel

Hello, I already have got approval from Apple for com.apple.developer.family-controls entitlement When I am building my app, there is one part where I need to check the list of applications which I have blocked with my app. To get the list I have to have com.apple.developer.managed-settings entitlement ... Now how and where show I get hold of it ? I already got permission for Family Control, how do I get hold of this now ?

How to programmatically check if ApplicationToken or ActivityCategoryToken is expired in FamilyActivityPicker? I'm building a Screen Time-based parental control app using FamilyControls and ManagedSettings. We use FamilyActivityPicker to allow the user to select apps and categories to restrict, and we apply the shield using: store.shield.applications = .specific(selection.applicationTokens) store.shield.applicationCategories = .specific(selection.categoryTokens) Sometimes, we observe that the shield silently fails to apply — no error is thrown, but the restrictions aren't enforced. I suspect this may be due to expired or invalid tokens, possibly if the app was removed or the selection became stale. My Questions: Can ApplicationToken or ActivityCategoryToken expire or become invalid over time? If yes, is there a supported or recommended way to detect whether a token is still valid before applying it to the shield? Is comparing the current shield values (store.shield.applications and store.shield.applicationCategories) after applying them a reliable validation method? What's the best practice to handle expired tokens (e.g. re-prompt the FamilyActivityPicker, or show a fallback)? What Is the Expiration Duration of Tokens from FamilyActivityPicker? Any guidance or insight from the Screen Time/FamilyControls team would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

I’m creating an app with the Screen Time API and I would like to know how to make the app show a parental control editing view for parents and a view for child accounts that shows which apps are blocked. How can I do this?

Is there any way to use the screen time API on Mac?

Hello! I am a relatively new Apple developer and am almost done with my first app. I am implementing the Screen Time API to my app because the app is designed to help the user digitally detox and I am trying to make it so the user can select which apps they would like to monitor from a list of their apps on their phone so I am using the family activity picker but I just can't extract the data needed to track the apps. I am wondering how to do this. Thank you!

Hello, I am thinking of developing a parental control app but I do not know if I need to request the api for using "Time Screen API". In positive case, where it should be? Is there anyway to use this for educational centers? Not just for families? Kind regards.

I have developed three apps using the Screen Time API. The following are common problems I encountered in the three apps: DeviceActivityMonitorExtension is automatically killed after running for a few days (frequently) The same DeviceActivityEvent in DeviceActivityMonitorExtension is triggered twice during eventDidReachThreshold (especially obvious in iOS18.5) Screen Time authorization is automatically canceled for no reason (occasionally) I hope to get help

I use DeviceActivityCenter to monitor app usage. For DeviceActivityEvent, I set 30 events, and the threshold of each event increases by 2 minutes: var events: [DeviceActivityEvent.Name: DeviceActivityEvent] = [:] for index in 0..<30 { let threshold = (index == 29) ? DateComponents(hour: 1) : DateComponents(minute: (index + 1) * 2) let name = DeviceActivityEvent.Name("\(prefix)|\(index)") events[name] = DeviceActivityEvent(applications: tokens, threshold: threshold) } After reaching the last DeviceActivityEvent, I will restart directly in DeviceActivityMonitor private func restartMonitoring(activity: DeviceActivityName) { let center = DeviceActivityCenter() let currentEvents = center.events(for: activity) do { try center.startMonitoring(activity, during: schedule, events: currentEvents) } catch { print("Fail: \(error)") } } But I found that after restarting, DeviceActivityEvent will be automatically executed even if I don't use the app. My iOS version is 18.5

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 🙂