Everything You Need to Know About Screen Time in iOS 12

Apple rolled out the iOS 12 a few days ago, and if you have installed this version, you might know that it comes with a lot of new features those you might like. One of the miniatures yet a handy feature of iOS 12 is Screen Time that aids you find how you are using your iPhone, app downtime, app limits, content abridgment, various purchases, and more others. In simple words, Screen Time is an illustrious option that helps you get rid of diverse penchants within a couple of days. In this article, you are about to know how you can enable it, how to set it up properly for your convenience, how to use it accurately so that you can get most out of this functionality.

What is Screen Time in iOS 12?

Screen Time is nothing but a functionality available in iOS 12, which helps you set different app usage limitations, hibernate apps, set content & privacy restrictions and all. In other words, you do not have to install a third-party app to set such limitations. With the help of this functionality, you would be able to ditch social media addiction also, and that is the best part.

Features of Screen Time in iOS 12

Here is a brief list of features and options those are available in Screen Time for iOS 12.

Downtime: If you want to schedule time away from your screen or phone, you can use this option. During “Downtime” you will not be able to use any app if you have set the limitation. For example, if you do not want to use Facebook, you can put that into the list, and that app won’t be available during the downtime period. However, phone calls will be available, no matter what.

App Limits: Let’s assume that you use Facebook or Instagram a lot and you want to get rid of that addiction as soon as possible. There are several apps, which can help you in such cases. However, if you are using iOS 12, you can take the help of App Limit functionality. Although this is not possible to block particular app, you can block by category. For instance, you can block all social networking apps or games, or entertainment related apps and so forth. This is also possible to block apps by day and time.

Always Allow: This is the list where you can put your app, and that will be an exception in every case.

Content & Privacy Restrictions: This section has a lot of options to manage various things. From blocking the app installation to prevent apps from using Location Services, you can do everything with the help of this option. This is also possible to allow or block password change, account change, cellular data change, volume limit, and so on.

These are the primary options come with this Screen Time app. However, you can get some other options like-

Use Screen Time passcode: It will let you set a passcode for accessing the Screen Time app.
Share Across Devices: If you have multiple devices and you are using the same iCloud account, you can share all the settings across multiple devices. That implies if you change a setting in one device, it will reflect on all the other devices.
Screen Time for Family: If you have multiple iOS devices in your family, you can set various restrictions for family as well.

Set up and use Screen Time in iOS 12

The setup process of Screen Time takes hardly five minutes. However, this is recommended to set it up properly and according to your requirements. Otherwise, you will end up blocking important apps and functionalities.

To get started, open the Settings app of your mobile and tap the Screen Time option. Here you will get an option to turn it on. Do follow the screen instructions to activate the Screen Time. After opening it properly, you will get a screen something like this-

Now you can open up any settings, i.e., Downtime, App Limits, etc. If you open Downtime, you will get a toggle button to turn it on or off. After that, you need to set a time of starting and ending.

In the App Limits section, you would be able to set limitations of accessing various kind of apps. For that, tap the Add Limit button, select a category, and then set a time. This is the time when you can access those apps.

There is a section called Always Allowed. If you open this section, you can find some apps such as Messages, Phone, FaceTime, Maps, etc. are always added to the whitelist. If you want to make an exception, you can put any app in the white or blacklist.

There is yet another option called Content & Privacy Restrictions. With the help of this option, you can allow or block these-