Setting restrictions for adult members in Apple Family Sharing

In this guide, we’ll go over what options you have if you want to set limits and restrictions for apps and media content on your adult son or adult daughter’s iPhone or iPad.

For starters, the built-in Screen Time feature in iOS, iPadOS, and macOS allows parents and guardians to set parental restrictions for their child’s device.

A parent can set daily app usage limits, define downtime (a period when no apps are available for use except a few critical communications services like Phone and Maps), enable communication limits (i.e., who their child can call and text), set up restrictions around what websites the kid can visit, block explicit movies, music, books, TV shows, and a lot more.

All a parent needs to do is add their child’s Apple Account to their Family group, and then they can set up and edit the restrictions and monitor the kid’s usage conveniently from their own iPhone, iPad, or Mac by going to Settings > Screen Time > child’s name under the Family heading.

All this sounds great, and it really is.

Now, back to the main topic of this article.

In the eyes of a father or mother, their sons and daughters always remain a ‘child,’ but when it comes to Apple’s digital family setup, once the person turns 18+ (or they are already 18+ and you add them to your Family Sharing), all Screen Time tools to manage restrictions for them go away.

An 18+ individual is considered an adult and is free to set up Screen Time restrictions as they like. You (i.e., parent or guardian) cannot manage their Screen Time from your iPhone, iPad, or Mac, even if they are a part of your Apple Family group.

In fact, there isn’t even an option for an 18+ individual to consent to be managed by their parents.

So, to sum up, you cannot manage restrictions or put any limit on iPhone, iPad, and Mac where your adult/major son or daughter’s Apple Account is logged in.

This leaves you with just three options

1) The best and recommended option: Talk to them upfront, explain everything, and then take their phone or ask them to set up Screen Time restrictions in front of you.

2) The dishonorable option: If you know their device passcode, you can go behind their back and set up Screen Time restrictions without them knowing about it. When setting up the Screen Time passcode, keep these tips in mind so they cannot reset the passcode and turn off the restrictions (the only way they can reset the Screen Time passcode now will be to erase the device, which is a huge step, and something not everyone will be willing to do).

3) The sneaky option: Apple wants all users to use the correct birthday, so everything is tailored appropriately for them. But if you like, you can change the date of birth of your son or daughter’s Apple Account so they stay under 18. This way, you should be able to manage parental restrictions for them for a bit longer (but note that you may have to wait a while for the changes to take effect, or remove and re-add them to your Apple Family group if they continue to show as an ‘adult’ in your Family settings).

Aside from the three options above, there isn’t much you can do to set up and manage parental restrictions on an iPhone, iPad, or Mac belonging to a family member who’s over 18.

In our opinion, the best and only logical route is to talk to them and explain the good and the bad.

Also, check out: 20 simple yet effective tips to reduce your iPhone usage

Source link: https://www.idownloadblog.com/2026/02/13/restrictions-for-adult-family-members/