How do I set app limits, for specific apps or categories? How should I use them?

Setting limits on specific apps can be a helpful way of reminding us that certain activities on our devices aren't as developmentally healthy as others.

How do I set app limits?

1. In the Screenable app, go to your kid's settings.
2. Under App Limits, either select an existing limit or tap the + (plus) to create a new one.
3. Select the apps and/or app categories you want to limit.
4. Choose a daily time limit for them.
5. Name the app limit something simple, like "YouTube" or "Social Media".
   • Apple doesn't allow us to detect what you select, so we can't name it automatically for you.

If you have more complex limiting needs, please contact us as we'd love to hear about your situation.

How does overtime work with app limits?

Overtime is not allowed for app-specific limits. So, even if you're allowing overtime for overall daily limits, your kid will not be able to go over the limit you specifically create for, say, YouTube or video games or social media.

If you want to allow kids to go past their app limits in a given day, change today's limit and select "no limit until tomorrow". This applies to all apps. (If this approach doesn't work well for your family or needs, please let us know!)

How should I use app limits?

Most families just set overall daily time limits, and then disallow apps they don't want used at all. However, it can make sense to limit certain apps as a way of reminding us that certain activities on our devices aren't as developmentally healthy as others.

This will look different for every family and kid, but there can be some helpful ways to think about it. We think about the various types of activities on our devices as follows:

1. Audio apps. We typically give these no time limit, since they're often listened to in the background while doing other activities. If your kid is really into making playlists or otherwise spending a bunch of time in there, you might do otherwise.
2. Educational. These are apps like reading, audiobooks, and subject practice that help us grow our knowledge and minds. We don't give these any app-specific limits, but they're still subject to overall daily time limits, since we want to make sure we have plenty of time to get outside, meet with friends, and explore the physical world.
3. Creative. These are apps for things like making art, shooting or editing photography, creating music, or practicing fine skills. Same story as educational apps: no app limits, but still subject to overall time limits.
4. Messaging and FaceTime. These are apps for texting and communicating with family & friends. We don't limit these much (in fact, we often give FaceTime no time limit). The exception is when they start to skew towards social media, with features like big group threads (like WhatsApp) or stories (like Snapchat), in which case we limit them more like social media apps (see below).
5. Video games. These are darn fun and can be great ways to connect with siblings or friends, but they can also be pretty addictive and all-consuming. Like the others, we make them subject to our overall time limits, and then only further limit them if they become a problem, either making us too aggressive after playing (or unable to stop playing), or just feeling like low-quality or unhealthy experiences.
6. Entertainment. These are apps like YouTube, TikTok, Netflix, and other entertainment (usually video-related, but could also be things like following sports). Most of the time we're just vegging out with these, so they're not great but not horribly bad. As a rough gauge, it might make sense to limit entertainment to roughly half of our daily screen time. And if we start getting into unhealthy content, we probably limit it further.
7. Social media. This is probably the trickiest of the bunch, since there is the most concrete research on its negative effects on all of us. Some recent advisories are even recommending waiting until 16 for kids to get social media accounts. In any case, we typically recommend limiting social media pretty heavily, especially with younger kids. If you want to turn them off entirely, select the entire Social Media category and choose a "0 minute" limit.