App Limits should be straightforward: one hour of games, then the icon greys out. Instead, many parents find the limit ignored, reset, or never triggered at all. Almost every case comes down to one of eight causes, and most take a minute to fix.
Menu names below match recent iOS versions; older versions may differ slightly.
1. Block at End of Limit Is Off
This is the most common cause by far. When a limit runs out and Block at End of Limit is off, your child sees an option to ignore the limit and carry on. Fix: Open Settings > Screen Time > App Limits (under your child's name if you use Family Sharing), tap each limit, and turn on Block at End of Limit. Do it for every limit; it is set per limit, not once for all.
2. There's No Screen Time Passcode, or Your Child Knows It
Without a Screen Time passcode, anyone can extend or delete a limit. With a passcode your child has seen you type, they can do the same. Fix: Set a Screen Time passcode that is different from the phone's unlock code, and enter it where your child cannot watch. If you have lost it, here is how to reset a forgotten Screen Time passcode.
3. The App Isn't in the Category You Limited
Limits can be set on a category, like Games or Social, or on specific apps. Apple puts each app in one category, and not always the one you would expect, so a Social limit can miss an app Apple files somewhere else. Fix: Put the limit on the app itself. To check, open your child's Screen Time activity and view it by category.
4. They Switched to the Website
A limit on an app does not cover the same service in Safari. When the app greys out, the website still works. Fix: When you create or edit a limit, add the matching websites as well as the app. App Limits can include websites.
5. The Limit Is Different on Some Days
Each limit can use Customize Days, and a weekend setting that is more generous, or one day left with no limit, looks like a broken limit. Fix: Open the limit and check each day under Customize Days.
6. The Clock Moved
App Limits reset at midnight by the device's clock. A child who changes the time or time zone can reset or stretch the day. Fix: On the child's iPhone, open Settings > General > Date & Time and turn on Set Automatically. For the other ways kids get round limits, see how kids get around iPhone Screen Time.
7. Another Device Doesn't Share the Limit
An hour of games on the iPhone plus an hour on the iPad is two hours, unless both devices count against one limit. That only happens when both are signed into your child's Apple Account with Share Across Devices on. Fix: Check the Apple Account on each device and turn on Share Across Devices in Screen Time.
8. It's the iOS 26 App Limits Bug
Parents have reported App Limits failing entirely on some iOS 26 releases, even with every setting correct. Fix: Update iOS on both your iPhone and your child's. Then delete the broken limit, restart the child's iPhone, and create the limit again with Block at End of Limit on. That clears most stuck limits. If it does not, the reset steps in our iPhone Screen Time not working guide are the last resort.
When the Limit Works but the Arguments Don't Stop
A limit that fires perfectly still ends the same way: a blocked app and a request for more. Tap Guardian sets daily limits from one parent app, without Family Sharing or a child Apple Account, and lets your child earn extra time by finishing tasks you approve, like homework, chores or reading. Your child can see exactly how much time is left, on iPhone and Android.
Final Thoughts
Start with Block at End of Limit and the passcode; together they explain most failures. Then cover categories, websites, weekdays, the clock and other devices. If limits work but the requests for more time never reach you, see Ask for More Time not working. If the problem is bedtime rather than daytime, see iPhone Downtime not working.