Problems with iOS 12 Beta Screen Time

As should be obvious, putting a beta version of iOS on your primary iPhone may not be a wise choice – especially if you’re not a developer hunting for bugs. Even so, the iPhone 6s I bought for my daughter from Gazelle came with iOS 12 beta 3 loaded onto it.

iOS 12 Software Update screen

When I saw this, I was surprised, but I figured it wouldn’t be too big of a deal. However, I quickly discovered when setting up parental controls that things had changed. What was once called Restrictions, was now called Screen Time, and many things inside there were not where I expected them to be. This was, admittedly, the first time I had looked at iOS 12.

I began trying to set up Screen Time like I had restrictions on iOS 11 on her iPad. I also was able to get Disney’s Circle Go installed for additional control.

Once I thought I had everything set correctly, I tried to set up her Mail app with her Gmail account. It wouldn’t connect to Google’s accounts page for Gmail because the website was apparently blocked. I then began turning off restrictions – first Circle Go, then Screen Time. Still a no go. At this point, Safari wouldn’t even open.

I started checking to see if Screen Time in the beta had known bugs. Sure enough, it did.

At this point, I decided it was time to load iOS 11.4, so I did, with these instructions.

All is well now!

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