Short answer
In iOS 27, App Limits became Time Allowances and Downtime became Screen Time Schedule. Time Allowances work by category (like Social Media or Games) plus a daily total, and also cover a website the app declares. Screen Time Schedule replaces one Downtime block with time windows per day. Lock Screen Time Settings moved under Passcode & Management, and Share Across Devices moved under Manage Screen Time. Apple's iOS 27 guide no longer documents Block at Downtime. The new features need iOS 27 or later on all your Apple devices.
iOS 27 renamed the two Screen Time features most people use. App Limits is now Time Allowances, and Downtime is now Screen Time Schedule. Several other settings moved one level deeper, under Manage Screen Time.
If you’re following a tutorial written for iOS 26 or earlier, the menus it names may not exist on your iPhone anymore. This page maps every Screen Time setting from Apple’s iOS 26 iPhone User Guide to its iOS 27 version. We compared the two guides page by page on October 18, 2026, in English, Brazilian Portuguese and both Spanish editions. Every path below is Apple’s wording. Where the iOS 27 guide is silent, we say so instead of guessing.
iOS 26 vs iOS 27: what changed in Screen Time
All paths start in the Settings app.
| Setting in iOS 26 | Where it is in iOS 27 | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| App Limits (Screen Time > App Limits > Add Limit) | Time Allowances (Screen Time > Time Allowances) | Renamed and rebuilt around categories, such as Entertainment, Games or Social Media, plus a daily total for the device. Apps work until they reach the category’s allowance or the daily total. If an app declares a website, the allowance covers it too. |
| Downtime (Screen Time > Downtime > Scheduled) | Screen Time Schedule (Screen Time > Screen Time Schedule, turn on Schedule) | Renamed. Instead of one block when most apps are unavailable, you tap Add Schedule, pick days, and set Time Windows. Each window shows which Time Allowance categories are available in it. |
| Downtime’s Every Day or Customize Days | Add Schedule, then tap the days | You can create separate schedules, for example one for weekdays and one for weekends. |
| Block at Downtime (Screen Time > Downtime) | Not in Apple’s iOS 27 guide | The iOS 26 guide says it makes restricted apps impossible to open during Downtime. The iOS 27 schedules page doesn’t mention it or a replacement. |
| Turn On Downtime Until Tomorrow | Not in Apple’s iOS 27 guide | No one-tap “until tomorrow” option is described for Screen Time Schedule. |
| No iOS 26 equivalent | Match Screen Time Schedule (Screen Time > Time Allowances) | New. Uses your Time Allowances only during the time windows in your schedule. |
| Always Allowed (Screen Time > Always Allowed) | Always Allowed (same place) | Same name. You now tap Add People or Add Apps. |
| Communication Limits > During Downtime | Communication Limits > When Device Paused or Unavailable | Renamed. In iOS 27 you choose Always Allowed or Everyone for that time. During Screen Time keeps its name. |
| Lock Screen Time Settings (Screen Time, scroll down) | Passcode & Management > Lock Screen Time Settings | Moved under Passcode & Management. Still a four-digit passcode (set, change or reset it). |
| Change Screen Time Passcode (Screen Time, scroll down) | Passcode & Management > Change Screen Time Passcode | Same name, now under Passcode & Management in both Apple’s iOS 27 guide and its support article (published October 27, 2026). Turn Off Screen Time Passcode is behind it. |
| Share Across Devices (Screen Time, scroll down) | Manage Screen Time > Share Across Devices | Moved. Apple says it needs iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, watchOS 27, visionOS 27 or later on all your Apple devices. |
| App & Website Activity > Turn On / Turn Off | Manage Screen Time > Turn On / Turn Off App & Website Activity | Moved. You can also turn it on from Screen Time Schedule or Time Allowances. See how to turn off Screen Time on iOS 27. |
| See All App & Website Activity (your report) | Daily Average (then Week or Day) | Renamed entry point. The report still shows Pickups and Notifications. |
| Content & Privacy Restrictions > Allowed Apps & Features, App Store, Media, Web, & Games, Intelligence & Siri | Content & Privacy Restrictions > Content Restrictions, Other Features, Siri | Reorganized. Built-in apps like AirDrop and Camera are under Other Features. Siri offers Don’t Allow Siri, Siri (Classic Version) or Siri AI (Beta). |
| Web Content > Never Allow (block a website by URL) | Not on Apple’s iOS 27 Screen Time pages we checked | The iOS 27 “Block features or content” page doesn’t describe blocking a website by URL. Time Allowances do cover a website the app declares. |
The requirement that catches people out
Apple’s iOS 27 guide repeats one note across its Screen Time pages: to use Screen Time Schedules and Time Allowances, “you need iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, watchOS 27, visionOS 27, or later on all your Apple devices.” In a Family Sharing group, Apple says all devices must be upgraded.
So if you share Screen Time with an iPad or Mac that can’t run version 27, check what your iPhone shows before following iOS 27 steps. This is also why two people with “the same iPhone” can see different menus.
What Apple’s iOS 27 guide no longer says
Three things the iOS 26 guide stated plainly don’t appear on the iOS 27 pages we compared:
- “By default, Screen Time limits can be ignored once reached.” That sentence is in the iOS 26 guide. The iOS 27 Time Allowances section doesn’t say what happens when an allowance runs out.
- Block at Downtime. In iOS 26, with it on, “restricted apps can’t be opened during downtime” and appear dimmed with an hourglass icon. With it off, you get a reminder and can continue. We cover it in what Block at Downtime does.
- Blocking a website by URL under Web Content > Never Allow.
Missing from the guide isn’t the same as removed from iOS. If your iPhone still shows one of these, it works as Apple’s iOS 26 guide describes. We’ll update this page when Apple documents them for iOS 27.
The new names in Portuguese and Spanish
Apple uses different names in Brazil, Latin America and Spain. Taken from Apple’s iPhone User Guide in each language, iOS 27 first, with the iOS 26 name it replaced below.
| English | Português (Brasil) | Español (Latinoamérica) | Español (España) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Screen Time | Tempo de Uso | Tiempo en pantalla | Tiempo de uso |
| Time Allowances (iOS 27) | Limites de Tempo | Límites de tiempo | Límites de tiempo |
| App Limits (iOS 26) | Limites de Apps | Límites para apps | Límites de uso de apps |
| Screen Time Schedule (iOS 27) | Horários do Tempo de Uso | Horario de Tiempo en pantalla | Horario de tiempo de uso |
| Downtime (iOS 26) | Repouso | Tiempo desactivado | Tiempo de inactividad |
| Time Window | Período | Intervalo | Franja horaria |
| Match Screen Time Schedule | Aplicar os Horários do Tempo de Uso | Ajustar al horario de Tiempo en pantalla | Ajustar al horario de tiempo de uso |
| Manage Categories | Gerenciar Categorias | Categorías | Gestionar categorías |
| Always Allowed | Sempre Permitidos | Permitir siempre | Siempre permitidas |
| Manage Screen Time | Gerenciar Tempo de Uso | Administrar tiempo en pantalla | Gestionar tiempo de uso |
| Passcode & Management (iOS 27) | Código e Gerenciamento | Código y administración | Código y gestión |
| Lock Screen Time Settings | Bloquear Ajustes do Tempo de Uso | Bloquear configuración de Tiempo en pantalla | Bloquear ajustes de “Tiempo de uso” |
| Share Across Devices | Sincronizar Entre Dispositivos | Compartir entre dispositivos | Compartir entre dispositivos |
| When Device Paused or Unavailable | Quando o dispositivo estiver em pausa ou indisponível | Con el dispositivo en pausa o no disponible | Cuando el dispositivo esté en pausa o no esté disponible |
| Block at Downtime (iOS 26) | Bloquear ao Repousar | Bloquear durante el intervalo | Bloquear durante la inactividad |
| Content & Privacy Restrictions | Restrições de Conteúdo e Privacidade | Contenido y privacidad | Restricciones |
| Daily Average | Média Diária | Promedio diario | Promedio diario |
If you write iPhone tutorials, you’re welcome to use these tables. A link back to this page helps us keep them current.
How to block an app at set times on iOS 27
The closest iOS 27 version of “Downtime for Instagram at night” takes two steps, both from Apple’s guide:
- Go to Settings > Screen Time > Time Allowances and tap Manage Categories. Add the category that holds the app, then tap it and tap the app to confirm it’s there. The App Store lists Instagram under Photo & Video first and Social Networking second, so check which category holds it on your iPhone.
- Go to Settings > Screen Time > Screen Time Schedule, turn on Schedule, tap Add Schedule, pick the days, then tap the night Time Window and select only the categories you want available in it.
Apple’s guide shows which categories each window makes available, but it doesn’t describe what you see when you open an app outside them, so try it once on your iPhone. To make the settings harder to change on impulse, set a passcode under Passcode & Management > Lock Screen Time Settings. We go through the free options app by app in how to block apps on iPhone without deleting them and in how to block Instagram on iPhone.
If you want a single app closed, not a category
If the goal is privacy, so other people can’t open an app, you don’t need Screen Time at all: lock the app behind Face ID or hide it.
Time Allowances and Screen Time Schedule work by category. If you want only Instagram and TikTok closed from 10 PM to 7 AM, and everything else in Social Media left alone, an app blocker can do that. We make Calma, so weigh this with that in mind.
Calma uses Apple’s Screen Time to rest the apps you pick on a schedule. Opening a resting app shows “[App] is resting.” with one button, Back to calm. Your rules are set inside Calma, not in the Screen Time menus, so the iOS 27 renames don’t change where you find them. Calma needs iOS 18 or later. It’s iPhone only, blocks apps rather than websites, and blocking needs Calma Pro, with a 3-day free trial for eligible new subscribers. See how Calma compares with Screen Time, or how app blockers work on iPhone if you want the details first.
Sources
All checked on October 18, 2026. iOS 27 pages first, then the iOS 26 page they replaced.
- Apple Support, Set Screen Time Schedules and Time Allowances in Screen Time on iPhone (iOS 27) and Set schedules with Screen Time on iPhone (iOS 26).
- Apple Support, Set up Screen Time for yourself on iPhone (iOS 27) and Get started with Screen Time on iPhone (iOS 26).
- Apple Support, Choose who you can communicate with at certain times with Screen Time on iPhone (iOS 27) and Block calls and messages with Screen Time on iPhone (iOS 26).
- Apple Support, Create, change, or remove a Screen Time passcode on iPhone (iOS 27, checked again November 2, 2026) and Create, manage, and keep track of a Screen Time passcode on iPhone (iOS 26).
- Apple Support, Block features or content with Screen Time on iPhone (iOS 27) and Block apps, app downloads, websites, and purchases on iPhone (iOS 26).
- The same five pages in Apple’s Brazilian Portuguese (
/pt-br/), Latin American Spanish (/es-mx/) and Spain Spanish (/es-es/) editions, for the names table. - App Store, App Blocker & Detox: Calma (iOS requirement, trial).
- Apple Support, Change your Screen Time passcode on an iPhone or iPad (published October 27, 2026, checked November 2, 2026), for where Change Screen Time Passcode sits.