iOS 27 Screen Time is Apple’s biggest parental-controls rebuild in years. You can now approve websites, cap categories like games and social media, and vet new contacts, but only if your child has a Child Account and every family device is updated. Here’s what to switch on first.
Here are the facts you need at a glance.
- Ask to Browse, Time Allowances, Schedules and contact approval are the headline additions.
- Child Accounts are required under 13 and available through age 18.
- Every device in your Family Sharing group needs the 27 release of its operating system.
- Ask to Browse is confirmed for Safari on iPhone, iPad and Mac.
- Apple published a free families guide on September 29, 2026.
If any of that is missing, the new controls simply won’t show up for your child.
What’s actually new in iOS 27 Screen Time
Apple showed the changes at WWDC in June, and they landed with the iOS 27 release. Most of them extend the “ask first” idea Apple already uses for App Store purchases.
| Feature | What it does | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Ask to Browse | Your child asks, you approve a new website | Confirmed for Safari |
| Time Allowances | Daily limits for Entertainment, Games and Social Media | Set per category, not just per app |
| Schedules | Choose which apps work at which times of day | Handy for school hours and bedtime |
| Contact approval | You approve new contacts before your child adds them | Covered apps are not fully clear |
| Communication Safety | Warns about nudity, and now gore and violence | On by default for under-18s |
The detail on categories comes from Tom’s Guide, which covered the WWDC announcement. If you want the wider picture of what updating brings, our iOS 27.2 features rundown is a good companion.
Ask to Browse: approve sites before your child lands on them
Until now, blocking the web meant a blunt list of banned sites. Ask to Browse flips that. When your child tries a site they haven’t visited, they send you a request and you decide.
It works like Ask to Buy does for apps, and it covers Safari on iPhone, iPad and Mac. Apple has only confirmed Safari so far, so don’t assume it catches web views inside other apps. Gadget Hacks flagged that as an open question.
Test it yourself on your child’s device before you rely on it. Ten minutes of poking around beats a month of guessing.
Time Allowances and Schedules that fit a real school day
The old Screen Time limits were all-or-nothing. The new Time Allowances let you give games one hour and social media thirty minutes, instead of one big timer for everything.
Schedules add the clock. You can allow messaging and maps during school but block games, then flip it after dinner. Because it works by app category, you don’t have to hunt down every new game your child installs.
You can also see average daily use and top apps from the Screen Time dashboard. That’s useful before you set limits, because the real numbers are often a surprise.
Two catches to know before you start
The first catch is the update rule. According to MacRumors, the new Screen Time needs every device in a Family Sharing group on iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, watchOS 27 or visionOS 27. One old iPad in a drawer can hold things up.
The second is a loophole. At announcement time, Gadget Hacks reported, citing The Verge, that a child could reinstall a deleted app from purchase history without asking you. That report dates from June, so check whether it’s still true on your own setup.
Practically, don’t treat “delete the app” as a block. Use a Time Allowance or a Schedule to limit it instead.
A 10-minute setup order that works
Apple’s own guide, built with the American Academy of Pediatrics, starts with a conversation, not a setting. That’s good advice, and it also makes the rules easier to enforce. Then work through this order.
- Update every Apple device in your Family Sharing group.
- Create or confirm a Child Account for each kid.
- Turn on Ask to Buy and Ask to Browse.
- Set Time Allowances, then add Schedules for school and bedtime.
- Turn on contact approval and check which apps it covers.
That order matters because each step depends on the one before it. Skipping the update is the most common reason the new options don’t appear.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does iOS 27 Screen Time work without a Child Account?
No. The new controls are tied to Child Accounts, which are required under 13 and available through 18.
Why don’t I see Ask to Browse on my child’s iPhone?
Most likely a device in your Family Sharing group hasn’t updated yet. Update every device to the 27 release and check again.
Does Ask to Browse work in Chrome or other browsers?
Apple has only confirmed Safari. Treat other browsers as unprotected until Apple says otherwise, or limit them with a Schedule.
Is Communication Safety on by default?
Yes, for users under 18, per Apple’s families guide. It now also covers gore and violent content, not just nudity.
Bottom line
Set it up this weekend, but go in with realistic expectations. The new tools are a real step up, especially Ask to Browse and category limits, yet they work best alongside a conversation and a quick test of the gaps. If your family mixes old and new Apple devices, update first, because nothing else works until you do.
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