How to Get the Apple Family Controls Entitlement

Screen Time, app blocking and parental controls require a distribution entitlement you have to request from Apple. Here is exactly how to apply.

Timothy Lindblom

Founder, Newly

May 2026|9 min read

Family Controls is the Apple framework behind Screen Time-style parental controls, app limits and usage shielding. You can build and test against it with a development entitlement immediately, but you cannot ship — to TestFlight or the App Store — until Apple approves a separate "Family Controls (Distribution)" request. This is the entitlement most app-blocking and digital-wellbeing apps get stuck on at submission time.

Apply through this form

Family Controls (Distribution) request form

Open form

Key Takeaways

The development entitlement works locally without approval — distribution requires a request.
You request it per bundle ID, and separately for each Screen Time app extension you ship.
Apple wants a clear, genuine parental-control or digital-wellbeing use case.
Approval typically takes a few business days to a few weeks; submit early.

Family Controls at a Glance

Form

Apple approval required

Per bundle ID

One request each

Days–weeks

Typical review time

iOS 15+

Screen Time API

What This Entitlement Is

Family Controls is the authorization layer for Apple’s Screen Time APIs: FamilyControls (request authorization and obtain opaque app/category tokens), ManagedSettings (apply shields and restrictions), and DeviceActivity (schedule and monitor usage). The tokens are deliberately opaque, so a parental-control app can restrict an app without ever learning which apps the user has installed. The distribution entitlement is what lets a build carrying these frameworks pass code signing for the App Store.

Entitlement & config keys

com.apple.developer.family-controls (distribution)
com.apple.developer.family-controls.development (local testing)
Frameworks: FamilyControls, ManagedSettings, DeviceActivity

Who Needs It

Parental control & family safety apps

Apps that let a guardian limit, schedule or monitor a child’s app and web usage on their device.

Digital wellbeing & focus apps

Screen-time trackers, app blockers and focus tools that shield distracting apps during work or study sessions.

Self-control / habit apps

Apps where the core value is the user restricting their own usage of specific apps or categories.

Not for analytics or marketing

Apple rejects requests where Screen Time data would be used for advertising, profiling or anything outside genuine usage management.

How to Request the Entitlement

1
Add the development entitlement and build locally
Enable the Family Controls capability so com.apple.developer.family-controls.development is present, and confirm your Screen Time flows work on a real device before you request distribution.
2
Sign in as the Account Holder
Open the Family Controls (Distribution) request form while signed in to the Apple Developer account that owns the app — requests are tied to your team.
3
Submit the bundle identifier and use case
Provide the app’s bundle ID and a clear written explanation of why your app needs Screen Time access and how it uses FamilyControls, ManagedSettings and DeviceActivity.
4
Request each extension separately
If you ship Device Activity Monitor, Device Activity Report, Shield Action or Shield Configuration extensions, submit a request for each extension’s bundle ID too — otherwise they fail to sign at distribution.
5
Enable the capability once approved
After approval, turn on Family Controls (Distribution) under Additional Capabilities for each bundle ID, regenerate your distribution provisioning profile, and rebuild.

What Apple Evaluates

Whether the app’s core purpose genuinely requires Screen Time / parental-control functionality.
That the use case fits family safety, parental control or personal digital wellbeing.
That you are not using the capability to collect usage data for advertising or profiling.
That every extension bundle ID carrying the frameworks is covered by a request.

Timeline. Apple reviews each request manually. Developers commonly report anywhere from about four business days to a few weeks. The development entitlement keeps working the whole time, so build and test in parallel; you only need approval before you upload a distribution build to App Store Connect.

Common Reasons It Gets Rejected

Use case looks unnecessary

If Screen Time access is not obviously central to what the app does, Apple may decide the capability is not needed.

How to avoid it: Lead with the parental-control or self-control feature that depends on it, and describe the exact user flow.

Vague justification

A one-line "we need parental controls" rarely clears review.

How to avoid it: Spell out which frameworks you use, what you shield, and how the user benefits.

Forgetting the extensions

The app is approved but a Device Activity or Shield extension fails to sign because its bundle ID was never requested.

How to avoid it: List every extension up front and submit a request for each one.

Adding It in Newly

Newly builds real native apps, so the capability goes into your app exactly the way it would in a hand-written project — you just describe it instead of editing config files.

1Tell the Newly agent what you want, e.g. "add Family Controls so users can block selected apps during focus sessions."
2Newly adds the com.apple.developer.family-controls entitlement and the required Screen Time extensions to your iOS build configuration.
3Submit Apple’s Family Controls (Distribution) request for your bundle ID (and each extension) from your developer account.
4Once Apple approves, rebuild and submit to the App Store from the Deploy modal — the entitlement is already wired in.

For the full deployment flow, see the permissions & entitlements guide in the Newly docs.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need approval just to test Family Controls?

No. The development entitlement (com.apple.developer.family-controls.development) lets you build and test on your own devices immediately. You only need the distribution approval to upload to TestFlight or the App Store.

How long does the Family Controls request take?

Apple reviews manually, so it varies — often a few business days, sometimes a couple of weeks. Submit your request as early as possible and keep developing against the development entitlement while you wait.

Can I see which apps the user has installed?

No. Family Controls uses opaque ApplicationTokens and ActivityCategoryTokens, so you can shield or limit an app without ever learning its identity. This privacy model is part of why Apple gates the entitlement.

Why did my build fail to sign even after approval?

Almost always because a Screen Time app extension’s bundle ID was not included in a request. Each extension that links the frameworks needs its own approved entitlement.

Ship a Family Controls app without fighting the native config

Describe the feature and Newly wires up the entitlement keys, Info.plist / manifest entries and native modules for you — then builds and submits to the App Store and Google Play. You still file the approval yourself, but the build is ready the moment it's granted.

Start Building Your App →

Sources & Further Reading

Official Apple documentation for the Family Controls capability. Always confirm the current requirements against these pages before you apply.