iOS 13.3 Parental Controls Proven Easy to Bypass

The Communication Limits feature, which is part of Apple’s Screen Time with iOS 13.3, turns out to be easy to bypass if contacts are not stored in iCloud. Apple is working on a fix for the bug.

Communication limits is one of the new features of the iOS 13.3 released by Apple this week. Parents can restrict children from communicating with only approved contacts using the Phone, FaceTime, or Messages app. However, NBC found that if contacts are not stored in iCloud, as is the case by default, children can add new contacts who want to communicate without restriction.

As soon as an unknown number sends a message, iOS 13.3 gives the option to add a contact despite set Communication Limits, after which a child can communicate via the Phone, FaceTime or Messages app. If it was functioning properly, parents should have entered a PIN code before being able to add new contacts.

Apple confirms the problem and reports that a fix is ​​working. It will be available sometime in an upcoming software update. The company points out that the problem only occurs with devices that deviate from the standard configuration. In addition, Apple reports that a work-around is available, whereby the company probably refers to synchronizing the contacts with iCloud.