Set child's time limit for YouTube via Discord
My child is able to bypass their YouTube ScreenTime limits by pasting YouTube URLs into Discord. Is there anything I as a parent can do to prohibit this, other than by limiting their time on Discord?
We use Apple's ScreenTime to limit other apps, and it works OK for the most part. They much prefer limits enforced by ScreenTime to us telling them they need to get off, as the ScreenTime limits are predictable. (We discuss the limits with them, and they take part in setting them.)
I want them to have a generous time limit on Discord, as they're home educated and most days they only "see" their friends via Discord. But I don't want them to spend all that time watching YouTube via Discord.
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This is not a problem of Discord as is the infrastructure of YouTube. On YouTube, you can watch any video you like without logging in. So when you send a video through a platform, that supports the YouTube embed function, YouTube does not require you to log in and just assumes that the video is playing someone, who can watch it. There are some limits to YouTube embed views, but those mostly care about offensive videos. If the video user's embedding is violet enough, or marked as "not suitable for children" by its author, YouTube will require you to Log In through their main website to check if you have an account within age restrictions. There is no workaround for this and it is not a Discord exclusive exploit. Basically anywhere, where YouTube is unable to check who is on the other side, it just assumes that there are no limits. You can easily bypass restrictions even in basic web browsers with incognito mode turned on.
The only possible solution I am aware of in this situation is setting up a home DNS server, that would monitor user activity in the whole-home network and count for how long is a specific device connected to YouTubes websites. If requests to YouTube are over the maximum allowed time connected to YT, it would cut the connection for that user. This solution is pretty complicated if you have no experience with network systems tho. Luckily, some WiFi routers have this as a built-in feature, you can check by logging to the local router's administration website (usually a string of 4 numbers with a dot in between them) and password. Both of them should be located on the bottom of the device, but if there are not any, it has to have a device model number, so you can search everything online. And yes, I know that it might sound scary to play with the settings of your router, but it is not as bad as it sounds. Most routers set up connections with the internet service provider (ISP) automatically and even if would change something by accident, unless you click on the save button, it will be fine. If you are still uncomfortable doing such a thing tho, try contacting your ISP to check for you and ask about the solution, they might be useful and maybe know about solutions I am not aware of.
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I don't think this issue is because they can't log in, as my child has no YouTube account and ScreenTime works just fine in the browser even if they're not logged in. Apple's ScreenTime sounds a bit like the solution you're describing, for what it's worth: https://www.pocket-lint.com/apps/news/apple/144733-what-is-apple-screen-time-and-how-does-it-work
I don't know for sure, but I think the problem I have with Discord is that they somehow mask/tunnel the YouTube traffic so ScreenTime doesn't recognise that it's YouTube. This might be desirable for other reasons, maybe to avoid ads or something, but it's frustrating my efforts to reduce my child's YT consumption.
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Personally, I feel as if this is not an issue with the platform but an issue with how you manage device time with your children, perhaps you could use the good old fashion approach of removing the devices at times when your children should not be using them.
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Oh, sorry, my bad, I didn't notice you mentioned that Screentime was an Apple function. I thought it is a function of a YT itself. Sadly I don't really know how iOS works since a have almost no experience with it, but based on what other systems work like I think that Apple disables the app only as an icon, not as an app as it is, so connections may work from other apps. On Android, if you click on a YouTube link, it will automatically forward you to the app. Is this the same case on iOS, or will the player play inside of a Discord app?
If it does forward, it is problem of iOS and should be reported as a bug at Apple forums. Unless Apple requires some kind of app verification in apps code, but that would be stupid. I bet they don't. Before reporting, try updating the iOS of the child's device. After that check and if it didn't help, you can try to slightly workaround this bug by limiting YouTube inside the YouTube app itself. As mentioned before, this won't work if YouTube won't be able to verify who the user on the other side is, so it can be really frustrating.
If it doesn't forward then it is problem at YouTube and it cannot be fixed in any way other than DNS setup. From research, I know that Screentime cares just about the application ID, not where that it forwards and so it cannot see that Discord is connecting the user to YouTube services. YouTube on the other way isn't able to verify who is on the other side and won't give its data to Discord.
I know, that this can be frustrating. I am not a parent, and it really surprised me, that there is no known solution for this to me. May I just recommend you? Maybe it would be best to say tell your kid to have a limit. If nothing, it might learn your kid to have a little bit more respect for you and learn him some discipline. And just to make sure we understand each other, I don't, by any means, want to indicate that your kid is unpolite. It is just a suggestion.
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Johnny thank you, but that is not super helpful. They have a computer, rather than an iPad, so it's not so easy to take away. Also, I said I want them to have access to their computer for communicating with their friends. They also use it for online learning, 3D modelling, and playing games. I'm OK with this, as it teaches valuable skills. I'm OK with them watching some YouTube too.
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MartinRusnák For what it's worth my child is using a Mac computer, not a tablet. And they do not have a YouTube app installed. ScreenTime doesn't just disable apps, it is able to block individual websites in Safari. However, it is not able to when those YouTube videos are viewed inside Discord, therefore I still believe this is an issue with Discord bypassing the mechanism ScreenTime uses to detect which site is accessed.
Thank you for your parenting suggestion, but the addictive nature of YouTube's auto-play next video etc is such that they don't notice the passing of time and are not able to regulate their time without help. If I ask them how much time they think they've watched they might say 5 or 20 minutes, when in reality it's been 90. I have to work and am not able to watch them all the time. Besides; they are much more comfortable with a limit enforced by a non-partial machine than by us fallible humans, as we are less consistent.
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I see.
Does Sreentime work inside of a browser, that is not managed by Apple? Chances are, that this system works in a very similar way as it I think does on iOS. When you set the ScreenTime limit in macOS, Mac won't set it for a whole device, but just send that information to Safari, which takes care of the rest.
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