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Apple doesn't make it possible to have reasonable controls on an iOS device, unfortunately. There is no fine-grained way to say what apps can be used when, wha

Apple doesn't make it possible to have reasonable controls on an iOS device, unfortunately. There is no fine-grained way to say what apps can be used when, what web sites can be used or not used, etc. Even things that seem like they should work (e.g., "Allow the Amazon Kindle app but not Safari") don't, because of hidden features that breaks Kindle when Safari isn't enabled. I've tried many apps, including Qustodio. I can't do MDM or any of the enterprise-level stuff because guess what, I can't get Apple to give me an Apple ID account that Apple Configurator 2 will accept - despite being a 25+ year industry veteran - and I'm not about to use my company credentials on my personal devices. Not all kids need these features, and not all parents want them, but for those of us who want our kids to have iOS devices for communication purposes, plus also occasionally allow them for other purposes, we have no choices here. We can lock it all down to near uselessness or leave it open, but there is no in-between.

dvdhnt 9y ago
> There is no fine-grained way to say what apps can be used when, what web sites can be used or not used, etc. I'm surprised to hear that. We've had the smaller model iPod for a couple of years now. I have parental restrictions on and my daughter can't install (thus, not use) apps that I do not approve, nor can she visit any websites that I do not whitelist. Both features are stock, no third party app needed. The former only required adding the device to my family sharing group and ticking a box requiring her to ask permission before downloading an app. My opinion is that there is definitely an in-between, but you're correct in saying that time limit enforcement would be quite useful.
- SomeHacker44 9y ago
  You're right about how iOS restrictions work. My statement about an in-between is that there is no way for me to say "allow this app from time X to Y, for at most Z minutes" - it's all or nothing. You can have this app, or not have this app. Additionally, there is no way for me to remotely manage it. If a child refuses to turn the phone off, I cannot hit a management tool and lock it down (at least, not without using an MDM profile, as Qustodio and other solutions can be trivially defeated by deleting their management profile which requires no permissions). If I want to monitor where they go and how much time they spend on each app, there is no way to do it. So, I can do super-basic things, but nothing fine-grained or interesting from my parenting perspective. So, it all gets turned off and is basically a Find-my-Friends, phone/FaceTime and iMessage tool for $700. Not exactly a good value and not something I will be sending any more money to Apple for.
joezydeco 9y ago
I would be happy if Apple could at least implement time restrictions like the Parental Controls on MacOS. That's been available for what, almost a decade now? The closest thing that's available is something that blocks traffic at the router level, like Circle. But even that isn't perfect, since kids can still use local apps that don't need full network access. I've also tried some of the MDM programs like OurPact, but the UI is awful and they do a lousy job of implementing it on the client side, probably in part because of what Apple allows to be turned off and what they do not.

dvdhnt 9y ago

> There is no fine-grained way to say what apps can be used when, what web sites can be used or not used, etc. I'm surprised to hear that. We've had the smaller model iPod for a couple of years now. I have parental restrictions on and my daughter can't install (thus, not use) apps that I do not approve, nor can she visit any websites that I do not whitelist. Both features are stock, no third party app needed. The former only required adding the device to my family sharing group and ticking a box requiring her to ask permission before downloading an app. My opinion is that there is definitely an in-between, but you're correct in saying that time limit enforcement would be quite useful.

SomeHacker44 9y ago
You're right about how iOS restrictions work. My statement about an in-between is that there is no way for me to say "allow this app from time X to Y, for at most Z minutes" - it's all or nothing. You can have this app, or not have this app. Additionally, there is no way for me to remotely manage it. If a child refuses to turn the phone off, I cannot hit a management tool and lock it down (at least, not without using an MDM profile, as Qustodio and other solutions can be trivially defeated by deleting their management profile which requires no permissions). If I want to monitor where they go and how much time they spend on each app, there is no way to do it. So, I can do super-basic things, but nothing fine-grained or interesting from my parenting perspective. So, it all gets turned off and is basically a Find-my-Friends, phone/FaceTime and iMessage tool for $700. Not exactly a good value and not something I will be sending any more money to Apple for.

joezydeco 9y ago

I would be happy if Apple could at least implement time restrictions like the Parental Controls on MacOS. That's been available for what, almost a decade now? The closest thing that's available is something that blocks traffic at the router level, like Circle. But even that isn't perfect, since kids can still use local apps that don't need full network access. I've also tried some of the MDM programs like OurPact, but the UI is awful and they do a lousy job of implementing it on the client side, probably in part because of what Apple allows to be turned off and what they do not.