How do we prevent turning off 'Screen Time Access' in Settings? {SOLVED}

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#104

Ive been trying literally everything. Ive ran into one last problem.

  • I use the shortcuts app to help block me from turning it off in Settings which works.
  • The only issue is, when I completely shut off my iPhone and turn it back on, the shortcuts dont run fast enough, I have about a minute to turn off Opal in settings and relapse. How can I prevent this? If this was fixed this app would be perfect.

There needs to be a way where Opal is part of the Screen Time settings which requires a passcode. Because if it required a passcode to turn it off, I would simply just give it to a family or friend to choose a passcode and then I would not be able to disable it.

2 Likes
#105

Disable ability to turn off Screen Time access from the system settings

#106

Hey there @Barkin_Bryce,

Thanks for the suggestion. Iā€™ve merged your request into the existing thread on this topic, and would recommend taking the following steps to prevent yourself from turning off Opalā€™s access to screen time:

Please note that the instructions have recently changed due to changes with Apple, so you should be good to go!

All the best,
Team Opal

#107

Hi folks, just found that in iOS 18 beta, you can remove the buttons for Network Settings and Focus Mode from the Control Center. Then you canā€™t long press it to get into settings. Of course, this is very inconvenient if you are somewhere new during the workday and you want to connect to a new wifi network. And you can easily add the buttons back. But itā€™s another obstacle to turning it off.

1 Like
#108

Hi folks, as many of you know, there is a problem that occurs when you access Settings via Control Center (Iā€™ll try not to say too much). Well, if you enrol in the beta program and upgrade to iOS 18, you can customize your Control Center. And I know this is super annoying, but if you take the Network Settings buttons and the Focus Mode button out of Control Center entirely, you can no longer access Settings through there. Just uhhā€¦ Donā€™t add those buttons back on.

2 Likes
#109

Amazing! thank you for sharing.
@Sarah_K should we add this trick to the FAQ guide?

#110

Perfect!!! That is the greatest solution for this problem! It has its problems (like disabling the network and focus) but it makes Opal 100% useful again!

#111

Iā€™ve just installed the IOS 18 Beta to check the new method of disabling network and focus.

Turns out you can easily enable network and focus again by clicking in the ā€œ+ā€ button on the new revamped control center. :frowning:

Back to where we were beforeā€¦

#112

So, has anyone gotten anything out of the shortcuts? Would be happy to know if there are any changes.

#113

Any news on the reboot workaround? Everything is working perfect but i can reboot and just turn everything offā€¦

#114

How do you turn this off ? I dont see thw option anywhere

#115

Have you found a fix yet this seems to be the only thing left

If you have shortscuts to settings when closed - open shortcuts - lock screen it dosent allow any password input, but by rebooting iphone the shortscuts have that 2 minute delayā€¦ if only shortscuts would work from the ms the iphone is turned on

#116

So deep focus is also not effective until and unless you truly want to focus. So I found a setting of screen time in iOs known as screen time. So if you disallow screen time in the settings all the apps, webstes whatever you have blocked will work again and also this is tell the opal app that your apps are still locked but in reality it is not. If you want to solve this block settings app too which you cannot in opal. Go to setting ā€”> Screen time ā€”> Turn off opal access and your all blocked app will work and also you can see opal showing you that it is still blocked but in real it is not,

#117

Hey @yash_negi,

Happy to help! You can prevent yourself from doing exactly that by following the steps here:

All the best,
Team Opal

1 Like
#118

Thats not the only bypass. If you go into the control center and press down on the bluetooth icon and then go into bluetooth settings from there you will be able to go into settings without the shortcut working.

#119

Hi! The issue with this shortcut is it takes you to Opal whenever you open Settings for anything, and sometimes you need to use Settings for something other than Screen Time Access. How do I alter the shortcut so I can still use Settings, just not change Screen Time Access?

1 Like
#120

@kenneth Hello, Opal Legend!
BTW, Iā€™m kind of new here.

Can you please make it so we canā€™t disable screen time access from the control center?

It could be anything, like losing access to your subscription or paying a set amount of money.

Right now, the app is typically not doing what it says it does. SO PLEASE FIX THIS ASAP :pray:
Also, similar apps like freedom do have the same problem, so if you could make this a reality, you can call it a ā€œfeatureā€!

In the meantime, this is how I prevent myself from using the control center.

So, this isnā€™t a fix for everyone butā€¦

ATTENTION : DOING THIS WILL PRACTICALLY MAKE YOUR PHONE USELESS. DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK. I AM NOT TAKING ANY RESPONSIBILITY.

  1. Turn off ā€œAccess Within Appsā€ in Control Center
    (Settings > Control Center > Access Within Apps)

  2. Turn off ā€œAllow Access to Control Center When Lockedā€
    (Settings > Face ID & Passcode > Allowed access when locked: > Control Center)

  3. Set the ā€œSetting Preventionā€ shortcut automation
    (THIS IS IN THE OPAL OFFICIAL WEBSITE)
    But, I advise to delete the ā€œOpen Opalā€ part, because it is redundant.

  4. Setup a shortcut like this:

Is Opal protection On?
Show when run: Off
:arrow_down:
If ā€œIs Opal protection On?ā€
Open ā€œOpalā€
:arrow_down:
Otherwise
:arrow_down:
End If

  1. Set a automation that runs this shortcut when the Opal app is closed AND opened

Automation: Run Immediately
Notify When Run: Off

When
When ā€œOpalā€ is opened or closed

Do
(The shortcut in Step 4)

ATTENTION Creating only one will make it easy to get to the control center. If you have more than 3, even if you try hard, you canā€™t reach the control center.

Great Job! Now your phone is a practical dumb phone.

ATTENTION When you try to open Settings, you will be in a loop between Opal and Settings. LOCK YOUR SCREEN once, and itā€™ll fix itself.
(If it doesnā€™t fix itself, press ā€œcancelā€ on the settings shortcut)

(Optional)
I like to have a shortcut in my Home Screen that goes to the control center settings, so I can enable control center afterwards.

Hereā€™s how to set it up.
Locked Control Center:
Open URL ā€œ prefs:root=PASSCODE ā€œ

Allow access to control center within apps:
Open URL ā€œ prefs:root=ControlCenter ā€œ

Let me know your suggestions on these shortcuts, and if you found this helpful, I would be very happy! :smiley:

But, as I said I wonā€™t be taking ANY responsibility over the fact that you canā€™t use your phone.

Here is an image of the shortcut in Step 4! :grin:

IMG_4445
IMG_44451170Ɨ2335 156 KB

#121

@kenneth I want to add that if you use frequency-based App Locks the general foolproofing approach doesnā€™t work as the ā€œIs Opal protection on?ā€ condition is always True given that apps that are part of App Locks are always locked by design.

Unsure if this has been mentioned before.

#122

One way that has worked for me is to have a Face ID of my sister who stays in another city than me , because In order for me to turn off the (apps with screen time access) I would have to have her Face ID, and I use my regular passcode to unlock my phone.

#123

@kenneth Hi Folks, Iā€™ve found a solution that addresses nearly all the common issues related to screen time turn-off (reboots excluded) with minimal or no drawbacks:

  • It works both for standard settings and control center
  • It doesnā€™t require to turn off face id
  • It allows you to access settings ā€œnormallyā€.

The automation to activate is as simple as that:

  • When settings gets closed
  • Go to the Homepage (without checking for opal protection status)

I chose to use ā€œgo to homepageā€ as action because it is faster than opening Opal for the os, this combined with removal of the ā€œifā€ statement reduces the delay for the automation to be executed preventing the face id recognition to have success when trying to turn off screen time.

DISCLAIMER!!!:
Since the automation doesnā€™t check for opal protection status it remains always active so you will not be able to complete also all the other scenarios which require face id recognition from the settings app. However in two weeks I havenā€™t come across any such situation.

If that does happen, the only solution would be to reboot the phone and disable the automation before Opal and the Shortcuts app launch, or disable deep focus mode via Opal support.

One last thing to notice is that you could be redirected to the homepage also every time you try to fast switch to another app from settings with a bottom swipe, but then you are free to reopen the desired app.

(Tested on Iphone 12 pro max with ios 18)