Internet and Screen Time Limits
Circle Time Limits cap the amount of time your kids can spend on screens and on individual sites or platforms, like Instagram or Fortnite. You can also set Internet time limits for categories like games, social media, or news. Kids get notified (or they can always check) when time is running low.
Why Internet and Screen Time Limits Matter
Research shows that too much screen time is bad for your kids’ development, but limiting Internet access isn’t always easy. The Center for Disease shared that kids as young as 8 years old average time on screens is 6 hours, and it only goes up from there. Ages 11-14 average 9 hours per day; ages 15-18 average 7.5 hours per day, and 18+ are on screens for a whopping 11 hours a day. That’s almost every hour of daylight.
Wouldn’t it be helpful if the Internet came with its own timer to help prevent your kids from overdoing it online? Now it does, with Circle’s Time Limits.
Time Limits give parents the freedom to stop worrying about how much time their kids are spending on apps or websites that aren’t positively engaging their minds. Plus, it’s easy to check how your kids are spending most of their screen time in order to figure out where limits need to be set in the future.
In just a few taps, you can rest assured that your kids aren’t bingeing YouTube videos instead of studying. All you have to do is set up your family’s Time Limits.
Benefits of Circle’s Time Limits for Internet and Screen Time
With Circle’s Time Limits, you get to set each family member’s profile, and walk away knowing your kids are safe from too much of a good thing—the Internet.
Rather than constantly peering over your kids’ shoulders to check if they’re still on social media, with Time Limits, you can simply set those apps to no longer be available after 30 minutes.
Customize Time Limits for each of your family member’s profiles.
Set up different Time Limits for apps, categories of sites, and a Daily Time Limit.
Track your kids’ Internet usage.
Change time limits from anywhere, anytime.
Pre-setting Time Limits on weekdays and weekends to fit your family’s needs takes one more thing off your mental to-do list. During the week, when your kids should be focused on their schoolwork, you can pre-set their allotted Time Limit on Facebook or Snapchat apps. When Fri-yay rolls around, that daily Time Limit for Snapchat is already pre-set to automatically allow for a few extra minutes.
How Circle’s Internet and Screen Time Limits Work
How Circle’s Internet and Screen Time Limits Work
Each family member profile has its own dedicated Time Limits for apps, categories of sites, and a Daily Time Limit. Once a Time Limit is reached on an app, site category, or all sites (depending on the type of Time Limit) access will be unavailable. It’s important to note that sites set to Unmanaged will still be accessible even if a Time Limit is reached.
For instance, to set up a Daily Time Limit, all you have to do is select a profile to open that family member's settings, choose Time Limits, and then tap the selector beneath the profile picture to pick the total amount of time for the day. Don’t forget to save!
You can easily go back and change a Time Limit setting for any of your family profiles at any time. And your kids can always check their Time Limits on their dashboard.
What Circle’s Time Limits Can Do for You
What Circle’s Time Limits Can Do for You
Within the Time Limits feature, you can be broad or as specific as you want to with the amount of time allowed online. Set a Daily Time Limit for the total time a family member can spend online, and set limits by category of content and individual apps or websites.
How Family Internet Time Limits Help
Each Circle family member profile can have three different types of Time Limits:
Total Daily Time Limit
App/Website Time Limit (Netflix)
Category Time Limit ("Videos")
Total Daily Time Limit overrides any other time limit set up for categories, apps, or websites.
Daily Time Limits
By setting a Daily Time Limit, you can be sure your kids aren’t going over the screen time that’s safe for their age on any given day. As they are approaching their allotted time, they will be notified. And when the limit is hit, they will no longer be able to access the Internet for the rest of the day.
So, let’s say you want to set up your teenage daughter’s Daily Time Limits within her profile. You’ll notice the same platforms and categories that are available for her Filter, but here you can set Time Limits. Tap on her profile, then tap on Time Limits. Start by toggling to enable. Then, select the total amount of time for the day, and save.
Time Limits on Apps and Websites
If your daughter has a habit of Snapchatting her day away, you can set up a specific app Time Limit for Snapchat. Any Time Limit for the app will also apply to the connected website. Scroll to choose which daily time limit seems best for that app. Thirty minutes? From there, you can continue to scroll down and set as many time limits for platforms and categories as you want.
Internet Category Time Limits
This feature is a huge time saver for parents, because you know your kids. Too much Roblox? Set a Time Limit for Online Games. Kid scrolling Instagram for hours? Set a Time Limit for Social Media. Circle has web categories for everything from Arts & Entertainment to Videos.
You can learn more about how to completely customize each of your family members’ profile Time Limits, including how to set or change a Time Limit for an app, website, or category, and how to add weekend Time Limits here.
Time Limits Give Parents Peace of Mind
Circle Home Plus
Limit screen time and block content on iPhones, Chromebooks, Android devices, and more. Includes device plus app subscription with access to all features.
Manage Circle from any iOS or Android device.