Keyholder mode, in person.

Checked on iOS 26.5, September 2026.

This part is written for the keyholder, the person he has asked to hold his Screen Time passcode. It happens on his phone, in your hands, sitting together. When it is done, removing Bramble takes a conversation with you rather than a few taps.

Before you start

• His phone, your hands. When you type the passcode, he looks away.
• Bramble goes quiet for a moment, and comes back. The instant you switch Restrictions on, Bramble’s protections drop out. That is expected. Step 6 brings them back, before anything is locked.
• Have somewhere to write the passcode down, somewhere he will not find it. You will skip Apple’s passcode recovery on purpose. With recovery skipped, a forgotten Screen Time passcode means erasing the phone.

For a picture of every screen, and a few optional extras, see the full keyholder walk-through.

The steps

1. Open Settings › Screen Time and tap Content & Privacy Restrictions.
2. Turn the switch at the top on.
3. Open App Installations & Purchases and set Deleting Apps to Don’t Allow. Always. This is what keeps Bramble on the phone. Leave Installing Apps on Allow: iOS cannot tell an update from a new app, so Don’t Allow there would stop every update, Bramble’s included.
4. Go back to Content & Privacy Restrictions and scroll down. Under Allow Changes to:, open Accounts and choose Don’t Allow. Older iOS calls it “Account Changes.” Leave everything else on that list alone.
5. Switch to the Bramble app.
6. Tap Re-arm, then wake the Safari filter. Wait for both green checks. Do not lock anything until they are green.
7. Back in Settings › Screen Time, scroll to the very bottom and tap Lock Screen Time Settings. Choose a passcode while he looks away. Not his phone’s passcode, and nothing he would guess.
8. On Screen Time Passcode Recovery, tap Cancel.
9. On “Are you sure?”, tap Skip.
10. It is done when the button reads Change Screen Time Passcode. Hand the phone back. He finishes in Bramble.