The Bedtime Lock: One Tap to Lights-Out, Automated

Two iOS Shortcuts on the parent's phone: one that locks the kid's phone ("Turn Off Phone") and one that unlocks it ("Turn On Phone"), each a single tap. Then an optional automation that fires the lock at bedtime and the unlock in the morning, so you don't even have to tap.

Under the hood, each shortcut sends one command to the SimpleMDM API. You'll gather three things as you go: a SimpleMDM API key, your kid's device ID, and an Authorization header built from that key.

In SimpleMDM, open Account → API and click API Key.

Type a name in the box and click Save. You can leave the default permissions, or tighten them if you want finer control.

Once you save, the key appears below the name; click reveal to see it. Copy it and store it somewhere safe, like a password manager. Treat it like a password, anyone who has it can send commands to your devices.

Each shortcut points at one specific phone, identified by its device ID, a 7-digit number. Grab it from SimpleMDM: click the kid's device to open its Device Details screen, then read the ID out of the URL.

Now build the URL the shortcut will call. Take the line below and drop your kid's device ID into the bracketed spot (remove the brackets too):

https://a.simplemdm.com/api/v1/devices/[your kid's device number]/lost_mode

Keep that URL and your API key handy; you'll paste both into the shortcut next.

Get the parent phone and open the Shortcuts app (it's built in). On the Library tab, tap the + to add a new shortcut, then search for the Get Contents of URL action and add it.

Tap URL and paste in the URL you prepared (the one with your kid's device ID). Leave Method on GET for the moment.

Tap GET and switch the method to POST. (POST is what turns Lost Mode on. In a minute you'll make a near-copy that uses DELETE to turn it back off.)

The Authorization header (the one fiddly part)

This is the step that trips everyone up, so here's the plain-English version. SimpleMDM checks who you are with something called Basic authentication. The catch: it doesn't want your API key typed in as-is. It wants your key (with a colon stuck on the end) converted into a scrambled string called Base64. You make that string once and paste it in.

The simplest way to make it is on the same Mac you used for Apple Configurator:

1. Open the Terminal app (press Cmd+Space, type Terminal, press Return).

2. Paste the line below, swapping YOUR_API_KEY for the key you copied from SimpleMDM. Keep the colon right after it, inside the quotes:

   echo 'YOUR_API_KEY:' | base64

3. Press Return. Terminal spits out a line of letters and numbers. That scrambled line is your Base64 string. Copy it.

The one thing almost everyone gets wrong here (I did too): keep the colon at the end of your key, inside the quotes. It's required, it stands in for the empty password SimpleMDM expects. Leave it off and you'll get an "Access denied" error.

Now back in the shortcut: tap Headers, then Add new header. For the name, type Authorization. For the value, type the word Basic, then a space, then paste your Base64 string, so the value reads Basic followed by your scrambled string.

Last, under Request Body (leave it set to JSON), tap Add new field, name it message, and give it the words you want on the lock screen, like Bedtime. When everything's in, your action should look like this:

Seeing Invalid API key. Access denied? Nine times out of ten it's the Base64, not the key itself. Re-make it with the steps above, double-checking that you kept the trailing colon at the end of your key. A stray space or a hidden newline is the usual culprit.

Tap the shortcut's name at the top, choose Rename, and call it "Turn Off Phone." While that menu is open, tap Add to Home Screen so it's one tap away at bedtime.

Open that same menu on "Turn Off Phone" and tap Duplicate. In the copy, change just two things: switch the Method from POST to DELETE, and remove the message body field (DELETE doesn't need one). The URL and the Authorization header stay exactly the same. Rename this one "Turn On Phone" and add it to your home screen too. Now you've got a lock button and an unlock button.

Tapping the button at bedtime works fine, but you can also have it fire on a schedule. In Shortcuts, open the Automation tab and tap + to create a new one.

1. Choose Time of Day as the trigger.

2. Set the time to your bedtime, set Repeat to Daily, and pick Run Immediately so it fires without stopping to ask you first. Tap Next.

3. Choose your Turn Off Phone shortcut as the thing to run.

Add a matching morning automation that runs Turn On Phone, and the phone locks and unlocks itself on schedule, no tapping required.

That's the upgrade that quieted our nights. When you're ready for the other one, the NextDNS web filter add-on (coming soon) adds an explicit porn/ads/malware block on top of everything you've built.