Addicted to your iPhone or iPad? Can’t stop checking and re-checking Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or any of the countless never-ending feeds on your iOS device? The good news (or bad news) is that you can now set daily limits for each app with iOS 12. This means your iPhone or iPad will remind you that you’ve reached two hours a day of using X apps (or whatever other limit you set) and it might be time to put the device down and return to the real world for a change. This feature is called Screen Time, and it’s fairly easy to use.
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Screen Time displays some detailed graphs of your iPhone or iPad usage. Go to set up > screen time Then click on the important text at the top. This will show you how much you’ve used your phone in the past day or week, and which apps are taking up most of your time. It also shows how many notifications you’ve received, which apps are sending the most notifications, and how many times you’ve picked up your device.
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If you have multiple iOS 12 devices, you can enable Share across devices Option to enable Screen Time on any iOS device signed into iCloud and view comprehensive reporting across all devices.
This information is useful if you’re looking to spend less time on your iOS device, so follow these steps to effectively limit the time you spend on your iPhone or iPad.
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How to limit app usage using Screen Time on iOS 12
Follow these steps to set app usage limits on iOS 12:
- Go to set up > screen time.
- tap Application restrictions.
- tap Add restrictions.
- Here you can select time limits for entire app categories or manually add limits for each app. To restrict an entire app category (e.g. all apps, games, social networks, etc.), just scroll down and Click on the circle next to each category. one tick mark will appear here indicating that you have selected a category.
- You can now set daily limits by selecting hours and minutes. You can also click Customized date Set a daily limit. This can be helpful if you want to relax app usage limits on weekends or days when you have more free time.
- If you want to restrict individual apps, go to set up > screen time. Now, tap on the big time indicator at the top below the words “Screen Time.”
- Now scroll down and you will see a list of the most used apps. Click on any of them, scroll down, and click Add restrictions. This way you can add restrictions to certain apps or websites individually.
If you’re spending too much time in a certain app, this iOS 12 setting can help.
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Once the app usage limit is reached, the entire screen will turn white, a large black hourglass icon will appear on the screen, and the text “Time Limit” will appear. You can override this setting by clicking Ignore restrictions button and click Remind me in 15 minutes or Ignore today. This usually doesn’t require any additional input, unless you choose to set a passcode to limit screen time (the process is described below).
How to set downtime on iOS 12
There is also a way to limit the usage of all apps for a certain period of time. For example, if you have a habit of using social media apps before bed, you can set these time limits to provide a gentle push to keep your phone off. Follow these steps to set up downtime on iOS 12:
- Go to set up > screen time.
- Click now downtime.
- Enable downtime and set its start and end times.
If you want to allow yourself to use certain apps regardless of the restrictions you set, follow these steps.
- Go to set up > screen time.
- tap always allowed.
- Now select the apps you want to allow.
Enable downtime with iOS 12’s Screen Time feature
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How to use parental controls to set limits for your kids in iOS 12
If you use Screen Time as a parent, you can easily set a Screen Time passcode for your kids. How Screen Time works is that when you reach your time limit, it will show you two options – ignore the limit for today or remind you again in 15 minutes. If you set a Screen Time passcode, you can’t activate these extensions without entering the passcode. This is a pretty effective parental control feature. Here’s how to enable it.
- Go to set up > screen time.
- tap Use screen time passcode.
- Now enter your four-digit password and re-enter it when prompted.
This will ensure that your child using this device cannot request an extension without entering their password.
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screen time Content and privacy restrictions Also allows you to enable/disable location services, microphone, Bluetooth, mobile data changes, etc. on this device and lock these settings for anyone using the device.
Parental controls on iOS 12 are powerful
If you have children in your iCloud family, you can also manage and view screen time remotely on their iOS devices. This means you can get usage reports from the iOS device itself remotely, and set limits on the use of certain types of apps (or overall limits, such as limiting use between specific times).
If you have children in your iCloud Family, you’ll see them under Family in Screen Time under Settings. Click on your child’s name and manage their screen time settings.
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How to disable Screen Time on iOS 12
Follow the steps below to remove app usage restrictions on iOS 12.
- Go to set up > screen time.
- Scroll down and click Turn off screen time.
For more tutorials, visit our how-to section.
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