General: Forums topic: Family Controls Forums tag: Family Controls Configuring Family Controls documentation Requesting the Family Controls entitlement documentation Screen Time Technology Frameworks documentation FamilyControls documentation What's new in Screen Time API video Meet the Screen Time API video

Hello, My request to get the family control entitlement for distribution has been approved on June 30, 2025, for my app with bundle id io.onelife.app.ios. I added a device report extension to it recently, but since then I'm not able to upload a new archive to testflight. The upload fails with error: exportArchive Provisioning profile "iOS Team Store Provisioning Profile: io.onelife.app.ios.YoholDeviceActivityReportExtension" doesn't include the com.apple.developer.family-controls entitlement. I ticked the checkbox in developer.apple.com -> identifiers -> YoholDeviceActivityReportExtension -> Capability, and it seems to have created a new request 9AHY2B7947 on April 23, 2026. Did I miss something ? Should I just wait to have it approved a second time ?

I submitted a Family Controls Distribution entitlement request on 4/22 for my app Prof Blob. I received the confirmation page after submitting, but I have not received any approval, rejection, or status update. We are currently blocked from moving forward with our production release submission due to this entitlement. Details: Request ID: Y2L55S3W34 Team ID: 5AXHQ5ZF3G App: Prof Blob Bundle ID: com.spammusubi.blob-screen-time Related extension bundle IDs: com.spammusubi.blob-screen-time.BlobActivityReportExtension com.spammusubi.blob-screen-time.DeviceActivityMonitorExtension com.spammusubi.blob-screen-time.ShieldActionExtension com.spammusubi.blob-screen-time.ShieldConfigurationExtension Purpose: Individual device management for focus and productivity. Prof Blob is a digital wellbeing / screen time management app that uses Apple’s Screen Time APIs to let users select distracting apps and require a short math-based cognitive gate before opening them. The app uses FamilyControls, DeviceActivity, and ManagedSettings. Development builds are working, but the Family Controls Distribution entitlement is required for production builds, TestFlight validation, and App Store submission. Is there a way to expedite this request or confirm that it is still in review? I would be happy to provide any additional information needed to move the request forward.

I submitted a Family Controls Distribution entitlement request on April 21, 2026 for my app Dopfast. I also resubmitted on April 29, 2026. I received the confirmation page both times but have not received any approval, rejection, or status update. I contacted Developer Support (Case #102879238806) and was told the request is handled by another team and they cannot check the status. Details: Team ID: HSJ6KB4WEZ App: Dopfast (digital wellbeing / screen time management) Bundle ID: com.dopfast Purpose: #2 — individual device management for focus and productivity (personal screen time tracking and app blocking) This entitlement is the only remaining blocker for our App Store submission. The app is fully built and ready to ship. Has anyone experienced similar delays recently? Is there a recommended way to expedite this request?

Hi all, Our team (D36U48VRGM) holds approved Family Controls (Distribution) entitlement on three bundles, all live on the App Store as part of the same app: com.strategieayoub.quranfocus (main app) com.strategieayoub.quranfocus.ShieldAction com.strategieayoub.quranfocus.ShieldConfiguration We've added a fourth target — a DeviceActivityMonitor extension at com.strategieayoub.quranfocus.DeviceActivityMonitor — to replace our current BGProcessingTaskRequest re-shield path. The BGTaskScheduler approach is unreliable for our use case: iOS routinely runs the task hours late or skips it entirely, leaving users' apps unblocked far past the unlock window we promised. DeviceActivityMonitor's intervalDidEnd callback is the only mechanism Apple provides that fires reliably regardless of app state. The new bundle ID is registered, has Family Controls (Development) provisioned, and intervalDidEnd works correctly during local on-device testing. The blocker is Distribution — Xcode's Signing pane shows: "Bundle identifier is using development only version of Family Controls (Development) capability. Please request access to Family Controls (Distribution) to avoid issues when distributing." Two questions: The previous per-asset Family Controls request form has been replaced with a single account-level form that contains no free-text field where I can specify a bundle ID. How does Apple now expect developers with already-approved teams to attach an additional child bundle to that approval? Phone Developer Support said they cannot make entitlement attachments and pointed me back to the form. Is there a documented escalation path? Thanks for any pointers.

Hi, I am looking for help. I submitted my request for Family Conotrols Distribution using the form. I have been waiting for days and didn't get any reply or confirmation email. Thanks.

Hello, I want to echo the DeviceActivityReport "concurrency" problems flagged in https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/720549, and ask a related question. (Thanks to Kmart and other Apple dev support folks who have been monitoring these forums and responding diligently.) I would like to display daily and weekly stats in the same view, broken down by specific apps (as in the native Screen Time). However, instantiating multiple DeviceActivityReport objects with different filters and/or different contexts leads to confusion, where the two views will incorrectly and intermittently swap data or duplicate data where it shouldn't (seemingly upon some interval when the extension provides fresh data). There isn't documentation on how to display multiple reports at once. Is the idea that logic for multiple reports should be embedded within the extension itself in the makeConfiguration() function and there should only be a single DeviceActivityReport in the main App, or is this a bug? Even with a single DeviceActivityReport, I run into inconsistencies where the View provided by the extension takes multiple seconds to load or fails to load altogether. The behavior seems random...I will build the application with the same code multiple times and see different behavior each time. Finally, a plug for better support in the Simulator for the entire set of Screen Time APIs. Thanks!

Hello, I submitted a request for Family Controls (Distribution) approval, and it has now been over 4 days without any update on the status. I understand that review times can vary, but I wanted to check if this delay is expected or if there’s anything I might need to do on my end to help move the process forward. Could anyone from the Apple team or the community provide insight into: Typical processing times for Family Controls distribution requests Whether delays beyond a few days are common Any steps I should take to follow up or expedite the review For reference: Status: Submitted Submission time: April 21, 2026 Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

I've already submitted multiple cases about this issue. My Family Controls Distribution request was apparently approved (or I was told via Developer Support) for my Shield Action & Shield Configuration extensions, but the Distribution option still does not appear in the identifiers. This is blocking my ability to distribute via TestFlight. I need someone who can update the identifier capabilities or explain why the approved capability is not showing.

Hi, I have an approved com.apple.developer.family-controls entitlement for my main app bundle (com.maxflame.prove-it) and submitted a request on April 18, 2026 to extend it to an embedded extension: com.maxflame.prove-it.DeviceActivityMonitorExtension Request ID: 65CKJZ7DQ4 — status still shows "Submitted" with no further response. The extension uses DeviceActivity callbacks and needs to decode FamilyActivitySelection, which requires the entitlement on the extension bundle as well. In my experience, Family Controls entitlement approvals for the main app bundle have come through within 24 hours. It's now been 5 days with no response for this extension request, which seems unusual. Has anyone else gone through this for extension bundle IDs? Did you need to submit a separate request per bundle, or did Apple extend the approval to your extensions automatically once the main app was approved? And has anyone else experienced longer wait times specifically for extension bundles? Any guidance appreciated.

It has been five days since we applied for Family Controls (Distribution) permission, but the status still shows as Submitted. Is there any way to expedite the review process?

I submitted a Family Controls Framework Entitlement request on April 16, 2026 for my iOS app (Team ID: U3BVGVPCEH). After 11 days, the request still shows "Submitted" with no status update or email communication. I submitted two additional requests on April 20 and April 23 thinking the first had failed (no confirmation email was ever received). All three show "Submitted": J5DLD62PNZ — April 16 VV8B272DHZ — April 20 D362NT677B — April 23 I also opened a Developer Support ticket on April 23 with no response yet. Can anyone help me a bit? I cannot distribute my app by Testflight and I need it for my PhD.

Just curious if there is anyway to expedite the FamilyControl entitlement. I have seen few people stuck in this step for few days. I submit mine on the 4/18, and my Case ID: 102874096254 Just want to see if I can see any estimate time for my request. Thanks, Jing

I have a parental control app that uses FamilyControls, ManagedSettings, and DeviceActivityMonitor across two extension targets (DeviceActivityMonitor and ShieldConfiguration). The main app target received its Family Controls (Distribution) entitlement without issue. I then submitted requests for the same entitlement for both extension targets on April 16. Both still show as "Submitted" with no update after 12 days. Two questions: What is the typical turnaround time for extension entitlement requests? The main app was approved relatively quickly. Is there anything additional required for extension targets beyond the standard request? I submitted through the normal entitlement request flow. I didn't include any supplementary documentation as none was requested. These are the last blocker for App Store submission. Any guidance appreciated.

Hello, I have submitted multiple requests for the Family Controls Distribution Entitlement through this form: https://developer.apple.com/contact/request/family-controls-distribution After submitting my requests, I waited for about 1 week but did not receive any response. Since I heard nothing, I contacted Apple Developer Support by email. After that, I finally received a response from an advisor asking for additional information, including my follow-up number. I replied with all the requested information immediately, but it has now been 5 more days and I still have not received any further response. In total, I have been waiting for about 2 weeks for this entitlement request. My app is a Screen Time control / digital wellbeing application that helps users reduce screen time through exercise-based challenges and healthy habits. My app uses the FamilyControls, ManagedSettings, and DeviceActivity frameworks and requires the Distribution Entitlement for App Store release. Here are my details: Case Number: 102866460896 Request Type: Family Controls Distribution Entitlement I understand the team may be busy, but I would appreciate any help checking the status of my request or escalating it if possible. Thank you very much.

Hi, I have an approved com.apple.developer.family-controls entitlement for my main app bundle (com.maxflame.prove-it) and submitted a request on April 18, 2026 to extend it to an embedded extension: com.maxflame.prove-it.DeviceActivityMonitorExtension Request ID: 65CKJZ7DQ4 — status still shows "Submitted" with no further response. The extension uses DeviceActivity callbacks and needs to decode FamilyActivitySelection, which requires the entitlement on the extension bundle as well. In my experience, Family Controls entitlement approvals for the main app bundle have come through within 24 hours. It's now been 5 days with no response for this extension request, which seems unusual. Has anyone else gone through this for extension bundle IDs? Did you need to submit a separate request per bundle, or did Apple extend the approval to your extensions automatically once the main app was approved? And has anyone else experienced longer wait times specifically for extension bundles? Any guidance appreciated.

Hi I am trying to implement a minimal DeviceActivityReport extension. Setup: iOS app with FamilyControls authorization (status = approved) DeviceActivityReport displayed in SwiftUI Report extension embedded in PlugIns Correct NSExtensionPointIdentifier: com.apple.deviceactivityui.report-extension No NSExtensionPrincipalClass or storyboard Entitlements: com.apple.developer.family-controls com.apple.developer.family-controls.app-and-website-usage The app installs and runs correctly. Authorization is granted. However, the extension is never loaded: No logs from the extension (init/body/makeConfiguration never called) Console shows: "Failed to discover the client's extension: DeviceActivityReportService... ClientError Code=2" Environment: Xcode 16.2 iOS device running iOS 18.x (latest available) The .appex is correctly embedded and signed. Question: Is there a known issue with DeviceActivityReport extensions not being discovered at runtime with this setup? Is additional configuration required beyond NSExtensionPointIdentifier? Thanks

I'm writing this post out of genuine desperation after exhausting every official support channel available to me. The situation: I've built a screen time / focus app for students called SınavKilidi, specifically designed for Turkish high school students preparing for the YKS university entrance exam — one of the most high-stakes exams in Turkey, taken by hundreds of thousands of students every year. The exam window is approximately 2 months away. This app is inherently seasonal: if it doesn't reach users before the exam season, an entire year of development becomes irrelevant. The main app binary was approved and is live. Everything on the App Store Connect side is fully ready — metadata, screenshots, pricing, in-app purchases, the works. The blocker: My app uses App Extensions that require the com.apple.developer.family-controls entitlement. The main app target received distribution entitlement approval. However, the extensions — which are architecturally inseparable from the core functionality — have not received the same entitlement. Without this, I cannot submit a working build. The app is literally unshippable in its current state despite the main entitlement being granted. This is not a configuration issue on my end. The entitlement is correctly set up in my provisioning profiles. The gap is purely on Apple's approval side for the extension targets. The support experience: I opened Case #102855522321 on March 29, 2026. Since then: I had a call with Apple Developer Support on April 1 I sent follow-up emails on April 1, April 2, April 3, and April 7 Not a single substantive response. Only automated acknowledgements. That is 10+ days, 4 follow-up emails, 1 phone call, and complete silence on an issue that is actively costing me my launch window. What I'm asking: I'm not asking for special treatment. I understand Apple receives thousands of requests. But this entitlement request is for a legitimate, already-partially-approved app, with a documented real-world deadline, in an educational category that Apple actively promotes. Can anyone from the App Review or Developer Relations team look into Case #102855522321 and provide an actual update? Or can anyone here share whether there's a known delay affecting FamilyControls entitlement approvals for extensions specifically? Any guidance would be deeply appreciated. Every day that passes without a resolution is a day closer to this app missing its entire reason for existing.

My Family Controls (Distribution) capability request (C4N7962252) was approved March 15, 2026 for bundle ID com.jedsiegel.unplugtogether. All three Family Controls capabilities are enabled on the App ID. When I generate a provisioning profile (manual or automatic), Xcode reports: "Provisioning profile doesn't match the entitlements file's value for the com.apple.developer.family-controls entitlement." I decoded the profile using security cms -D and found: com.apple.developer.family-controls.app-and-website-usage → present com.apple.developer.family-controls → missing entirely My entitlements file requires com.apple.developer.family-controls with value ["individual"] for AuthorizationCenter. I've tried toggling capabilities off/on, deleting and recreating profiles, switching between automatic and manual signing, and clearing provisioning profile caches. Nothing works because the profile generation itself is not including the entitlement. Team ID: Q4RA4WMD6K Xcode 26.3, targeting iOS 26.2 Has anyone encountered this? Is there a way to get the provisioning system to include this entitlement?

Some of our users encounter an issue after updating their iPhone/iPad to iOS 17.5.1. The tokens passed in the Shield Configuration extension don't match the tokens they selected in my app using the FamilyPicker before updating to iOS 17.5.1. It seems the tokens changed for no reason. My app can't match the token from the ShieldConfigurationDataSource to any tokens stored on my end, causing my shield screens to turn blank. The same applies to tokens in the Device Activity Report extension. The only workaround I've found is to tell affected users to unselect and reselect apps and websites to block in my app. This gets them new tokens from the FamilyActivityPicker, which solves the issue. However, for some users, the bug reoccurs a few days later. Tokens seem to change again, causing the same issue in the Shield Configuration extension. I am not able to reproduce the issue on my test devices so I have no sysdiagnose to attach. However, this issue is affecting other screen time apps: https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/732845 https://forums.developer.apple.com/forums/thread/756440 FB14082790 FB14111223 A change in iOS 17.5.1 must have triggered this behaviour. Could an Apple engineer give us any updates on this?

Dear Screen Time Team! The current 6 MB memory limit for the DeviceActivityMonitor extension no longer reflects the reality of modern iOS devices or the complexity of apps built on top of the Screen Time framework. When Screen Time APIs were introduced with iOS 15, hardware constraints were very different. Since then, iPhone performance and available RAM have increased significantly…but the extension memory limit has remained unchanged. My name is Frederik Riedel, and I’m the developer of the screen time app “one sec.” Our app relies heavily on FamilyControls, ManagedSettings, and DeviceActivity to provide real-time interventions that help users reduce social media usage. In practice, the 6 MB limit has become a critical bottleneck: The DeviceActivityMonitor extension frequently crashes due to memory pressure, often unpredictably. Even highly optimized implementations struggle to stay within this constraint when using Swift and multiple ManagedSettings stores. The limit makes it disproportionately difficult to build stable, maintainable, and scalable architectures on top of these frameworks. This is not just an edge case…it directly impacts reliability in production apps that depend on Screen Time APIs for core functionality. Modern system integrations like Screen Time are incredibly powerful, but they also require a reasonable amount of memory headroom to function reliably. The current limit forces developers into fragile workarounds and undermines the robustness of apps that aim to improve users’ digital wellbeing. We would greatly appreciate if you could revisit and update this restriction to better align with today’s device capabilities and developer needs. Thank you for your continued work on Screen Time and for supporting developers building meaningful experiences on top of it. Feedback: FB22279215 Best regards, Frederik Riedel (one sec app)