iPhone keeps changing parental settings to 18+

Janey1a

I have been liaising with Apple for 3 weeks now trying to get this resolved.

My son is in my Family Group and I have settings for him to prevent installing apps without asking for me to review them, no in-app purchases and no 18+ apps etc.

He also has a time limit which should automatically go off at 7pm until 8am. Because of the way Apple phones work however, Safari/Google remains live so I have to turn on App Limits at the end of the day.

This has been working for years but recently I noticed that the settings have been switching back to 18+ and losing all of my other settings.

My son does not know the passcode and, if it is used on his phone, I am sent an alert so I know for certain he’s not changing anything.

I feel Apple are taking far too long to deal with this - at the end of the day he is a minor and I have tried to use all the parental controls to make his usage as safe as possible. Yes, I could take his phone away until it is resolved but I don’t see why he should be penalised because Apple aren’t dealing with it quickly.

I have asked if I should remove him from my Family Group and add him again, as an alternative to waiting, but I am told I have to wait for the engineers and they have no time frame.

Anyone have any idea what I should do? Any suggestions on fixes or anyone come across this before?

RobfromCornwall

I have no experience with parental settings, but the obvious troubleshooting path for me would be to remove the phone from the family group and then add it again. And/or return the phone to factory settings, restore from backup, and then add to family group again.

MattMattMattUK

How old is he according to his Apple account?

marcia_

this is the opposite problem that I have been experiencing. I tried to put my son as 18, he is 16 because I trust him to use his iPad appropriately. Apple keeps changing the settings back.

Janey1a

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82134517#Comment_82134517

age 14. It’s very odd as I used to make changes to his settings and it would update his phone instantly. Now it doesn’t update at all. However if I make the changes to the settings using his phone, I can see the changes on my phone (to his settings, not my own if that makes sense).

Janey1a

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82134687#Comment_82134687

have you reported it to Apple?

marcia_

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82134698#Comment_82134698

yes and they wanted him to upload a credit card but he doesn't have one. Even if he was 18 he still wouldn't likely have one

Janey1a

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82134702#Comment_82134702

I’m guessing you don’t want to just remove him from your family group? I have asked if I should remove my son from the family group and set him up again but I’ve been told we have to wait for the engineers.
out of interest, when did you first report to Apple? Wondering how long your issue been going on?

marcia_

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82134710#Comment_82134710

about 8 months. I finally changed his age when I updated his birthday in my contacts to 18 and it didn't change back but they then wanted the credit card

Janey1a

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82134715#Comment_82134715

8 months?!!! it’s a nightmare. It shouldn’t be this difficult to get an answer to it.
if I don’t get a resolution this week I think I’ll just try removing him and start again.