Apple announced a new parental control feature at WWDC 2026 called Time Allowances, coming in iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS Golden Gate. It gives parents more granular control over how much time their kids spend in apps across three categories: Entertainment, Games, and Social Media. The feature is built on expert research and tailors default settings based on a child’s age, with parents free to adjust from there.
How It Works
Time Allowances adds per-category time limits to Screen Time, so instead of just setting a blanket daily limit on apps, parents can now say kids get two hours in Games and one hour in Social Media separately. Apps are sorted into categories automatically based on how developers have classified them in App Store Connect, so parents don’t need to manually tag every app their child uses. Default limits are calibrated to the child’s age and can be adjusted at any time.
Social Media Gets Special Treatment
The Social Media category is the most significant part of this announcement. Unlike Entertainment and Games, which are categorized based on the App Store category a developer selects, Social Media is determined by what an app actually does. Any app that lets users redistribute, amplify, or interact with user-generated content through a social feed will be classified as social media regardless of what category the developer chose in App Store Connect.
Starting July 2026, Apple will update its age rating questionnaire to ask developers whether their app includes social media capabilities. Apps that say yes will be placed in the Social Media Time Allowance category and will receive a minimum age rating of 13+. The one exception: if an app has social features but disables them for users under 13, it can opt out of the Social Media category for younger users, but the developer has to implement Apple’s Declared Age Range API at minimum to verify user ages. Starting September 2026, declaring social media status will be required for any app submitting new versions or updates to the App Store.
Why This Matters
This is one of the more substantive moves Apple has made on child safety in years. The existing Screen Time controls are useful but blunt. Time Allowances make the system smarter, and tying the Social Media category to actual app behavior rather than developer self-categorization closes a loophole that has let social apps avoid parental controls by choosing a different App Store category. The 13+ minimum rating requirement adds another layer of friction for any social app trying to reach younger users without verifying their age.
Time Allowances will be available when iOS 27 launches this fall.