Guide

Can a child change the time on an iPhone or iPad to get round screen time?

On some devices, yes: in our test, setting the clock forward by hand ended a rest early. Lampworth's "Lock the date and time" stops that by keeping the clock set by iOS, and a Screen Time passcode can do the same.

What we saw on a real iPhone

We tried it twice on 10 October 2026. The iPhone was signed in with a parent's own Apple Account and had no Screen Time passcode. It had Lampworth 1.1, with "Lock the date and time" switched off.

1. Homework was set from 15:00 to 17:00, and the timed apps were resting.
2. In Settings, then General, then Date & Time, we switched off Set Automatically and set the clock to 18:00.
3. The timed app opened. Nobody opened Lampworth.
4. We switched Set Automatically back on. The rest came back by itself.

Lampworth's times follow the clock on the device. So a clock moved past the end of a rest ended it.

What stops it

• Lampworth's "Lock the date and time". On the same iPhone, with the lock on, Set Automatically was grey and could not be switched off. After we switched the lock off in Lampworth, with the PIN, it could be used again.
• A Screen Time passcode. Apple says Set Automatically may be greyed out on a device with a Screen Time passcode (Apple Support). On our iPad, signed in with a child's own Apple Account, it was grey even with Lampworth's lock off.

So the lock matters most on a device that keeps a parent's Apple Account and has no Screen Time passcode, such as a family iPad.

Before you start

• Lampworth 1.1 or later on your child's iPhone or iPad. The lock is in the free app.
• Your parent PIN.

Switch the lock on

1. Open Lampworth on your child's device. If the top right says Parent, tap it and enter your PIN.
2. Open the settings that keep Lampworth in place. Tap ⋯ (More) at the top right, then Keeping Lampworth on this iPad. On an iPhone it says iPhone.
3. Switch on Lock the date and time. Then tap Done.

A new setup offers the same switch on its last screen, already on. After an update from version 1.0 the lock starts off, and a card on Home offers Lock it.

To switch it off later, go back to the same place and switch it off. That asks for your PIN.

Check that it works

1. In Settings. Leave Lampworth, open Settings, tap General, then Date & Time. Set Automatically should be on and grey. It should not switch off.
2. In Lampworth. Tap ⋯ (More), then Is it working? The list should say "The date and time are locked".

Your child is told too. While the lock is on, Home says "The clock can't be changed by hand on this iPad. A parent can change that." There is no hidden mode.

What it cannot do

• It closes one way round the rules, not every way. No app can promise that, so keep talking with your child about why the rules are there.
• It works on the device where it is switched on. A second device needs its own lock.
• It needs Lampworth's Screen Time access, like every Lampworth rule. On a device that keeps a parent's account, lock Screen Time settings too, so that access cannot be switched off in Settings. The guide on deleting shows how.
• Lampworth sees nothing your child does. It only asks iOS to keep setting the clock.

And Apple's own Screen Time?

A Screen Time passcode can grey out Set Automatically on its own, as Apple's page says. If your child's device already has one, look in Settings, then General, then Date & Time. If Set Automatically is grey with Lampworth's lock off, as on our iPad, the clock already cannot be changed by hand there.

Next

Read how to stop a child deleting a parental control app, or how to pause apps at bedtime.