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Kudos0

Time supervision and app level issues iphone 8+

Posted: 17-Jan-2022 | 8:11AM · 6 Replies ·

I've been using Norton Family on my daughter's android phone for a little over a year. No problems and things worked pretty well.

I just got her an older iphone 8 Plus and there are a couple of issues.

On her android phone I could go into the time screen and set it up to 2hr allowed per day. But now I only see an option for Blocked Hours. I can't setup 2hr per day. Is there a workaround for that? The only option I see is to set up the time with one of the pre-defined profiles but they allow 5hrs of time per day on the weekends which I don't want to do. With the android I had it setup to allow her phone to work from 12p-9p each day but only 2hrs allowed during that 9hr period.

Secondly, if you follow the Norton instructions and setup the allowed app level to 12+, then you can't use the Youtube app on the phone. You have to setup the iphone to 17+ for the allowed app level, which again, I don't want to do because that allows her to load apps that I don't want her to load.

These seem like some pretty serious flaws. Hopefully there is a way to fix this or workaround it.

Labels: iOS, Norton Family, Time Supervision, Child Profile

Replies

Kudos0

Re: Time supervision and app level issues iphone 8+

Posted: 17-Jan-2022 | 10:11AM · Edited: 17-Jan-2022 | 10:16AM · Permalink

Hi @Jonathan_G,

Welcome to Norton Community.

Sorry for the inconvenience caused.

Due to Apple's restrictions, the features work a bit different on Android and iOS. As you have mentioned, in iOS only curfew blocking is possible under Time Supervision and allowance based blocking is not supported. There are more details in this page. The curfew will be enforced based on the Parent timezone that is set in the Norton Family portal (Under Parent --> Edit Profile --> Time Zone) and not based on the device timezone. 

Also, just so that you are aware, the blocking behaviour is different from that on Android. At the start of curfew, all the 3rd party apps installed on the iOS device would be hidden and will be restored once the curfew ends. Please note, that the app icons/folders could rearrange post the restoration. You can find few more details in the "Time Limit Calculation on iOS" section in this page.

The restrictions setup is mainly due to the fact that Apple restricts us from monitoring other apps. We do perform Web & Location Supervision outside of our app. But, other features work mainly within our app's browser and enforcing 12+ app rating would restrict the child from using other open browsers and other social networking apps. When they browse within the app, we would be able to perform Web, Search and Video supervision (YouTube videos watched would be reported to parents).

Please let us know if you have any more queries.

Thanks and Regards,
Andrew.

Kudos0

Re: Time supervision and app level issues iphone 8+

Posted: 17-Jan-2022 | 12:16PM · Permalink

Thanks for your reply Andrew, however I think the page you linked is incorrect.

That page states under the IOS section..

  1. Under Allowed and blocked hours, click or tap on a day and do the following:

    • Select the total hours per day the child can use the device. The default settings for your child are 2 hours for weekdays and 5 hours for weekends.

    • Click or tap and drag around the grid to specify the hours that you want to allow or block the child from using the device. The green blocks represent the timings that are allowed, and the striped gray blocks represent the timings that are blocked.

      Your child can use maximum of the total hours per day during the allowed timings that you set. For example, if you set the total hours allowed per day as 2 hours and select the timings at different intervals for 8 hours during which the child can use the device, then your child can use maximum of 2 hours out of available 8 hours.

    • Repeat the above steps to configure time limits for other days.

    • If you need the same settings for other days, check Apply these settings to all days.

So it says you can set the maximum hours per day, but that option is not available at all. The only option is to set the daily full window of hours, like 12p-9p for example. There is no option to add that during that 9hr span only 2hr are allowed.

Regarding the youtube question, so am I understanding correctly that the only way the youtube app can be used is if the settings are set for 17+, and if I set it to 12+ the Youtube app can't be used, so we would need to use youtube through the Norton browser?

Thanks again!

Kudos0

Re: Time supervision and app level issues iphone 8+

Posted: 17-Jan-2022 | 9:45PM · Permalink

Hi @Jonathan_G,

As you have mentioned, if there is only an iOS device under the Child, you will not see the Allowance option at all. Only curfew setting will be there. We will update the page mentioning the exception. Thanks for your observation. 

Regarding the YouTube question, your understanding is correct.

Thanks and Regards,
Andrew.

Kudos0

Re: Time supervision and app level issues iphone 8+

Posted: 18-Jan-2022 | 7:16AM · Permalink

Thanks Andrew!

So basically there is no way I can setup a 2hr maximum per day allowed within the 9hr time window? I can only choose the predefined 2hr per weekday and 5hr per day weekend times?

I appreciate your help,

Kudos0

Re: Time supervision and app level issues iphone 8+

Posted: 18-Jan-2022 | 7:30AM · Permalink

Hi @Jonathan_G,

Just to confirm, for an iOS device, you can only set Time curfew (using the time blocks) and not allowance. Even the predefined values of 2 hrs in weekday and 5 hrs in weekend will not be set for iOS device as time usage calculation is not available on the iOS app side. The allowance based time supervision works only on Android and Windows devices. 

Please let us know in case of any queries.

Thanks and Regards,
Andrew.

Kudos1 Stats

Re: Time supervision and app level issues iphone 8+

Posted: 18-Jan-2022 | 8:28AM · Permalink

Oh wow, thanks Andrew.

Well, I have to shop for a new solution then. Giving my daughter 9hrs per day of phone time isn't a good solution.

Thanks again,

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