Since updating to iOS 27, I have been experiencing very serious problems with the parental controls on my daughter’s iPhone. Unfortunately, these issues have created situations where the protections I had set up for her were no longer working properly, which I consider a significant safety concern.
In addition, there is a charge of €125.99 linked to my daughter’s card that Apple Support has not been able to identify. The charge keeps being attempted repeatedly, but because it is a child’s account there are not enough funds available for it to go through. I have contacted Apple Support asking them to explain where this charge is coming from, but they have not been able to identify its origin or stop the repeated attempts.
I have already made four calls to Apple Support, lasting approximately 1 hour 30 minutes, 1 hour 34 minutes, 1 hour 45 minutes, and another lengthy call. Despite the amount of time spent, none of the issues have been resolved.
I was also transferred to what Apple calls “senior support”. The representatives have always been polite and helpful in their attitude, but unfortunately the result has been the same: no effective solution.
After spending so many hours trying to resolve this through support, I eventually started investigating the problem myself. I discovered that the parental controls appeared to be affected by other devices associated with my Apple account that could not be updated to iOS 27.
For example, I had to remove my Apple Watch Series 5 from my account because, while it remained associated with my account, the parental controls on my daughter’s iPhone were not working correctly. This is something Apple Support was unable to identify or resolve, and I reached this conclusion myself through trial and error.
I find the whole situation extremely frustrating. After having many Apple devices in my household for years, this is the first time I have seriously started considering switching to another brand for future devices.
I recently bought another Mac and was actually planning to buy another Mac for my daughter, partly because I wanted to have parental controls integrated across both her phone and computer. However, after this experience, I am now concerned about relying on Apple’s parental control system.
What worries me most is not just the technical inconvenience, but the loss of confidence in the reliability of the safety features designed to protect children.
Has anyone else experienced similar problems with Screen Time / parental controls since updating to iOS 27, especially when older Apple devices that cannot be updated are still associated with the same Apple ID or Family Sharing account?
And has anyone experienced an unidentified recurring charge on a child’s account that Apple Support could neither identify nor stop?
