Balanced Play › Limiting iPhone & iPad screen time
Why no app can limit your kid's iPhone — and the setup that does
If you've searched for an app to control your child's iPad screen time, here's the honest answer nobody leads with: Apple doesn't allow it. Not us, not anyone. What does work is locking the device to request-only — so every extra minute has to come through you.
Balanced Play limits game time on the Switch, Xbox, PlayStation, Steam, Windows PC and Android automatically. On iPhone and iPad, we can't — and we'd rather tell you exactly why than show you a number we made up.
Why iOS is different (and it's not just us)
Every other platform we support gives parents a control we can talk to on your behalf — a daily limit we can read and set. Apple deliberately doesn't.
Apple's parental system, Screen Time, and the developer framework behind it (Family Controls / DeviceActivity) were built so that an approved app can hide or block apps on the same device — but can never send what it sees off that device. The usage data is walled inside the iPhone by design, as a privacy decision. There is no Apple cloud service a parental app can call to ask "how long did they play today?" or to say "give them 30 minutes."
The tell: any app promising to track your child's iPhone usage from your phone isn't using Screen Time — it's routing the child's traffic through a VPN, or installing an MDM device-management profile meant for company-owned phones. Both are heavier, more fragile, and more invasive than Apple's own tools. We won't ship that.
So on iOS the most honest, most durable control is the one already on the device — used the right way.
Lock the iPad to request-only
The goal is simple: the child can play up to a set amount, and after that the only thing they can do is ask you for more — which lands as a tap on your phone. Here's the setup, once, about five minutes.
1. Make it your family, on your Apple ID
Set the iPad up under Family Sharing with you as the organizer and the child as a child account. This is what puts you — not the kid — in charge of the switches below.
2. Turn on Screen Time with a passcode only you know
Settings → Screen Time → turn on → Use Screen Time Passcode. Pick a code the child doesn't know and wouldn't guess (not your phone unlock). This single step is what stops them turning the whole thing off.
3. Set the limit — and make it request-only
Use App Limits on Games (or the specific apps), or set Downtime for the hours play isn't allowed. Then the key switch: turn on Block at End of Limit (and, under Downtime, Block During Downtime). Without this, the child can tap "Ignore Limit" and walk right through it.
4. Close the two reset loopholes
Under Screen Time → Content & Privacy Restrictions: block Deleting Apps (so they can't uninstall-and-reinstall to wipe the counter) and turn on Ask to Buy (so new downloads need your approval too).
5. That's it — now every extra minute is a request
When the limit is hit, the child's only option is Ask For More Time. That sends a notification to your iPhone, where you approve 15 minutes, an hour, or the rest of the day — or say no. Nothing unlocks without you.
Why request-only, and not a silent timer? Because Screen Time will happily count down and then let a determined kid extend or ignore it. Turning off the self-service overrides converts it from a limit they can argue with into a door only you can open.
How this fits your one pooled budget
Everywhere else, Balanced Play adds up game time across devices automatically and locks them together when the shared budget is spent. iPad time is the one piece we can't meter for you — so you hold it manually: set the iPad's Screen Time limit to match the child's game budget, and approve or deny the "more time" requests with the same daily total in mind. Every other screen stays automatic; the iPad becomes a door with you at the handle.
One budget for every screen we can reach — and honesty about the one we can't
Automatic limits on Switch, Xbox, PlayStation, Steam, Windows PC and Android, pooled into a single daily budget. Launching this year.
Works across the Switch, Steam, Windows PC, PlayStation and Android. No card, no spam.
Frequently asked
Can a third-party app limit iPhone or iPad screen time?
No. Apple lets an approved app hide or block apps on the same device, but never lets it send usage data off the device or set a limit remotely. There's no cloud API for it. Apps that claim to do it remotely use a VPN or an MDM profile, not Screen Time.
Why can't Balanced Play integrate with iOS like it does with Switch or Xbox?
Those platforms give parents a limit we can read and set. Apple keeps Screen Time entirely on the device, so there's nothing for our service to read or write. We'd rather say so than invent a number.
Is there any workaround?
Yes — Apple's own Screen Time, locked to request-only: a passcode only you know, App Limits or Downtime with "Block at End of Limit" on, app deletion disabled, and Ask to Buy on. Then the child can only request more time, and the request comes to you.
Do the VPN or MDM "screen time" apps work?
They can, but at a cost: a VPN reroutes all your child's internet traffic through a company's servers, and an MDM profile hands deep device control to an app built for corporate phones. Both break more easily than Apple's tools and see far more than a limit needs to. We don't think that trade is worth it.