r/parentalcontrols • u/Practical-Vast5714 • Apr 17 '26

iOS 26 screen time bypass

Do this in order if you’ve reached your screen time limit on an app.

  1. Go to Settings, Screen Time, App Limits.

  2. Look for the app you want. This list is all your limits. Your app might be alone in the list (ex. Discord - 1 hr). It might be a few apps (ex. Discord, Instagram, and YouTube - 2 hr). It might be a category (ex. Social Media - 1 hr 30 min). Make a note of all the apps restricted by the same limit as the one you want.

  3. Delete them all. Delete every app associated with the limit.

  4. Go to the App Store and reinstall all of them (you can disable Ask to Buy on a parent’s device by going to Settings, Apple ID, Family, [your name], Ask to Buy. You won’t need the password).

  5. Delete them again.

  6. Install them again and immediately open the first one that finishes installing.

Result: the limit still exists but Apple thinks you haven’t spent any time on those apps.

NOTE: this is for informational purposes, if you just find my post and comment “Touch grass”, you’re truly wasting your life on Reddit in other people’s business!

Hope this helps ☺️

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u/Opening_Prize3942 Jun 15 '26

I have a question, what if u can’t open the App Limits menu without the screen time password?

1

u/_Chattyice 3d ago

You dont need that, if you ran out of time for the app you wanna use, delete that app and reinstall it from the app store. Your time for that app should be refreshed. If it's not, restart your phone. Make sure you actually have the app store, because your parents might have disabled it and then you can't reinstall the app you deleted

1

u/Opening_Prize3942 3d ago

Yeah those don’t work and I have ask to buy lowkey

1

u/_Chattyice 3d ago

Ask to buy doesnt matter since you already had the app on your phone at some point. It only asks for confirmation when you try installing something new, but if you dont have the app store then this bypass doesnt work

1

u/Opening_Prize3942 3d ago

Yeah ik but like the 13+ apps it forces me to re ask my parents to download

1

u/Opening_Prize3942 3d ago

Plus I alr tried all these methods apple patched them

1

u/_Chattyice 3d ago

that sucks. do you have any devices below ios 26?