Parents often rely on Apple’s built-in parental control feature, Screen Time, to monitor their kids’ iPad usage. However, this system has been plagued by bugs, including a serious one that allowed children to access inappropriate content on the internet despite parental settings. According to a report by Joanna Stern for The Wall Street Journal, researchers Andreas Jägersberger and Ro Achterberg discovered a loophole that allowed kids to bypass content restrictions by entering a specific string of characters into Safari’s browser bar.
Despite reporting this bug to Apple twice in 2021, the researchers were initially told that it was not a security flaw and were directed to Apple’s feedback tool for software bugs. It wasn’t until they contacted Stern that Apple acknowledged the issue and promised a fix in the next iOS update. While Apple maintains that the flaw was a software issue rather than a security vulnerability, it’s reassuring to know that the problem is being addressed.
The incident highlights the challenges faced by parents using Apple’s parental control software, which has been criticized for its functionality issues. Some common problems include not receiving requests for more screen time or encountering a blank screen on the usage chart. Apple has made efforts to address these issues in recent software updates, but there are still limitations that hinder third-party parental control apps from competing with Screen Time effectively.
In 2019, Apple restricted third-party parental control apps in favor of its own Screen Time feature, citing concerns about misuse of enterprise-focused mobile device management profiles. This decision sparked controversy and led to demands from app developers for an API that would allow them to compete with Apple while ensuring data security. Apple eventually introduced an API in 2021, but developers have noted that it has limitations that make it challenging to offer the same level of control as MDM apps.
While some users may resort to MDM apps like Qustodio for more advanced controls, these apps come with their own set of challenges, such as the need to install an app on both parent and child devices and create MDM profiles with deep access. This leaves parents with limited options for effective parental control and places them at the mercy of Apple for fixes and updates.
Despite these issues, Apple has made efforts to address bugs and improve its parental control features, such as fixing the bug with Downtime limits in a recent iOS update. However, the lack of transparency around these fixes and the limitations of the API for third-party apps continue to be a concern for users.
