Reviews for Xbox Family Settings

removed xbox from family settings app with no warning and the app does not allow a sign in. Errors out before you can even get started.

Great app, issues I noticed: 1) The back button on the device exits the app instead of going back on step. 2) The navigation bar of the device is covering the app navigation buttons.

terrible half the time I lock my kids device he's still on it, I've had to confiscate it when it doesn't lock after the pre-set time. no way to block YouTube or internet browser, he uses both to defer the lock and access inappropriate content. but what other options do I have

Great apps for parents, so much easier to control screen time as well as limit certain apps or games. didn't get notifications at first but some fiddling around and i get them now.

I create settings for my child such as max hours of play per day & age ratings, & they often reset to 24hr access and age 18+. The only effect to the xbox seems to be occasional random messages saying things like "10 minutes left" but 10 minutes later my child is still playing & has not been kicked out due to time up. I have to check settings on the app 2 or 3 times a week & redo some or all of the settings. On this basis, it's pointless using the app. Frustrating, unreliable, waste of time.

App has improved a lot. There's a bug where if end time is midnight it'll allow next days allotted time even though start time doesn't start for several hours later. Need 15 increments for setting time and ability to set max headset volume.

DOES NOT WORK!!! Do not download, I used this app for nearly a year and liked it, not really an issue. Then all of a sudden in July 2024 it stopped tracking times accurately and would not work correctly when trying to give more time to my son. Whatever the developers did recently messed it up completely

Needs to allow custom time increases. Same thing with permissions. I shouldn't have to up my kids age so he can play multiplayer on a game he's already approved to play. Needs more granular options in general. Sometimes I want the kids to play mp but not be able to hear or receive chat comms

Recently, something has changed and although I can see the extension that I've given to my son's screen time, it doesn't get received on the Xbox. No matter how many times I add time it doesn't come up, I end up having to give him time in person. People to this, it worked well.

The "family" experience for Xbox has been broken for years.... ever since my son was little on xbox360. Moving forward to 'One' & series X, only my account is able to use Gamepass streaming ( you want EVERYONE in family to subscribe.) He's now in his 20s... and you've never improved the family experience. Now with the Oct 2025 price increase I am dropping my $20 per month ultimate to lower - or unsubscribing altogether. If I could give negative stars, I would.

This app only functions part of the time and not even fully then. Half of the app says, "We couldn't get data just now, pull down the screen to try again" or "failed to load". And forget calling xbox customer service! They will either put you on hold for "5 to 10 minutes" and never come back or just flat out hang up on you.

Broken. I cannot add time or change the kids screen time range on-the-spot. If I add an hour when he has 2 hours left before his Xbox turns off it doesn't add an hour to it, it adds an hour right away and counts down the hour even tho he has 2 hours left. It doesn't update the time range for the current day, only future days. If I add an hour when he has 1 minute left it doesn't count. And the kid has to wait until his Xbox kicks him from his game before he can request more time. Broken.

This is okay. I really wish there was a way to add game time from the app while people are currently playing on the Xbox. Right now the only way to do it is to add it directly on the Xbox if my kids are already playing. otherwise it does not recognize the added time. The app is slow and buggy. I will sometimes add game time for my kids and when they try to play it says they don't have any time.

So goddamn frustrating trying to set parental control limits. Particularly, it's difficult to temporarily add extra time or remove it, like if I wanted to take it away due to a grounding. And it's especially bad because I have to manage it from both the family safety app and the Xbox app. Sometimes I'll set it to find out it didn't take for good knows why and then find I have to go to the other app instead. It's easier to physically take the devices away than use these apps.

Doesn't consistently work. It doesn't shut off the Xbox console when it clearly shows the time limit has been surpassed ("Used 2 hours and 43 minutes of the 2 hour limit"). Allows the device to be turned on outside of scheduled hours. The only thing that seems to work is hitting the "lock" button.

I have found a pervasive flaw in the user profiles. It does not shut the Xbox off when the time for profile has been exhausted. Also, some of the family settings are very unclearly worded: asking to buy things is actually the inverse of what the wording implies. Finally, changing the game pass tier was very difficult and not intuitive at all. Feels like Microsoft is trying to make this as complicated as possible so parents give up and allow kids unfettered access.

The app works fine but it's a pretty daggum ripoff that if I want to allow my child to buy something that costs, say $36.99, I can't just buy it. I have to add only the funds to the child's account for them to make the purchase, but the issue is that I can't add just the necessary amount, but only fixed amounts set by Microsoft. Pathetic!

Seems to work well, but the purchasing experience for my should is annoying. Why do I have to buy in 5 dollar groups? Why can't I buy for the exact amount of the purchase. Also a purchase failed and there is 10 dollars that is showing as in the account, but can't be used for anything because it thinks it has been used for that purchase that I never received? So I didn't lose the money, but can't use it either, so did I? It is in limbo. This needs some work.

You can set all of your child's preferences but can't go into your own profile to change things like screentime limits or communication restrictions. I also had trouble because it didn't list all of the profiles on my console. I wish it had a remote setting to power down the console but I don't know if that one is out of reach. I would highly appreciate the ability to do that though!

This is handy to limit kids' use of their Xboxes, but the app itself is problematic. Within the last few months, specifically (likely since the last update). The app just won't load sometimes, and for the last few days, it won't actually report the time they're spending on particular games or apps. This is frustrating and not especially helpful when kids have limits on certain apps but the app won't track the time spent.