How to let a friend hold your Screen Time passcode

If you set your own Screen Time limits, you also know the passcode, so “Ignore Limit” is one tap away. The fix many people use is to hand the passcode to someone else. Here is how to do it with the iPhone’s built-in Screen Time, and where it falls short.

The manual way (free, built into iOS)

Open Settings → Screen Time and turn on App Limits for the apps you want to limit.
Tap Lock Screen Time Settings (or Use Screen Time Passcode).
Hand your phone to a friend and let them type a four-digit passcode you don’t see.
When a limit hits, you ask them to come over and type it, or to tell you the code.

Where it breaks

Your friend has to be next to your phone to unlock it, or tell you the code, after which you know it.
“Forgot Passcode?” lets you reset it with your own Apple Account, so the lock depends on you not doing that.
Every time the code leaks, you both have to set a new one.

The same idea, without the hassle

Azukari does this with Apple’s Screen Time permission. You pick the apps on your iPhone and lock them; a friend holds the key on their own phone. To get back in, you ask from your phone, and they can give you a timed break, unlock you, or say no, from anywhere. If you turn off Azukari’s Screen Time access during a lock, your friend gets a notification.

Only the person who creates the group subscribes, and the yearly plan starts with a 7-day free trial. Friends join free.

Download Azukari on the App Store

Setting limits for a child instead? Family locks let a parent hold the key and set the lock times.