Engadget Guides Explain iPhone Screen Time and Background App Refresh Controls

In the Screen Time guide, Engadget said the feature can help users stop using their phones as much or restrict a child's device. The main menu is at Settings > Screen Time. At the top, a chart shows daily device use for the week, and tapping See All App & Website Activity opens a deeper view of average screen time, app categories, most-used apps, number of unlocks, first apps used after unlocking, and apps sending the most notifications. Users with multiple Apple devices can tap Devices to filter one device and switch between Week and Day views.

Before setting restrictions, Engadget recommended choosing Always Allowed to decide which apps remain available and using the Contacts dropdown to select whether calls can come from any number or only chosen contacts. Downtime, the first limiting option, allows access only to those selected apps and permitted calls. It can be turned on manually or scheduled by day, and the phone warns five minutes before it activates.

App Limits are the other main control. Users can tap Add Limit to see apps grouped by category such as Social, Games, and Entertainment. A bubble on the left applies a limit to an entire group, or a dropdown can select individual apps. A Websites button extends limits beyond apps. Users then choose a daily maximum time. Customize Days allows a different schedule on weekends. A reminder appears when the limit is nearly reached. If a user tries to open a restricted app during Downtime or after using up its time, a screen says the limit has been reached and offers Ignore Limit for one minute, 15 minutes, or the rest of the day. Engadget also suggested hiding addictive apps for an extra layer of separation. If Share Across Devices is enabled, limits sync across every iPhone, iPad, and Mac using the same Apple Account; otherwise each device must be configured separately.

The Screen Time guide also noted that the same area can manage a child's iPhone or iPad. Members of an Apple Family Sharing group see their children's names at the bottom of the Screen Time page and can tap one to set controls. Some options are aimed mainly at children. Screen Distance tells users if they are holding a phone too close to their face. Communication Limits can block communication with people outside the contacts list, but Engadget said those contact restrictions work only for Apple's first-party apps such as Phone, Messages, and FaceTime, not third-party messengers like WhatsApp. Communication Safety can detect when an explicit image is sent or received and provide guidance. Content & Privacy Restrictions provides sliders to disable features or prevent settings from being changed, such as turning off Apple Wallet, preventing a child from installing apps, or locking location permissions. A child can request approval to bypass many restrictions, including age-gated App Store downloads or using other apps during Downtime.

In the second guide, Engadget explained that Background App Refresh, found at Settings > General > Background App Refresh, lets apps fetch new information from the internet even when they are not actively in use. The setting controls whether that activity works on Wi-Fi and cellular data or only on Wi-Fi, and it can be turned off entirely. Engadget listed uses including weather apps updating location and forecasts, cloud tools like Google Photos and OneDrive syncing files and backing up photos, podcast apps downloading new episodes, social media apps pulling new posts, and news apps preparing the latest stories. The common purpose is preloading content so users do not wait when they open an app.

Engadget advised keeping Background App Refresh on for apps used regularly or relied on for real-time information, such as travel, navigation, file syncing, reminders, and productivity apps. It said the feature is unnecessary for food or shopping apps, most games, and apps for browsing websites like Wikipedia or IMDb. Disabling background refresh does not suppress notifications, Engadget said; an app can still show notifications if they are enabled and not blocked by a Focus. In most cases, turning it off means waiting a few seconds for new data. Low Power Mode disables background refresh for all apps. Users can also open Settings > Cellular, tap Show All under the Cellular Data list, and disable mobile data for individual apps so they connect only on Wi-Fi. The Cellular menu shows data use in the Current Period, which changes only when manually reset. Engadget suggested scrolling to the bottom and tapping Reset Statistics, then using the phone normally to gauge typical consumption. For devices with more than one SIM, users can go to Settings > Cellular, tap their carrier, and choose Data Mode > Low Data Mode to limit background activities so only active apps use the network.