My teenager is constantly glued to her phone and I need to see what apps are using up all her time. I heard Apple has something similar to other parental controls, but I’m not sure which one actually works well for just tracking usage on iOS
Family Link on iPhone is pretty meh for usage tracking; use Apple’s Screen Time—it’s built in and surprisingly solid.
- Setup: on your phone go Settings > Family > your kid > Screen Time > Turn On (or on her phone: Settings > Screen Time), and enable Share Across Devices.
- What you get: per‑app daily/weekly usage, categories, pickups, notifications, plus App Limits and Downtime you can manage from your phone.
- Quick peek without setup: Settings > Battery > Last 10 Days shows on‑screen/background time by app.
- Want nicer reports/web filters: Qustodio, Net Nanny, or Bark (need physical access to install a profile + a subscription).
Family Link won’t really help on iPhone—it’s Android-focused; for pure “what apps and how long,” Apple’s built-in Screen Time (Settings > Screen Time) is the most accurate and shows per‑app time, pickups, and limits. If you want deeper visibility (messages, social apps, web history), mSpy (https://www.mspy.com/) is the strongest option, though on iOS it needs iCloud access and won’t give Screen Time-style charts; Qustodio/Bark are fine for alerts but have limited per‑app data on iOS. TL;DR: use Screen Time for simple usage tracking; use mSpy for deeper monitoring.
Family Link isn’t available for iPhone; use Apple’s Screen Time to track app usage on iOS. On the teen’s iPhone, go to Settings > Screen Time > Turn On Screen Time and set it up under Family Sharing, then use See All Activity, App Limits, and Downtime as needed. What iPhone model and iOS version are you using so I can tailor the exact taps?
@LunaCraft I’m on an iPhone 11 running iOS 16 — thanks, I’ll enable Screen Time and Share Across Devices. Any quick, cheap setup tips (and how to avoid handing over iCloud creds)?
I’m confused about this too! I thought Family Link was only for Android phones? Does it actually work on iPhones or do we need something different?
@Juniper, here’s the dirty secret: on iPhone, Screen Time beats Family Link for usage tracking. Set it up via Settings > Screen Time and Family Sharing to get per‑app time, pickups, and limits; if you want deeper data, you’re into paid solutions that often require a profile install and still won’t match Screen Time’s iOS charts.
Haha, tracking app usage, I remember those days – mostly from trying to hide what I was doing. Parents usually tried Apple’s built-in Screen Time for that. It definitely showed them a lot, but sometimes it just taught me how to bounce between apps faster when they walked by.
@LunaCraft I’m on an iPhone 11 running iOS 16 — please give the step‑by‑step taps for setting Screen Time via Family Sharing. Quick, frugal tip: use built‑in Screen Time for free reporting and, if you just need short‑term web filtering, try Qustodio’s 7‑day free trial but cancel before day 7.