Screen Time limit or Downtime not working? How to fix it

By default, a limit is a reminder

Apple’s iOS 26 documentation says: “By default, Screen Time limits can be ignored once reached.” So if Block at Downtime is off, Downtime only shows a reminder and you can keep using the apps. Apple designed it that way; it is not a bug.

When Block at Downtime is on, restricted apps cannot be opened during Downtime. They appear dimmed with an hourglass icon. Apple offers this choice only when a Screen Time passcode is set.

Check these settings on iOS 26

1. ⚙️ Settings → Screen Time: make sure App & Website Activity is on.
2. Set a Screen Time passcode. Without it, you cannot choose to block apps completely during Downtime.
3. Tap Downtime and turn on Block at Downtime.
4. Check Always Allowed. An app in that list stays available during Downtime and after its limit.
5. Open App Limits and check that the limit includes the right app or category, and the right days if you used Customize Days.

Check these points on iOS 27

iOS 27 replaces Downtime and App Limits with Screen Time Schedules and Time Allowances. Apple says they need iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, watchOS 27, visionOS 27 or later on all your Apple devices, so one old iPad or Mac can be enough to break them. Update that device first.

Then check Always Allowed. Time Allowances apply to categories such as Social Media, Entertainment and Games, so also check that the app you want to limit is in the category you set.

If you ignore limits you set yourself

A passcode you know stops you for as long as it takes to type it. Some people ask someone else to set the Screen Time passcode and keep it. Others use an app blocker with no ignore option at all.

Bouncer is one of those. A blocked app shows a shield with no unblock button, so you have to go through Bouncer to get in. The Rule’s Level sets the price: a short wait on Normal, a wait that grows after each successful unblock on High, and on Lockdown no temporary unblock until the window ends.

Changing or turning off an active Normal or High Rule costs the same wait, unless temporary access is already running, and an active Lockdown cannot be edited. Blocking still runs on Apple’s system services, so no app can rule out every workaround. To set it up, follow how to block apps on iPhone; to see how other apps handle this, read the app blocker comparison.