Screen Time and family
Content and Privacy Restrictions
Most people call this locking down what can be installed, bought and seen.
This is the full parental control panel: app installation, purchases, explicit content, web filtering, and whether privacy settings can be changed at all.
This setting is present on your iPhone.
- We have this path on file but have not yet confirmed it against an official source.
Where to find it - iOS 12 and later
- Settings
- Screen Time
- Content & Privacy Restrictions
What it does
It can block installing or deleting apps, require approval for purchases, filter web content, restrict explicit media, and freeze privacy settings such as location sharing so they cannot be changed without the Screen Time passcode.
What changes
When it is on
The restrictions you set are enforced and need the Screen Time passcode to change.
When it is off
Everything is unrestricted.
Should you turn it on?
Good reasons to turn it on
- Real control over a child's phone.
- Can lock privacy settings so they cannot be quietly changed.
- Web content filtering works across browsers.
Good reasons to turn it off
- Over restricting a teenager's phone tends to backfire.
- A forgotten Screen Time passcode is a real problem.
- Some restrictions cause confusing failures in apps.
Battery
No real change
Privacy
Helps
Performance
No real change
Cellular data
No real change
Storage
No real change
Out of the box: Off.
Can cause real problems
What your iPhone needs
- Needs iOS 12 or later
Questions people actually ask
- Why can I not change a setting on my iPhone?
- Content and Privacy Restrictions may be locking it. Check Screen Time, then Content and Privacy Restrictions.
If it is not working
- If an app cannot be installed or a setting cannot be changed, check here first.
- Allow Changes controls whether privacy settings can be edited at all.
- Set a Screen Time passcode and attach an Apple Account for recovery.