How to View and Export Screen Time in iOS 12

This guide explains how to access, review, and export detailed historical Screen Time records from an iPhone or iPad running iOS 12. While Apple introduced the Screen Time feature in iOS 12 to track device usage, the built-in interface only displays data for up to seven days and lacks a native export button. By combining native device settings with computer-based backup extraction methods, you can view your weekly activity or extract full historical SQLite logs into readable spreadsheet formats.

Viewing Historical Logs on the Device

To view the maximum amount of historical data natively available on iOS 12:

  1. Open the Settings app on your iOS device.
  2. Select Screen Time.
  3. Tap the main usage graph located at the top of the screen.
  4. Select the Last 7 Days tab at the top.

From this screen, you can view daily breakdowns of total device usage, categorized app types, most used applications, total device pickups, and notification counts for the preceding week. iOS 12 purges or hides data older than seven days from this menu.

Limitations of iOS 12 Native Logging

iOS 12 does not include a direct "Share," "Print," or "Export to CSV" function within the Screen Time settings. To access logs beyond the seven-day window or to extract raw numerical data for analysis, you must retrieve the underlying database stored in an iOS backup.

Exporting Detailed Historical Logs via Backup

Detailed activity logs in iOS 12 are continuously written to an internal CoreData SQLite database called knowledgeC.db. You can extract this file to access detailed historical usage logs.

Step 1: Create a Local Backup

  1. Connect your iOS 12 device to a Mac or Windows PC using a USB cable.
  2. Open iTunes (or Finder on newer macOS versions).
  3. Select your device and choose Back Up Now under the Backups section. Ensure you choose to back up to the local computer rather than iCloud.

Step 2: Extract the Screen Time Database

To read the raw logs, use a backup extraction tool (such as iMazing, iPhone Backup Extractor, or open-source backup parsers) to browse the backup filesystem:

  1. Open your chosen backup reader and load your recent backup.
  2. Navigate to the file domain: AppDomain-com.apple.ScreenTimeAgent or HomeDomain.
  3. Locate the knowledgeC.db file, typically found in the path:
    Library/Application Support/Knowledge/knowledgeC.db
  4. Extract or copy knowledgeC.db to your computer.

Step 3: View and Export the Data

  1. Download and open a database viewer, such as DB Browser for SQLite.
  2. Open knowledgeC.db within the application.
  3. Navigate to the ZOBJECT and ZSTRUCTUREDMETADATA tables, which store exact timestamps, bundle identifiers for opened apps, and event durations.
  4. Use the File > Export > Table(s) to CSV file command to save the raw event logs into a standard spreadsheet format.