Screen Time tracking usage when I'm not there

[mafocari]

I'm showing about 2 hours over the weekends, sometimes I'm not even in the same room as the MacBook (Big Sur) or at home. I'm also seeing some work days shows about 2 hours extra than I'm used to; I can't tell what's going on with it.


Normally All Apps will show the apps I've used... so it's tracking something but I never see the screen on when I'm in the room and the screens have already gone to sleep. I never shut down the MacBook, just hit Ctrl+Cmd+Q to lock it.

I read that I should check that "All Devices" aren't being tracked, but there's nothing there about that, and I'm seeing nothing in the settings or anything that could be the culprit.

What exactly is the Mac tracking when I'm away?! The lock screen lets the monitors shut off within a minute I think, and I don't see anything in the tracking anyway about lock screen time.

Even if it's tracking something I can't see or hear, I need to either find out what it is, or cut it out of tracking. I'd rather not track screen time manually, since this feature typically has been helpful for my work flow.

 

[vansmith]

I suspect that sharing across devices is enabled. If you go to Screen Time > Options, is "Share across devices" checked?

 

[mafocari]

I don't see "Share across devices" anywhere...

 

[IWT]

Click on "Options" at the bottom left and that will open a window and there you will see "Share across devices" which you can turn off/on.

Ian

 

[IWT]

It looks like this:



Ian

 

[mafocari]

Click on "Options" at the bottom left and that will open a window and there you will see "Share across devices" which you can turn off/on.

I already showed you my Options window. Scroll up to see the screenshot. Yours looks different. Why?

 

[IWT]

I already showed you my Options window. Scroll up to see the screenshot. Yours looks different. Why?

Because your post #3 shows the Options in the left hand corner. It has options adjacent to which are there dots ... Click on these dots. And then you will get the same screen as I posted in #5.

Ian

 

[mafocari]

Because your post #3 shows the Options in the left hand corner. It has options adjacent to which are there dots ... Click on these dots.

You must have missed the second screenshot, which shows the options button already clicked; the three dots are part of the button.

Screen Time tracking usage when I'm not there

I'm showing about 2 hours over the weekends, sometimes I'm not even in the same room as the MacBook (Big Sur) or at home. I'm also seeing some work days shows about 2 hours extra than I'm used to; I can't tell what's going on with it. Normally All Apps will show the apps I've used... so it's...

www.mac-forums.com

Your options screen says "Screen Time: On", mine says "Screen Time for this Mac: On". Both of ours has the "Use Screen Time Passcode" checkbox and its blurb. We're obviously on the same view, but the rest of it is different. Why?

My macOS version is Big Sur Version 11.6.2. What version is yours?

 

[IWT]

My macOS version is Big Sur Version 11.6.2. What version is yours?

11.6.2

Ian

 

[mafocari]

11.6.2

OK, then, I don't know why yours looks different. Any ideas?

I know my computer was set up by my boss, who has the administrative account... could my Options view be limited because of that?

I'm honestly afraid to even mention it to him because I don't know how well I've been with screen time or it could give a false negative impression to him, or he may have something weird running in the background... or he may be tracing me, I don't know (I don't think he's the type and I've never seen indication of that).

I suppose the extraneous minutes (it's about 2 hours per day) could be Avast doing stuff being tracked for some reason... it just drives me crazy I can't accurately track my screen time at this point.

 

[IWT]

@mafocari

I've re-read all the previous posts. The new information is that the your Mac is not exactly yours - at least you say that your boss set up the Mac from which I take it that the person concerned chose the settings for the Mac.

This could explain why your screenshot in Post #3 is different from what we expected. I cannot possibly comment on whether the boss is monitoring you/checking you/tracing you as you stated. That has to be a matter between the two of you.

I also noted, I think for the first time, that you or your boss put Avast on the Mac. This is a totally unnecessary anti-virus app that can slow the Mac, interfere with some of its functions and will not "catch" any true viruses as there are none in the wild which affect Macs.

You are possibly not in a position to do so; but complete removal of that app would be highly desirable.

As I am now assuming that this Mac may be a work Mac rather than a personal one; is it set up to run Windows' apps via Bootcamp or virtual software? I only ask because of Avast which is pointless on a Mac.

Tough though it may be - and believe me I understand - the way forward is to discuss all these issue with your boss.

What are your thoughts on this?

Ian

 

[mafocari]

your Mac is not exactly yours

Right, but I was hoping you knew something about admin configuration to know if that's what causes the difference... it still could be something else anyway. If someone is familiar with admin configuration, maybe they could comment on it.

I cannot possibly comment on whether the boss is monitoring you/checking you/tracing you as you stated.

I know Nobody ever thinks a random person on the internet can comment on whether their boss is monitoring them or whatever. That seems obvious, and not needing mention.

you or your boss put Avast on the Mac. This is a totally unnecessary anti-virus app that can slow the Mac, interfere with some of its functions and will not "catch" any true viruses as there are none in the wild which affect Macs.

My boss put it on, then I uninstalled it for performance reasons, then after a while I reinstalled it for security reasons, and now there's no performance issues, just annoying pop-ups, but I can't say that the app is totally unnecessary and will not "catch" any "true" viruses (what's the difference between a true and an untrue virus?), nor do I believe there's none in the wild which affect Macs.

Avast has caught a bunch of security threats, such as some Google search image URLs that it pointed out were bad, some links I tried to go to that were bad (that looked bad once I realized where they were redirecting), and its behavior in regards to this doesn't seem to be any different than other malware scanners like WebRoot or Windows Defender... so I think it's doing it's job as well as any other.

macOS has vulnerabilities, so it can be targeted by malware, even if there's less incentive for malware makers to target Mac due to its low popularity: Apple Mac Os X : CVE security vulnerabilities, versions and detailed reports

Anyway, this is off-topic; whether Avast is a good malware scanner for Mac or not is completely irrelevant to my Screentime issues.

The issue is that Screentime appears to be tracking about 2 hours extra per day (not every day, but most days) of apps or something that it isn't telling me what they are... the numbers don't add up when I click into the app usage view. That appears to be a bug in Screentime, though it could be some thing with Avast, or some thing with admin settings... I don't know how to tell. Do you?

Anyway, I'll search around more, but I was hoping to get more info here about delving into why Screentime either won't show me what it's tracking in those extra two hours, or why I can't see it. If I just have to ask my boss, OK, I don't expect you to know anything about my boss or what he did or be able to answer any questions on his behalf of course.

 

[mafocari]

I suppose there's no fix for this issue, and I'll have to repost at another time, maybe in another category or on another forum, with more modern information.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Not being facetious, but why do you care about the 2 hours? Screen time is good when you wan to actively monitor yourself or others to ensure that you aren't overdoing anything.

Do not post threads about this topic elsewhere within these forums, if the answers so far don't satisfy you, by all means post it on other site and see what you get.

 

[mafocari]

but why do you care about the 2 hours?

Because I want accurate Screen Time tracking... why wouldn't I?

It's not just 2 hours overall... it's like, 2 hours per week or day... and that can end up in results that are over time WAY off.

I used to use Desktime, but apparently that's not feasible anymore. So if I can't get accurate reporting in Screen Time, it'd be nice to know any suggested alternatives.

Screen time is good when you wan to actively monitor yourself or others to ensure that you aren't overdoing anything.

I know. That's why I'm doing it, but just for myself. Also, that's why I want it to be accurate.

Do not post threads about this topic elsewhere within these forums, if the answers so far don't satisfy you, by all means post it on other site and see what you get.

Alright, I only suggested that because I got no reply to my last post giving clarification and more detail (obviously I was stating that I still had no fix for the issue).

So, re-reading the thread, it seems like nobody's in my situation and so has no suggested solution. Maybe my Mac's too restricted to fix it, which of course is outside of my control, since I'm not gonna ask my boss to loosen restrictions just so I can check my Screen Time and get accurate reporting. Don't worry, I don't blame anyone here for any of this.

Anyway, I'll be on the lookout for an alternative. I just don't know what a good alternative on Mac is for the old Desktime app.

 

[pm-r]

Anyway, I'll be on the lookout for an alternative. I just don't know what a good alternative on Mac is for the old Desktime app.

I just thought I should mention it, but you may not have any option or choice about setting up or installing any alternative application or utility depending on how the Mac was set up in the first place and who the approved admin user is...

Just a possibility and a thought...



- Patrick
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[mafocari]

installing any alternative application or utility

Don't you worry about that, I wouldn't have asked for suggestions on that if I couldn't already install apps or utilities on my own. Note that you don't need to worry about my admin user or anything like that.

So what are your suggestions?

 

[mafocari]

Also why is this site so slow? It takes more than several seconds to load anything, and often fails. This has been going on for weeks.

I've gotten redirect loop errors multiple times. This happens every time I try to start a new topic about the issues in the Other category (I don't remember the name of it now).

I notice in console log these errors too:

Failed to load resource: net::ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS
www.mac-forums.com/:1 GET Mac-Forums net::ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS
www.mac-forums.com/:1 GET Mac-Forums net::ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS

What is going on?

 

[pm-r]

Don't you worry about that, I wouldn't have asked for suggestions on that if I couldn't already install apps or utilities on my own. Note that you don't need to worry about my admin user or anything like that.

I only mentioned that fact as a possibility in case you did not know about that possibility and you certainly did not mention anything that you had any administrative permissions to do so and I certainly was not attempting to encroach into any such personal matters as I don't have any reason to do so nor do I really give a **** as to what they might be.

Anyway, good luck solving your problem.



- Patrick
=======

 

[pm-r]

I've gotten redirect loop errors multiple times. This happens every time I try to start a new topic about the issues in the Other category (I don't remember the name of it now).

I notice in console log these errors too:

Maybe have a look through some of these hits for a possible solution:

mac ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS - Google Search

www.google.com

BTW: for what it is worth I am not having any such problems with this site or any other I have been to recently, everything seems to be working fairly well and speedily.



- Patrick
=======