Step 4: Make a schedule for your child’s device use
As your child spends time on their device, you play an important role in helping them build healthy, balanced habits. Many of these habits are especially important while children are still developing. Leaving room for the essentials, like sleep, physical activity, homework, and time with family and friends, supports healthy development.
Building in screen-free times and places, such as meals or bedrooms, gives kids room to connect with others and practice taking breaks from their devices. Research and expert guidance generally suggest that consistent management of screen time, especially as children get older, matters more than a single number.
If you’re setting up these parental controls for a child in your Family Sharing group, all devices in your family must be upgraded to version 27 or later of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, or visionOS. Learn how to update your Apple devices. | |||||||||||
Choose how long your child uses apps
Set up Time Allowances to manage the time your child spends in apps across different categories like Entertainment, Games, and Social Media. Time Allowances suggests an age-based starting point, informed by child health research from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and others, for your child’s shared time allowance across categories. You can adjust the time for each category and check whether it falls within general guidance.
To get started, go to your Family Sharing settings, select your child’s name, then click or tap Time Allowances. For more information, see Set how long your child can use apps and websites with Time Allowances.
Create schedules for your child’s device use
With Screen Time Schedules, you can manage which apps your child can use at different times of the day to help them stay focused. You can set routines for weekdays and weekends using built-in time windows like Before School, School, and After School. You can also create your own schedule for situations like shortened school days or extracurricular activities.
To get started, go to your Family Sharing settings, select your child’s name, then click or tap Screen Time Schedule. For more information, see Set up Screen Time Schedules for device use.
Tip: As you and your child create schedules for device use, bedtime routines can be part of that plan too. Sleep is especially important for growing kids. The AAP suggests turning off screens for at least an hour before bed and keeping devices outside the bedroom overnight. You can set up a Sleep Schedule to remind your child when bedtime is near and turn on Night Shift to shift the display to warmer colors in the evening as your child winds down.
Keep essential apps and contacts always available
Always Allowed lets you choose apps and contacts that stay accessible to your child even when other apps are paused or limited by Screen Time settings like Time Allowances or Screen Time Schedules. By default, essentials like FaceTime, Maps, Phone, and Messages are set to Always Allowed. You can also add Contacts to Always Allowed, so your child can always reach the people who matter most.
To get started, go to your Family Sharing settings, select your child’s name, then click or tap Always Allowed. For more information, see Choose apps and people to always allow on your child’s device.
Tip: You can also manage who your child can contact in apps like Phone, Messages, and FaceTime. See Decide who your child can communicate with.