One app for screen time across all devices

Yes - one app can limit total screen time across a phone and every game console. OneLimit sets a single daily budget and enforces it across iPhone, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, and Windows PC at once: time on any device counts against the same total, and when it's used up, everything locks. The built-in controls on each console can't do this, because each one only sees its own hardware.

If you've gone looking for a way to cap your child's total screen time - not the phone separately, the PlayStation separately, the Switch separately - you've probably discovered the uncomfortable truth: the device makers don't build that. Apple limits Apple. Sony limits the PlayStation. Nintendo limits the Switch. Microsoft limits Xbox and Windows. Each one is an island, and your kid moves between the islands faster than you can keep up.

OneLimit was built for exactly that gap. This is how a single screen-time budget across every device actually works.

Is there one app that limits screen time across a phone and all consoles?

Yes. That is the entire point of OneLimit: one daily number that covers everything. You decide the total - say two hours on a school day - and that budget is shared across every device your child uses. An hour on the PS5 leaves an hour for everything else. Thirty minutes on the phone draws the same pool down by thirty minutes. When the budget reaches zero, all the linked devices lock together, not one at a time.

This is different from setting five separate limits and hoping they add up. Separate limits never add up - that's the screen time math problem almost every multi-device family runs into. One shared budget removes the arithmetic entirely.

Which devices can share one screen-time budget?

OneLimit currently covers five platforms:

• iPhone - via Apple's Screen Time framework
• PlayStation 5 - via PlayStation Family Management
• Nintendo Switch - via Nintendo Switch Online
• Xbox - via Microsoft Family Safety
• Windows PC - via Microsoft Family Safety (same account as Xbox)

Whatever combination your family has, the time from each one flows into the same daily budget.

How does one shared daily budget work?

You set the budget once. From then on, OneLimit tracks time on each linked device in close to real time and subtracts it from the day's total. Your child can see how much is left - a simple visual countdown rather than a spreadsheet - so the limit is something they understand, not a surprise. When the budget runs out, the devices lock, and they unlock again when the next day's budget begins (or when you grant more time).

You can set different budgets for weekdays and weekends, add bedtime lockout windows, and flip on vacation mode when the normal rules don't apply. The point is one clear number your child can't game around by switching screens.

Do each platform's own parental controls still run?

Yes - and you should keep the ones that matter. Content rating restrictions, purchase approval, and communication controls on each console are still doing useful work, and OneLimit doesn't touch them. What OneLimit adds is the layer none of those systems can build on their own: a view across the whole picture, and a single time budget that spans all of it. Think of it as the time manager sitting on top of the content controls you already trust.

Does a cross-device screen-time app monitor messages or location?

No. This is a deliberate design choice, not a missing feature. OneLimit manages time, not content. It does not read messages, scan web or app activity, or track location. The only thing it measures is how much time is spent, so it can enforce the budget fairly and lock devices when the time is up. If you want surveillance, OneLimit is the wrong tool - and we think that's a good thing.

How do you set it up across all five devices?

1. Create your family in the OneLimit Parent app and add your child.
2. Set the daily budget (and weekday/weekend variations if you want them).
3. Link the child's iPhone with the OneLimit Child app and a pairing code.
4. Connect the PS5, Switch, Xbox, or PC by signing in to your PlayStation, Nintendo, and Microsoft accounts.
5. That's it - time on any linked device now counts toward the one budget.

The free tier lets you try this with one child and one device before deciding whether it fits your family.

OneLimit gives families one shared daily screen time budget across iPhone, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, and Windows PC. Free tier available. Get started at onelimit.app.