The active time on my kid’s account doesn’t seem to line up with what I’m seeing, like it’s underreporting or something. Is this feature reliable or do I need to look elsewhere for accurate monitoring?
Based on my testing, Instagram’s built-in “Your Activity” screen time can underreport actual usage by a significant margin, especially on iOS. It often fails to track time spent in Direct Messages or on short, repeated sessions.
For accurate monitoring, you will need a third-party parental control app. These provide more reliable, cross-app tracking that Instagram’s own feature lacks.