What Ignore Limit does in iPhone Screen Time
When you reach an App Limit in iPhone Screen Time, the screen that appears has an Ignore Limit button. Apple's iPhone User Guide describes the result in one sentence: "By default, Screen Time limits can be ignored once reached."
What Apple's guides say
These points come from two pages of Apple's iPhone User Guide for iOS 26: Set schedules with Screen Time and Get started with Screen Time.
- An App Limit caps the time you spend in a category of apps or in individual apps each day. By default, the limit can be ignored once it is reached.
- Downtime is a schedule. During Downtime, only calls, messages and the apps you allow are available.
- Block at Downtime is a switch under Downtime that Apple offers once you set a Screen Time passcode. When it is on, restricted apps can't be opened during Downtime and appear dimmed with an hourglass icon. When it is off, you see a reminder that it is Downtime, and you can choose to continue using the apps. Apple's guide points to this switch as the way to prevent limits from being ignored.
- Always Allowed is a list of apps and contacts that stay available during Downtime and after you reach time limits. An app on that list is not stopped by a limit.
- Turning off App & Website Activity turns off reporting, Downtime, App Limits and Always Allowed.
Apple's Mac guide describes one more switch for App Limits, Block at end of limit, which blocks the app when the limit expires.
What a Screen Time passcode changes
Apple's passcode guide says a Screen Time passcode must be entered before you can change any Screen Time settings. You create it in the Screen Time settings under Lock Screen Time Settings. It is four digits, and it is not the passcode that unlocks your iPhone.
Apple recommends adding Screen Time Passcode Recovery when you create the passcode. It lets you reset the passcode with your Apple Account. Apple says that without it you can't remove or reset the passcode, and Apple can't provide it.
What keeps a limit in place
- Set a Screen Time passcode and ask someone you trust to type it, so you don't know it. Anyone who knows the passcode can change the settings, including turning off App & Website Activity.
- Turn on Block at Downtime, which needs the passcode.
- Keep the app off the Always Allowed list.
- Check that App & Website Activity is on.
If you are on iOS 27
Apple's iOS 27 guide describes Screen Time Schedules and Time Allowances in place of the Downtime and App Limits steps in its earlier guides. They need iOS 27 on all of your Apple devices. Always Allowed still applies regardless of schedules or Time Allowances. Apple's iOS 27 pages don't describe what happens when a Time Allowance runs out, so check Settings > Screen Time on your phone.
Schlep as one option
Schlep is an iPhone app for iOS 17 or later. It uses Apple's Screen Time system to lock the apps you pick. Its lock screen asks for steps and has no Ignore Limit button. By default, 1,000 steps earns 10 minutes on your locked apps. The Easier rate gives 15 minutes per 1,000 steps and the Strict rate gives 5. Easy mode starts each day with 30 free minutes on your locked apps, and Hard mode starts at zero. Deleting Schlep, or turning off its Screen Time access, removes every lock at once.
It costs $9.99 a month or $29.99 a year, with no free version. How it works: an iPhone app that locks your apps until you walk. Other apps that work this way: walk to unlock apps for iPhone, compared.
Questions
- How do I remove the Ignore Limit option on Screen Time?
- Apple's iPhone guide says limits can be ignored by default. Set a Screen Time passcode in Lock Screen Time Settings, then turn on Block at Downtime, which Apple offers once a passcode is set. The limit stays in place only if you don't know the passcode.
- Why is my Screen Time limit not working?
- Check four things from Apple's pages. App & Website Activity must be on, because turning it off turns off App Limits. The app must not be on the Always Allowed list. The limit must cover the app or its category. Apple's iOS 27 guide describes Time Allowances in place of App Limits. If the limit works but you can tap past it, that is Ignore Limit.
- What if I forget my Screen Time passcode?
- If you added Screen Time Passcode Recovery, you can reset the passcode with your Apple Account. Apple says that without it, you can't remove or reset the passcode, and Apple can't provide it.
- Is there an app that locks apps with no Ignore Limit button?
- Schlep's lock screen asks for steps and has no Ignore Limit button. It costs $9.99 a month or $29.99 a year.