How do I transfer control from Apple Screen Time to Screenable?

Apple Screen Time and Screenable use the same underlying technology, but thankfully Screenable has worked out kinks that Apple can't seem to prioritize, in addition to offering a wide range of new (and simpler!) features. You'll need to transfer certain controls to Screenable so that they don't conflict.

Before we begin, does your kid have a Mac/Macbook?

If your kid has their own Mac or Macbook that they're signed in to (with their own Apple ID), first scroll to the bottom section for some ways of handling that setup. Then return here.

Step-by-step instructions

  1. On your iPhone, go to Settings > Family > Choose your kid.
    • Make sure you do this from the parent's phone, not the kid device.
  2. Tap Screen Time.
    • If you see a screen like the following, that means Apple Screen Time is already disabled for this kid, so there should be no conflicts with Screenable and you can safely exit this guide – you're done! Otherwise continue to the next step.

  3. Scroll down and tap Content & Privacy Restrictions.
    • Turn off the toggle at the top (since Screenable will set these settings up for you):

  4. Scroll down to the bottom and look for Turn Off App & Website Activity.
    • It should be one of the last few buttons on the last screen. (If you don't see it, it hasn't been set up so you're good to go, can safely skip this step.)

    • If you don't use Apple Screen Time's charts/reports, the easiest thing is just to turn this off. Tap it, and enter your screen-time passcode turn it off.
    • Otherwise, you'll need to disable individual pieces of it. Scroll back up and find each of the following:
      • Downtime - tap it, and make sure the Scheduled toggle is turned OFF.
      • App Limits - tap it, and make sure the main App Limits toggle is turned OFF.
      • Always Allowed - tap it, and remove each app from the Allowed Apps list (note that you can't remove Phone).
  5. Scroll up and review your Communication Limits.
    • Don't change any of these settings. We're just calling out that Screenable does not yet support these features, so continue to use Apple Screen Time for them.
  6. Repeat for each kid you want to transfer to Screenable.

If your kid has their own Mac/Macbook

This can be a problem because if you use Apple Screen Time for your kid's Mac, those same settings will affect their iPhone/iPad and will conflict with Screenable (since we don't yet have a Mac app – our apologies!). We recommend choosing one of the two options below:

  • Option 1. Create a separate Apple account for your kid's Mac. This is the cleanest way to keep settings separate. Follow Apple's instructions for creating a child account, and just use whatever email address they recommend (or type your own, like noahs_macbook@icloud.com).
  • Option 2. Follow the instructions above, but instead of turning off Apple Screen Time's features entirely, keep only the settings that you need to manage your kid's Mac. (Note that these may conflict with Screenable and create weird experiences – please contact us if you'd like help thinking through this.)
    • An example is using Content & Privacy Restrictions to block adult websites on a Mac. We recommend leaving this setting ON in Apple Screen Time so that it'll handle Macs (Screenable will handle this for iPhones/iPads).
    • For more detail on the way this works when a particular setting conflicts between Screenable and Apple Screen Time, a kid's device will honor the "most restrictive setting". So, say a certain setting is set to "Allow" in one and "Don't allow" in the other, the kid's device will not allow it.

Need help?

This can be a little bit tricky so please feel free to contact us – we'll walk you through it if you have any troubles!