Downtime Not Working on iPhone? Fixes for iOS 27 and Older

If Downtime isn't blocking anything, check two settings first: set a Screen Time passcode, then turn on Block at Downtime in Settings → Screen Time → Downtime. Without both, Downtime only dims your apps and shows a reminder you can tap past. If an app still opens after that, it's almost always in your Always Allowed list.

One catch: on iOS 27, Downtime has a new name. Check your version first.

Which version of Screen Time do you have?

Go to Settings → General → About and look at the iOS version.

• iOS 27: Apple replaced Downtime with Screen Time Schedule, and App Limits with Time Allowances. Apple says these features need iOS 27, iPadOS 27 or macOS 27 (or later) on all your Apple devices.
• iOS 16 to 26: you have the classic Downtime, App Limits and Always Allowed. Skip to the iOS 16–26 section below.

If you're on iOS 27 but still see Downtime and App Limits, follow the iOS 16–26 steps. The new features only appear once every device on your account runs iOS 27.

How do I fix Downtime on iOS 27?

On iOS 27, "Downtime" is now part of a schedule made of time windows. Each window says which Time Allowance categories (like Entertainment, Games or Social Media) you can use in it.

1. Settings → Screen Time → Screen Time Schedule, then turn on Schedule.
2. Tap Add Schedule, choose the days, then tap a Time Window to set its start and end times and the categories allowed in it.
3. In Settings → Screen Time → Time Allowances, turn on Match Screen Time Schedule. Otherwise your allowances don't follow the windows.
4. Check Settings → Screen Time → Always Allowed. Anything there stays available whatever your schedule or allowances say.
5. To stop yourself changing all of this on a whim, set a passcode: Settings → Screen Time → Manage Screen Time → Lock Screen Time Settings.

Two iOS 27 details explain a lot of "it's not working" moments:

• Websites can count too. If an app declares an associated website, Apple applies its Time Allowance to that site as well.
• Sync is all or nothing. Apple moved Share Across Devices to Settings → Screen Time → Manage Screen Time. When it's on, your schedules and allowances apply to your iPhone, iPad and Mac. When it's off, each device keeps its own settings.

Apple's iOS 27 guide doesn't describe a "Block at Downtime" switch or an "Ignore" screen for schedules you set on yourself. The only lock it documents for your own settings is the Screen Time passcode.

Why is Downtime not working on iOS 16–26?

Go through this list in order. The first two cover most cases.

1. Block at Downtime is off. Apple's wording is direct: with it off, "you see a reminder that it's downtime, but you can choose to continue using the apps."
2. There's no Screen Time passcode, so the Block at Downtime switch doesn't even appear.
3. The app is in Always Allowed. Phone, Messages, FaceTime and Maps are allowed by default.
4. Scheduled is off, or App & Website Activity is off. Turning off App & Website Activity also turns off Downtime.
5. The clock or time zone is wrong, so the schedule runs at the wrong hours.
6. Share Across Devices is pulling in a different schedule from another device.
7. An iOS bug. Several Screen Time bugs were reported on iOS 26.x.

How do I make Downtime actually block apps?

These steps work on iOS 16 through 26.

1. Set a Screen Time passcode

Settings → Screen Time → Lock Screen Time Settings (called Use Screen Time Passcode on iOS 16). Use a code that's different from your phone passcode. If someone else types it, you won't know it at 1am. We explain that setup in How to remove "Ignore Limit" in Screen Time.

2. Turn on Block at Downtime

Settings → Screen Time → Downtime → Block at Downtime. Apple says blocked apps "can't be opened during downtime — they appear dimmed with an hourglass icon." Getting past that screen then needs the passcode.

3. Trim Always Allowed

Settings → Screen Time → Always Allowed. Remove anything you don't need at night. Keep what matters for emergencies, like Phone.

4. Check who can reach you

Settings → Screen Time → Communication Limits → During Downtime. This controls calls, FaceTime and messages during Downtime, separately from your app list. Calls to known emergency numbers are always allowed.

5. Check the schedule and the clock

In Settings → Screen Time → Downtime, make sure Scheduled is on and the times are right. With Customize Days, each day has its own times, so check today's. Then go to Settings → General → Date & Time and make sure Set Automatically is on.

6. Sort out syncing

On iOS 16–26, Share Across Devices is a switch near the bottom of Settings → Screen Time. Apple says that when it's on, "any Screen Time limits or schedules you set apply to your iPhone, iPad, and Mac." If a schedule you changed on your iPad keeps coming back, turn it off on each device, restart them, and set the schedule again on the device you care about.

Why isn't YouTube or TikTok blocked during Downtime?

If YouTube still plays at 11pm, go through these causes:

• It's in Always Allowed. Check the list.
• Block at Downtime is off, so YouTube is only dimmed and opens after you tap past the reminder.
• You're watching on the website. Downtime blocks apps. If Safari is in Always Allowed, youtube.com and tiktok.com still work. Take Safari off the list, or block those sites under Content & Privacy Restrictions.
• It's another device. Downtime only applies to devices that share the schedule. An iPad that isn't syncing won't follow your iPhone's Downtime.

For more on the gaps every version of Screen Time leaves open, see Screen Time loopholes: how limits get bypassed.

What does "Ignore Downtime Until Schedule" mean?

When a scheduled Downtime is running, Settings → Screen Time → Downtime shows a button called Ignore Downtime Until Schedule. If you turned Downtime on by hand, it says Turn Off Downtime instead.

Tapping Ignore Downtime Until Schedule ends the current Downtime straight away. The schedule stays on, so Downtime comes back at its next scheduled start, usually the next evening. That's why it can feel like Downtime "stopped working" for one night and then fixed itself.

The opposite also happens. When you schedule Downtime, Apple sends a reminder 5 minutes before it starts. That reminder lets you turn Downtime on early, until the scheduled start.

To switch Downtime off for good, turn off Scheduled. With a Screen Time passcode set, Apple requires it before you change your Screen Time settings.

Why won't Downtime turn on at the scheduled time?

First re-check the basics above (Scheduled, App & Website Activity, today's times, Set Automatically). Then the known causes:

• Settings that reset themselves. In 2023, Apple told the Wall Street Journal that "some users may experience an issue where screen time settings are unexpectedly reset". Scheduled Downtime was one of the settings affected. Re-check your schedule after every iOS update.
• iOS 26 bugs. On iOS 26, users reported that tapping One More Minute during Downtime applied to every app, not just the one they were using, and then locked them all when the minute ran out. On iOS 26.2, some reported limited apps staying off after Downtime ended until they restarted the phone. Update in Settings → General → Software Update, and restart if the schedule behaves oddly.
• A schedule synced from another device. If Downtime starts at a time you never set, look at the schedule on your other devices that use the same Apple Account.

If nothing helps, delete the schedule, restart your iPhone and create it again. A broken setting is a common cause, as with App Limits. We cover those fixes in Screen Time limits not working: 8 fixes.

Why isn't Screen Time resetting at midnight?

Apple says App Limits "refresh every day at midnight". Midnight means your iPhone's clock, so a wrong time zone or a manually set clock moves the reset. Keep Set Automatically on.

If a limit already looks used up first thing in the morning, check Share Across Devices. With it on, usage from your iPad and Mac counts too, so late-night iPad use after midnight eats into today's limit. On iOS 26, users also reported limits applying too early, so updating iOS is worth doing. On iOS 27, Time Allowances use the same idea: apps stay usable until a category's allowance or your daily total runs out.

What if Downtime works, but you still don't stop?

If everything above is set and you still end up on TikTok at midnight, the problem is the design, not a bug. You set the schedule and you know the passcode. Apple built these controls mainly for parents, who hold a code their child doesn't know.

The fixes that last share one thing: you can't undo them in the moment. Have someone else set the passcode, or use a tool built for self-control. Detox has scheduled blocks for sleep hours with a strict mode: while the block is active you can't edit or delete it, and Detox can stop you deleting the app itself. There's one emergency unblock per 24 hours, and it's logged. It's iPhone and iPad only, paid, with a free trial. For the bedtime side of this, see How to stop using your phone before bed.

The bottom line

On iOS 16–26, Downtime only really blocks apps with a Screen Time passcode, Block at Downtime on, and a short Always Allowed list. On iOS 27, set up Screen Time Schedule with Match Screen Time Schedule on in Time Allowances. On either version, keep the clock on automatic and check what Share Across Devices is syncing. If the settings are right and you still tap past them, use a lock you can't open at 11pm.