We analyzed 1,370 negative reviews from the top 5 Parental Control apps on the App Store. Here's what users hate most.
Ranked by frequency — how often each complaint appears in negative reviews.
35% of negative reviews mention this issue.
"Sometimes when I get 1 hour of time, it just gives me 30 minutes-which takes half of my time away for no reason."
"when my parents give me like 30 minutes, the app takes out literally half of the minutes and I had 18"
28% of negative reviews mention this issue.
"DO NOT CREATE A MENTAL COLD WAR WITH YOUR CHILDREN. I have 2 children and I have installed this silly application. I used it for a year or so. Unfortunately my kids have developed a weird relationship with me and their mother. They hate us"
"This app is based purely off of control, not discipline, which is a huge difference when raising our kids. I was honestly shocked when I found"
22% of negative reviews mention this issue.
"I spent half a day trying to install OurPact Premium on my kids' iPads — struggling through endless compatibility issues with iTunes, PC setup, and their OurPact Connect tool"
"I have been trying to add my son's new tablet for over two hours now. I have tried contacting customer service and I got AI and no help"
18% of negative reviews mention this issue.
"Every time you have an issue, of which there will be MANY, you will receive nothing but auto generated emails that don't even address your specific need"
"I have been in contact with this app/company/Employees for months now on why I'm getting charged but yet I don't have access to the premium account which I pay for every month"
20% of negative reviews mention this issue.
"When I tried to block most of my apps, I obviously made an exception for the ones that were absolutely necessary"
"It counts Spotify as screen time with is a music app so I can't have Spotify open when I listen to music or I'll run out of time"
15% of negative reviews mention this issue.
"This app was almost perfect, the only issues I had with it before the most recent update"
"A while back, in an attempt to get more people to use their native apps"
Design and usability issues driving negative reviews.
Apps shut down mid-activity without warning, causing data loss and extreme frustration for children engaged in homework, games, or creative work
"I'm the child here ,almost 12 and i was playing genshin impact and I was doing the abyss challenge and then I was on chamber 3/3 floor trying to get Collei and then I was so close to winning when kidlox just kicks me out"
Critical feature for asking parents for extensions is frequently broken or hidden, forcing children to interrupt parents directly
"when I went in the app, all I could see was how much time I had left and I didn't see any ask for more time or anything"
Technical issues or bugs can lock children out entirely, sometimes requiring full device restore
"The next day it was dead and wouldn't connect to any cellular network or Wi-Fi. It wouldn't allow me erase and reset all settings I am assuming because it had the device management profile setting"
Parents believe they've removed the app or changed settings, but controls remain active, eroding trust
"My mom had told me that she deleted the app and that she hadn't had it in months. Today I was going through my phone and I was like 'oh hey I still have this'"
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