Most kids use their phones and tablets too much for their parents' comfort, so many guardians turn to parental control apps to rein in harmful device habits.
Screen Time is one such app, and it focuses on monitoring behaviors and limiting the time kids spend staring at their screens.
It also adds in an app blocker and a unique task-based reward system, all at a reasonable price.
Although Screen Time does not limit how many devices you can monitor, it lacks location-tracking features and cannot filter websites.
For more control and compatibility with desktop platforms, consider Editors' Choice, Qustodio.
Price and Platforms
Screen Time offers a free Basic version and a Premium plan for $3.99 per month.
You can also pay for the premium version at a discounted rate in six-month ($19.99) or yearly installments ($39.99).
The Basic version includes app and device usage reports, as well as web and search history logging, but it only lets you link a single device to each child profile.
The Premium version features everything in the Basic version, and adds app blocking, usage schedules, Tasks (more on those later), and the Free play mode.
This plan also removes the limit on how many devices you can link with each child.
You can sign up for a free 14-day trial of the Screen Time Premium to try these enhanced capabilities.
Screen Time is a good value when compared to other mobile-only parental control apps.
Boomerang, for example, costs $12 per device per year.
If your children use multiple devices, those costs can add up quickly.
Locategy costs less—depending on how many devices you need to monitor.
For three devices, it costs around $20 per year, and a five-device plan costs $35.
Editors' Choice Qustodio costs $54.95 per year for five device licenses, but it includes support for Macs and PCs, in addition to Android and iOS devices.
If you are specifically looking for a parental control service that works well on desktops in addition to phones and tablets, check out our roundup of the best parental control services.
Getting Started
Setting up Screen Time is as easy as getting started with any other parental control app.
To sign up, you only need to provide a name, email, and password.
The app installation is fairly standard on both platforms.
On Android, you need to give device admin access, a device password, and a couple of other permissions.
On iOS, you have to install a mobile device monitoring (MDM) profile and set up a passcode on the device.
To link the devices to your account, you also need to enter a five-character alphanumerical pairing code, which Screen Time generates for each child.
You should also disable any guest accounts, since Screen Time's restrictions don't apply to those accounts.
We tested Screen Time on a Google Pixel and Nexus 5X running Android 8.1 as well as on an iPhone 8 with iOS 11.
Most of our experience with the app relates to the Android version, especially since some of its main features only work on Android, but we include a section about the iPhone version towards the end of the review.
Web Interface
Although Screen Time is a mobile-first service, you can view reports and create schedules from the web interface.
The console features a purple-and-white color scheme and is easy to navigate via the left-hand menu.
At the bottom, Screen Time places a persistent Free play mode option for easy access, which turns off all the app restrictions and time schedules indefinitely.
I had no performance issues when moving through any of the screens or updating settings.
As for setup options, the Parents section lets you add another person (such as a relative or caregiver) to the account so that they can also monitor and configure rules for your children.
You can find your device pairing code in the Account section, switch to a different language (French, German, Italian, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, or Spanish), or change your password.
To view activity reports or set rules, you need to select the Children tab and then click on the child profile that you wish to view.
To start, you can edit basic information about your child or add a profile photo.
You can also instantly pause a child's device, which prevents them from launching or using any apps.
The Phone and Settings apps are still usable on Android, and all the default apps on iPhone can still be accessed, although none can connect to the Internet when the phone is paused.
This feature is useful when you need to get your child's full attention.
This works well on iOS, but crafty kids can work around this block on Android.
Although Screen Time prevents them from accessing the guest mode via Android's notification tray, kids can still switch into this mode using the Settings app, which is free from monitoring and restrictions.
The dashboard breaks down a child's current rules into three main sections: Daily Limit, Schedules, and Apps.
Below that, Screen Time lists all the child's linked devices, along with their respective settings.
The available options depend on the type of phone your child uses.
For example, my Android phones had sections for App Logs, Daily Totals, Web History, and Search History.
My test iPhone only showed the first two on that list.
You can toggle the main monitoring features from this screen, as well as add or delete devices.
Time Scheduling
Screen Time's Daily Limits feature is a good place to for parents to get started with the business of parental control in this app.
From here, you can set how many hours a child can use their device on weekdays and weekends.
Further down, you choose which apps (or all of them) are subject to the daily time limit, as well as automatically restrict any new ones your child downloads.
Parents should next check the Schedules section.
Screen Time provides a number of default Schedules you can enable and modify to fit your needs.
For example, you can use the Homework schedule to restrict usage between 5 and 6 p.m.
on weekdays.
Alternatively, you can change the schedule name, the hours and days it is active, and the apps for which it applies.
The ability to exempt an individual app could be useful if, for example, your child needs to use their phone's calculator or dictionary app to complete an assignment.
Screen Time also lets you set up your own custom schedules from scratch with the same set of preferences at your disposal.
The last of the pre-built schedules, called Bed Blocker, is the most comprehensive.
First, you select the days for which it is active.
Next, you define a separate bedtime, lights out time, and wake up time.
To clarify, app restrictions begin at bedtime, but it blocks everything after lights out time.
This block remains in effect until the wake-up time.
Screen Time says that the period between bedtime and lights out could be used, for example, to let your child access a reading app.
Keep in mind that the bed blocker works independently of the daily limit.
In testing, Bed Blocker had a few issues.
For example, before the lights-out period, when I tapped the Show Me Apps I Can Still Use button, Screen Time listed both the Phone and Settings app—along with the others for which I had created exemptions.
However, neither the Phone nor Settings app would launch.
The exempted apps worked just fine.
And when the bedtime passed, Screen Time listed both the Phone and Settings again as apps I could still use, though I could actually only launch the Phone app.
This is both annoying and potentially dangerous if a child cannot access the phone due to an incorrect configuration.
Earn Time With Tasks
Kids value their device time, so it can be a powerful motivator.
Screen Time smartly built in a task management feature that allows your kids to earn more time by completing activities and chores.
For example, you could award your children 20 minutes of extra device time if they finish their homework for the night.
It also lets you set up recurring tasks on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.
So, if your child is supposed to take out the trash every night, you can award an extra five minutes of screen time on a nightly basis, if the task is completed.
Furthermore, the implementation is clever.
Parents send out as many tasks as they want and your child can choose which ones to complete and when.
Kids can then mark the task as complete (and optionally attach a photo).
However, a parent needs to verify that the child actually completed said task before he or she gets the extra time.
So, for example, if your kid says they took out the trash, but the kitchen still smells suspiciously like that night's dinner, you can deny the reward and tell them to try again.
App and Web Control
Screen Time's app blocker functionality is easy to use.
At the top of the page, you can easily disable or enable the feature and automatically restrict new apps.
Screen Time lists all of the apps installed on your child's device, which you can disable individually or all at once.
One useful feature is that, if you click the expand arrow under each app, you can see what restrictions and limitations apply to that app.
Although you can set usage schedules and time limits for individual apps with broad strokes, other parental control services make it easier to do so on a per-app basis.
For example, with Qustodio, you can set a total time limit for an app on any given day.
Keep in mind that individual app blocking and related usage reports are limited to the Android variant.
Screen Time doesn't go as far as other parental control apps when it comes to managing your child's web browsing.
It doesn't filter or block sites at all; it's better at monitoring.
The web history section is basic but functional.
It lists every site your child has visited in the past five days in reverse chronological order.
Note, however, that it only works on Chrome.
I confirmed that it did not record browser history when using Firefox Focus, for example.
I like that it includes links to the actual pages to make it easy for parents to vet the appropriateness of the child's browsing habits.
Most other parental control apps, including Kaspersky Safe Kids ($14.99 at Kaspersky) and Boomerang, allow you to set up web filters to prevent your child from accessing potentially dangerous or inappropriate sites in the first place.
Screen Times' web-tracking tool is also only available in its Android app.
Unfortunately, I couldn't test the Search History feature, because (according to the message on the dashboard) "it is not currently available on Android devices running Marshmallow or Nougat." For reference, my test device is running Android 8.1 Oreo and Screen Time did not track my searches.
Screen Time for Android
The parental mode on iOS functions identically to the way it works on the website.
The colors and menus are all consistent, which makes for a uniform cross-device experience.
In fact, the app performs similarly to a web wrapper; some element's positions are not locked down, so you can inadvertently drag them halfway off the screen.
Despite those issues, performance is quick, and all of the settings work the same way as they do on the web.
The child companion app (the one you install on your child's device) is simple.
The main screen shows the total amount of time the child spent using their phone or tablet on a given day.
At the bottom, the app includes icons for accessing Tasks and Settings (which requires the password you created during device setup) as well as a shortcut to the Help Center.
At the bottom, the app shows the remaining time per the child's daily limit.
When your child tries to access a blocked app, Screen Time explains why.
It also gives a couple of actions for kids (show apps they can still use or have used today) and for parents (change blocked settings, temporarily lift block, or uninstall screen Time altogether).
There's no location-tracking features like Locategy and Boomerang offer.
Also, the app is missing an SOS button, in case of emergencies, which could let children quickly send out their location information and a message to a defined group of contacts.
Qustodio and Family Time Premium both offer this feature.
Screen Time for iOS
I tested Screen Time on an iPhone 8 running iOS 11.
Screen Time offers a single app on iOS that you set up in either the child or parent mode.
The Parent mode looks identical to the Android version and works in the same way as well.
The iOS child app is slightly more complex than its Android counterpart.
It retains the purple and yellow color scheme from the web interface and organizes content across four tabs on the bottom: Daily Totals, Tasks, Locations, and More.
The Daily Totals section shows your children how much time they have spent on their devices each day, as well as how much time they have left for the current day.
Tasks let them send a completion note to parents for any tasks they have finished, with the option of adding a photo.
Locations just shows the child's current location.
The More tab is even less exciting.
This last section just shows the account ID, app version number, and the child's name (should they ever forget it).
One missing feature available on the Android variant is the ability for parents to sign in and change Screen Time settings from the app; parents can only do so from another computer, phone, or tablet.
Screen Time has some severe limitations on iOS.
Notably, you cannot track web history, block individual apps, or view app activity reports.
Also, Screen Time rearranges all of the app into alphabetical order once the device emerges from a blocked period, which, to be fair, happens with any parental control apps that rely on an MDM profile.
Screen Time offers a fix for this issue, but you need to follow instructions carefully for the iOS version.
One major flaw is that a child can simply go to the settings and disable the MDM profile.
Anyone can remove this profile simply by entering the passcode created during set up.
However, this implementation is flawed, because this passcode is the same one used to unlock the device.
Unless the parent insists on unlocking the device for their child every time, then this passcode protection is useless.
Healthy Device Habits
Screen Time lets you track and restrict how much time your child spends on his or her phone or tablet.
It also throws in app-blocking and web history logging, though some of these features are exclusive to Android.
We like that it does not limit the number of devices you can assign to each child, but keep...
