How is my child exceeding Screen Time limit on iPhone?

Then, in my opinion, this is a parenting issue. Ask your child how he is getting around your settings. Reinforce the idea that you want to limit his screen time for his own good. If you can’t trust him to be straightforward with you then you have other issues to deal with. Or consider taking the iPhone away if he won’t come clean and follow your rules of use.

Here are some tricks found on the internet they use to get around parental control...

Kids can be surprisingly clever when it comes to bypassing parental screen time settings. Here are some common tricks they use:

1. Changing the Time Zone or System Time

• Some screen time systems rely on device time, so changing the time zone or manually setting the clock back can trick the system.

2. Using a Different Account or Guest Mode

• Creating a second user account or logging in as a guest can give them unrestricted access if those modes aren’t locked down.

3. Resetting the Device

• Doing a factory reset wipes all parental controls—though this usually comes with the cost of losing data (unless they back it up cleverly).

4. Borrowing Another Device

• Just jumping on a sibling’s phone, a friend's tablet, or a school computer.

5. Using Web Proxies or VPNs

• These can help bypass content restrictions and limits if the parental control system doesn’t block VPN usage.

6. Using iMessage, Siri, or Notifications

• On iPhones, some kids can send messages or access certain features via Siri or message replies from the lock screen—even when screen time is active.

7. App Reinstallation Trick

• Deleting and reinstalling apps can sometimes reset app-specific timers.

8. Screen Recording or Remote Mirroring

• Using screen mirroring to another device or recording their screen can let them "watch" content outside of the app limits.

9. Changing Settings with Parental Passwords

• If they learn or guess the password (or see it being typed), they can disable or tweak limits.

Credit: ChatGPT

I have also had this problem, but it is only happening for a few of the apps on the phone where the screen time limit doesn’t go off so now I have to confiscate the phone a iPad every night, there has to be a bug or something Apple doesn’t care to fix

Your child is likely more savvy than you when it comes to technology. Probably figured out your parental control password.

The bug is your child being smarter than you are.