FamilyKey
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Need a hand?

How to set up FamilyKey, on your mum's or dad's iPhone and on yours. Plus answers to what people ask most. Question not here? Just email us.

How to set it up

On your mum's or dad's iPhoneTogether, about 5 minutes.

  1. Update the iPhone to the newest iOS: Settings > General > Software Update. At least iOS 16.4; the newer, the stronger.
  2. Install FamilyKey and tap Start. Choose Protect this iPhone.
  3. Agreed together: read the text together and tap Yes, that's what we agree.
  4. Allow Screen Time access. Apple asks for your mum's or dad's Face ID or passcode. That is their own permission.
  5. Pick the apps that get a calm pause: bank apps, payment apps, investing or crypto, and remote-help apps. Pick them one by one.
  6. How strict: the pause (30 seconds, 1 minute or 2 minutes), how long the apps stay open after it (5, 10, 15 or 30 minutes), the night lock (10 pm to 7 am) or Always with a code, and what happens during a call.
  7. Who is the helper: type your name and your own phone number. That number will be on the lock screen.
  8. Link: scan the QR code on your phone. See the same check number on both? Then you're linked.
  9. Choose a six digit PIN, twice. Don't use a birthday.
  10. Allow notifications. On iOS below 26.5 they take your parent from the lock screen to FamilyKey.
  11. The Screen Time passcode: do the four steps below, together. Done. The family holds the key.

On your iPhoneAbout 1 minute.

  1. Install FamilyKey on your own iPhone and tap Start.
  2. Choose I'm the helper.
  3. Tap Link someone and type a name, like Mum or Grandad. You see a QR code. Don't show it to anyone else.
  4. Let your parent's iPhone scan it. The same check number on both? Then you're linked.
  5. Need a code? Tap Bank apps 15 min, Bank apps 1 hour, New app or Settings for that person, and confirm with Face ID. Read the code out or send it.

The Screen Time passcode, step by step

Without these steps your mum or dad can switch FamilyKey off themselves, and a scammer can ask them to. With these steps that only works with you there. Do them on your parent's iPhone, together.

  1. Settings > Screen Time > Lock Screen Time Settings. Type a four digit passcode your mum or dad doesn't know. At Recovery, enter your own Apple Account, not your parent's. That way nobody else can reset the passcode.
  2. Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions: switch on. Leave everything inside on Allow.
  3. Settings > Screen Time > Share Across Devices: switch off.
  4. Test it together. Try to switch FamilyKey off under Settings > Screen Time > Apps with Screen Time Access, and under Settings > Apps > FamilyKey. Does the iPhone ask for your Screen Time passcode? Then you're set. In FamilyKey, answer Were you asked for the Screen Time passcode? with Yes.

Questions

My mum's iPhone says: FamilyKey is off.

Then FamilyKey has lost its Screen Time access, and the bank apps no longer get a pause. Open FamilyKey together and allow access again with your mum's Face ID. Then go through the four Screen Time passcode steps again.

Calmly ask how it happened, too. Did someone on the phone say the app had to go off? Then it's good you know now. In doubt about a payment? Call your bank yourself, on the number on the bank card.

The code doesn't work.
  • Check that all eight digits were typed right.
  • A code works until fifteen minutes after you make it. Too late? Make a new one.
  • A code works once, and only on the iPhone of the person you made it for.
  • Does it say Is this iPhone's clock right? Then set Date and Time to automatic on your parent's iPhone, in Settings > General.
My dad has to wait after wrong codes.

After five wrong codes he has to wait a little: first 1 minute, then 2, then 4, and so on up to an hour. The iPhone shows when he can try again: Hold on. Try again at 11:52 pm. After thirty wrong codes in a row, codes stop completely. Then link again with your own iPhone. The PIN counts on the same counter.

The pause isn't counting down.

That's right if there's a call or the screen is being shared: then the pause stands still. Hang up or stop sharing, and it carries on. The pause also only runs while FamilyKey is open on screen.

I have a new phone.

Install FamilyKey on your new iPhone, choose I'm the helper and link again. On your parent's iPhone, open settings with the PIN to do that. The link secret never moves to a new phone, so a found or stolen backup can't make codes. Then remove your old phone under Helpers.

My mum or dad is getting a new iPhone.

Set FamilyKey up again on the new iPhone, together, just like the first time, and link again. Do the Screen Time passcode again too. On the old iPhone, switch FamilyKey off with a code or the PIN before you give it away.

I forgot the PIN.

On your own iPhone, make a code with Settings. That opens settings on your parent's iPhone for ten minutes, and you choose a new PIN there.

My mum wants to delete or install an app.

Deleting apps takes a code: make a code with Settings and it works for ten minutes. If New apps need a code is on, make a code with New app for a new app.

How do I link a second helper?

The second helper installs FamilyKey on their own iPhone, chooses I'm the helper and taps Link someone. On your parent's iPhone, open settings with a code or the PIN, tap Add helper and scan the QR code there. Up to four helpers per iPhone.

How do I get a refund?

You buy FamilyKey in the App Store, so refunds go through Apple: go to reportaproblem.apple.com, sign in and choose the purchase. Apple decides. We can't refund an App Store purchase ourselves.

Which iPhones work?

iPhone with iOS 16.4 or later, for you and your parent. On your parent's iPhone: the newer, the stronger. Below iOS 26.4 your parent can switch FamilyKey off with Face ID. On iOS 26 there's still one switch that only asks for Face ID. The app shows how strong the protection is on that version. There's no version for iPad, Mac or Android.

Contact

Email info@abn.company. Tell us which iPhones you have and which iOS version they run. We answer within a few working days.