Kid screentime do not work

[brijindersingh]

Hi,

I have set screentime under kid profile in chromecast but it doesn't seems to be working. Could you please let me know if its bug or I need to change any settings?

[Jeran]

Hey there brijindersingh,

I apologize for the late response, and thank you for being patient! Were you able to fix that screen time issue? If not, I'd be happy to help you figure this out. Check out this article for a complete overview of parental controls. Here is how to set the daily screen time limit:

1. From the Google TV home screen, in the top right, go to the profile icon and select Settings.
2. Go to Accounts & Sign In and select your kid’s profile.
3. Select Screen time Daily limit.
4. Select the days you’d like to schedule a daily limit.
5. Choose how many hours your kid can watch TV each day.
   • You can set limits in intervals of 15 minutes, up to 8 hours.

Just make sure your children don't know your PIN, as they can add bonus time when the time runs out if they know it.

I look forward to your response, and if you have any other questions or concerns for me, please let me know!

Best regards,
Jeran

[aSystemOverload]

+1 intermittently fails for us too... Resulting in infinite time for my two boys... This is the exact reason I bought the Chromecast with Google TV for.

[brijindersingh]

Thanks Jeran for the information, there is no problem in setup. The problem is that it works intermittently. If I go out of the kid profile, go back to kid profile, and watch then it shuts off correctly, but if I directly go the first time to kids profile and start, it fails to log in time. Looks like a bug in the device or software.

[Jeran]

Hey there brijindersingh,

That is interesting, it does sound like there could be a bug. Just to be safe, make sure that your Chromecast's firmware is up-to-date. Then, if you have the chance, would you be able to make another Kid's Profile to see if the problem persists across profiles?

Best regards,

Jeran

[rcalache]

I am facing the exact issue. It is definitely a bug

[Jeran]

Hey there rcalache,

Thank you for letting me know! If you don't mind, would you be able to follow the steps I provided to brijindersingh regarding recreating the issue and submitting feedback? Every bit of feedback helps in these scenarios.

Best regards,

Jeran

[brijindersingh]

firmware already updated, deleted and recreated kid profile, still issue is there, google please fix it.

[Jeran]

Hey there brijindersingh,

Thank you for letting me know what steps you tried! If you haven't already done so, please provide feedback via Google TV to send the device logs to the engineering team to investigate. Those logs sent over should contain errors to help them track down any issues.

Best regards,
Jeran

[brijindersingh]

ok I submitted the feedback

[caglars]

we have the same problem!

[brucehankins]

I have the same problem. Also controls through the family link app are not working. If I block an app, it isn't blocked until my child leaves the app.

[Shyluarji]

I have the same problem. Definitely a bug. 

[hugo9]

I have the same issue.

[Elroc]

Same here - screen time limits on Chromecast with Google TV has been unreliable at best. Most common issue is that when turning off the TV the time is still counted. Just this morning my son turned on the TV, and was immediately greeted with a message saying his time limit had already been exceeded. 

I wonder if it might be related to the fact that I have an older (~2008) Sony LCD TV, and that the switch off action is either not correctly recognized by Chromecast, or responded to by the TV. Chromecast is directly connected to the TV using HDMI, and I turn the TV on and off using the Chromecast remote, so the power on/off request at least is sent via HDMI CEC control to the tv.

[Elroc]

Following my earlier post I went digging. In the Chromecast settings, under settings for the Chromecast remote you can pick what the power button does (via CEC), either 'Auto (via CEC)', 'TV (via CEC)', or 'Chromecast'.
Mine had been on Auto, and it 'worked' fine. When I hit power on the Chromecast remote my TV turned off, but then as mentioned above screen time counters continued to accumulate. 
As a test I changed it to 'TV', which according to the decription turns of the TV and the Chromecast device. Initial testing suggests this has likely resolved my problem of screen timers accumulating after turning of the TV. Will continue to monitor. 

[vq_iou]

Same problem here

[Kehrenzeller]

I also have the same problem.  I have the screen timeout set to 1 hour, but it hasn't worked in several weeks if not months.

[CueBall101]

+1 screentime is definitely not working and it's not a settings issue. 

[SamSydney]

Same issue. I bought it for this purpose.

[arcticbronco]

Screen time works for one kid profile and not the other. Also, there should be no PIN to switch between kids profiles, only to access Parent profile.

[MossimoSan]

Couldn't agree more! Why is there a need for PIN for switching between kid profiles?? It should only be needed when going to the parents profile. Devs, please help 🙂

[kfarnham]

Same problem. I have factory reset several times. Pretty frustrating. 

[Charlyzard]

Same problem.  I have set 1 hour for screen time as daily limit and it's not working.

[Chaooooooooo]

Same problem here and I found if change system time setting to "turn off" mode, this function will back to normal. But system time setting will automatelly change to "use the internet time" and then error again.

[Siah2001]

I have a newer Sony OLED TV (A80J I think), parental control works terribly. Never thought Google would suck at such a simple function.

[MossimoSan]

I thought I had the same problem but it turns out my kids figured out the pin 🙂

Change the pin and try again!

[GOVMAN]

I can't imagine Google is not being sued (yet) for selling a product with a parental feature (reason why folks are probably buying it) and it is simply failing.  I have set the timer for my kids and at best it is unreliable.  Ugh.....  Do better Google.

[JshockATL]

We have been struggling with the same issue. I have set my son to 1 hour limit. Mostly he gets unlimited TV because the Chromecast won't kick him out. This was one of the features that convinced me to use Chromecast. My wife is trying to flip me to Apple and this is one of her leading complaints. 

[Aure84]

Same here. Time limits do not work properly!!

Hello, Google?

[MurrayT]

Yep, same issue here.

[mariandrozda]

I have the same problem and as I see it is persistent and google does not care.

[tokyobit]

Screen time settings for a kid's profile in Chromecast should work as intended when configured correctly. If you're experiencing issues with screen time settings not working, here are some steps to troubleshoot the issue:

1. Double-Check Settings:

   • Ensure that you have configured the screen time settings correctly for the kid's profile. Verify the allowed usage duration, content restrictions, and any other settings you've applied.

2. Update Chromecast Firmware:

   • Make sure your Chromecast device is running the latest firmware. Outdated firmware can sometimes lead to issues. You can check for updates in the Google Home app.

3. Check Parental Controls:

   • Confirm that the parental control settings on your Chromecast are also correctly configured. These settings may include the ability to set restrictions and screen time limits.

[aSystemOverload]

The settings are all fine. It just doesn't work and Google doesn't expect it to. They've already confirmed this too me.

[MurrayT]

Google confirmed that screen time limits don't apply to YouTube? They should advertise this.

So the solution is to uninstall YouTube and tell your kids to watch Netflix, Disney, and Amazon Prime instead.

[aSystemOverload]

It's not a YouTube thing... it's a everything, but only some of the time... funnily enough, I've not experienced issues over the last few weeks... I won't hold out though, will probably stop working soon.

[kfarnham]

Lol, thanks? No. It doesn't work for a big cross-section of people. I have done all of the steps you've outlined here multiple times and others that you haven't. I've also clean installed / reset multiple times and it still doesn't work. Weird to have you come in and effectively mansplain how it works. You need a different hobby

[speedyUfo]

came here to say the same, google tv kids screen time not working, this when thye are watching youtube