Level 1

18 points

Screen Time not stopping YouTube or Spotify

Others have had this same issue but I didn’t see a current posting. I have my son’s screen time setup with a 4 hour app limit across all apps. I then go in and specify certain apps to be excluded under the Always Allow section. (messaging, maps, calculator, calendar, etc…)

YouTube and Spotify are most definitely included in the all apps but are not included in the always allow yet he can still view YouTube videos way past the App Limits. I have reset all settings as other have mentioned but it continues to be available while other apps show as out of time. This is a major flaw and should be remedied ASAP.

iPhone 12 mini

Posted on Aug 6, 2023 6:05 PM

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XHerbie

Level 1

14 points

Posted on Jan 1, 2024 9:57 PM

This has been a problem on iPhones since the dawn of screen time. Somehow, someway, these apps (YouTube, Snapchat, TikTok and handful of others) do NOT turn off at screen time deadlines. There are countless posts on this over the last 5 years and Apple always responds with the canned response, “use the time limit feature” which is NOT what people are asking for. We want to allow our kids to use these apps until a time of day, not limit their use by minutes.

it seems that’s the whole point of screen time but these apps have found a way around those blocks (for obvious reasons, they need our kids addicted in order to make money) but when Apple provides a solution to address this, but denies that it’s broke for some apps and never tried to fix it, it’s beyond frustrating.

if you can’t block ALL APPS that run on your OS, don’t tout the feature.

They won’t admit that they know about this issue and keep deflecting and say it’s “user error”. It is NOT. They just can’t fix the problem and don’t want to admit it.

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Mar 23, 2024 12:32 PM in response to Haugsness

all these negative reviews about time limits not working for certain social media apps. Let me just say their not lying but there not right. It is just a user problem. Some people have it some people don’t. Apple can’t fix this so stop making these dumb reviews.

Aug 7, 2023 12:30 AM in response to Haugsness

Simply saying "Others have had this same issue but I didn’t see a current posting" does not prove, justify or solve your problems.

I hope you are aware that offloaded apps are not affected by Screen Time Restrictions. Once downloaded they will follow the restrictions set under the Screen Time Restrictions..

See the pic below which I tested it for you. Spotify and Youtube restrictions using Screen Time. I have tested Bothe Down Time as well as App Limits. I do not use Spotify but I downloaded it for testing purpose only.

If you are not able to see the pic then download it and enlarge to have a clear view.

NDNG99

Level 1

8 points

Jun 4, 2024 8:57 AM in response to ulam_yang

Try using app like ourpact to limit usage. The free version is good enough to limit use of phones (youtube ! Browser! Titok)

Jan 30, 2024 2:26 PM in response to SravanKrA

I do the same for my kid, but she was able to circumvent the limit somehow. one trick was to use chrome which apple screen time does not monitor for website access. screen time app tracks safari more reasonably.

rdw2006

Level 1

8 points

Sep 11, 2024 9:35 AM in response to Haugsness

I too have the problem where my child can use Spotify after they have exceeded the time limit set in Screen Time.

I did a test where I set a short time limit for the "Entertainment" category. On my child's phone, the Entertainment category contains Spotify, TV, Music, a radio player and other similar apps. All of the apps in the Entertainment category respected the Block at End of Limit setting, EXCEPT SPOTIFY.

So, it seems that the issue is squarely with the Spotify app.

Jul 12, 2024 12:47 PM in response to Haugsness

12 July 2024 - Spotify seems to ignore Downtime configuration at family childs device. Setting screentime to a low value helps here specifically for spotify

tana90

Level 1

8 points

Aug 23, 2024 5:32 AM in response to Pollyannabelle

Same here pollyanabelle. I have twins and one youtube kids shuts off when it is supposed to and the other doesn’t. It’s extremely frustrating.

Sep 4, 2024 7:30 AM in response to Haugsness

i couldn’t restrict YouTube and Spotify completely, so I set the allowed time in these app to 1 min.

Ens0

Level 1

8 points

Nov 6, 2024 12:11 PM in response to AS75

This fixed it. For some reason YouTube was in the ‘Always Allowed’ section

Under ‘Screen Time’ in settings check the ‘Always Allowed’ section

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