Can Teenagers Manage Their Own Screen Time?

26 Sep, 2025

This summer I recorded a conversation with my youngest child about an open source app called TimeLimit. I thought it would be interesting to talk about the app, because, while it is intended to be used as a parent control app, my child has been using it as a self-management tool.

I have written against parental controls for teenagers, and I so I was interested to explore the question: can a teenager manage their own time limits and applications through an app like TimeLimit?

Below is an abridged transcript of the conversation we had. It was a nice conversation in a beautiful garden, and I tried to stay true to the original flow of the conversation as much as possible.

The conversation

What kind of phone do you have?

A Fairphone 3.

Do you have Android on there?

I don’t know. What’s Android even?¹

It’s an operating system, the software that makes things run. What do you like about the Fairphone?

It’s just a phone, but I like that it is made fairly.

Which app store do you use on it?

Aurora Store and the other one...F-Droid.

What’s your favourite app?

Probably WhatsApp, from Aurora Store. I used Pinterest too, but I don’t like it because it’s quite addictive.

OK, tell me about the app your found yourself last year. What were you looking for?

It was about half a year ago. I was looking for an app that limits my time on things.

And why were you looking for something like that?

Because I went on apps too much, mainly WhatsApp and Pinterest.

So you looked for an app that would limit your time and that you could control yourself?

Yeah.

How did you search for that on the stores? What were you looking for?

I just searched for ‘phone limit’ or ‘screen time limit’ on F-Droid.

Do you know how F-Droid is different from Aurora, or not?

Doesn’t it give you apps that are just for privacy, that have better privacy? Like, I don’t think they would put WhatsApp on that, would they?

No, they wouldn't. So they are all open source apps. Do you know what open source means?

No.

It means that everyone in the world can see the code. People who know how to read code can check that it’s not doing anything secretive, or sending your data to someone else.

Hm.

What’s the name of the app you decided on in the end?

It’s called TimeLimit.

And what does it do?

It limits your screen time. You can choose yourself how long the limits are. Usually the parent has the code, but I don’t have a code and just do it myself.

Does it have a nice interface? Is it easy to work with and to set up?

It doesn’t look beautiful or anything, but it works easily. It was easy to set up, but you helped me a little bit (laughs).

What did I help you with?

Just how to get started, which buttons to click on to find the apps and stuff.

What sort of settings did you choose on TimeLimit?

Let me check...So I have ‘allowed apps’. Those don’t have a time limit.

Can you give an example?

Oh, like my camera app, and all these random apps that need to be allowed forever.

That are part of the system, you mean?

Yeah. System apps too.

And what happens if an app isn’t on that list? What if, for example, you tried to use your camera and it’s not in the ‘allowed apps’ list?

Then you can click on camera, but there is a screen that tells you it was blocked.

Is it not annoying that a lot of apps in the beginning might give you that notification?

Yeah, that’s annoying, because every time when you install an app, or if there are add-ons, like with Duo Lingo, then you need to go into the system of TimeLimit to unblock it.

And did you have to unblock every app on your phone? Calculator, camera...all those generic apps, or were they already unblocked?

(Both now looking at the app interface.) I think I had to add everything when I started TimeLimit. It says ‘manipulation’ when I change something myself, and that’s because normally the parent changes it, but I just do it myself. If I want to turn something off, I just click on the lock and then it disappears.

Oh, so you don’t have a profile? You just change the settings?

Yeah, there is ‘block temporarily’ so you can never go on it for the time it’s blocked.

Do you ever use that?

Yeah, I’ve used that a few times. And ‘disable limits’ puts the timer away, so you can go on it forever (laughs).

And what sort of limits have you set for your self?

So there’s allowed apps, no time limit...Allowed games have 30 minutes, but I don’t have games on my phone.

Thirty minutes per day?

Yeah, but I never use games. So, WhatsApp has an hour, Pinterest has 45 minutes, Signal also has an hour.

And how is it working for you? What happens if you are still on WhatsApp when the hour is up? Do you then just turn it off, or do something else?

Yeah, then I just go off it, but I actually never use up the hour usually.

Really?

Yeah, but usually there’s only like five minutes left, but I leave that in case I need to use it for an emergency or something like that.

Do you think you would use WhatsApp a lot more if you didn’t have the limit of that hour?

Well, before I was always checking the app, but there was nothing to check, you know, which is so annoying.

Why were you always checking then?

I don’t know. Maybe because I’m bored or something.

What are the best parts of the TimeLimit app, if you were asked to give a review of it? What are the strengths?

Less screen time.

So it does what it says?

Yeah, it really works. But sometimes if I am just relaxing I would put Pinterest longer. In the weekends I have longer. For WhatsApp I have two hours in the weekends.

Do you think it works, being your own administrator? That you decide if you want to ignore the time limits on the app? Is that not a danger if somebody is addicted to an app and they want to try using it less?

Yeah, I think that could happen to people.

Why does it work for you then?

I just like to have a plan, you know? So I know for myself that I haven’t gone longer than I want to.

Ah, yes, I see. And what’s the biggest weakness of the app? Is there anything about the settings, or the way you interact with it?

Yeah, I think that you have all those system things that you have to do something with.

System apps?

Yeah, that you have to click every time there is a new app. And there are loads of system apps.

Is there no way to just select them all at once?

Maybe there is, but I just do it when I install a new app and then allow any of the system apps that are there.

Would you recommend the app to people your age, or not?

Yeah, but most of my friends have it so their parents control their apps, because they can’t control it themselves.

They have parental controls? Most of your friends?

Yes. [X]...they don’t have limit on WhatsApp though, just on other apps. But YouTube you can always look at on the search bar [browser]. And the rest just all have parental controls, I think. But one of my friends has it where at 9.30 the phone just shuts off, and that’s fine, because they go to sleep at 9.30.

What would you think if Mummy and I were to say we want to have parental controls?

No, I wouldn’t like that.

Why not?

Well, if I need more time it’s so much work. It’s a hassle, if I am at a friend’s for example, I would need to call you.

Yeah, I remember that with [my oldest child].

All my friends do that when they need more time.

Right, and that’s more work for everyone. But you trust yourself enough to set the limits.

Yes.

OK! So the name of the app is?

TimeLimit, with the words stuck together and the T and the L are capitalised.

Do you know who made it?

(Checking) Do I just go to F-Droid and check there?

Yeah. The person who made it is called the developer.

(We look for a while. There is some confusion about an app with a similar name.)

Oh, there is a paid version as well.

What does the paid version give you?

I think it’s something for parents. OK, it says ‘The build doesn’t have an integrated updater.’ Ah, so you have to download and update it yourself.

Oops.

Here you can see the code of the app. It says ‘source code’.

What’s that? Oh, so you can see if there are any secrets?

Yes, the program, so someone like [programmer family member] can look into it. And it was updated last month, so that’s a good sign. See, if it was last updated five years ago, it could be bad for security, but this is updated regularly.

Hm, that’s good. But what do they update?

They improve the app, you know, the code, and if there are security problems they fix those. OK, thank you! Is there anything else you want to say about the app?

Not really?

Alright.

Recording ends.

Conclusions

I really appreciate my child was willing to go through with the awkwardness of being interviewed by a parent. As you can see from the text above, some of the responses are in the terse style typical of teenagers.

I do feel we got to the bottom of the question "Can manage their own screen time?" The answer is a clear "yes," but as is the case with so many habit-related things, the initiative has to come from the children themselves. Parents can step in an provide some technical support or explain concepts like "trackers" and "open source" where needed, but we do need to understand that terminology ourselves before we can help our children on their own privacy journeys.