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I ran into what looks like a bug (or at least a serious UX flaw) on my child's Duolingo account, and after some trial and error, I found a workaround. Posting here in case anyone else is stuck in the same loop, and also as a heads-up to Duolingo that this flow can leave parents completely locked out.

Setup

• The parent manages the child's iPhone using iPhone Parental Controls (Screen Time / Family Sharing)
• The child uses Duolingo on their iPhone

The Bug

On a child's Duolingo account, if you accidentally turn off "Enable social features" in the Privacy Settings, attempting to turn it back on displays "Waiting for parent's permission" and the toggle becomes unresponsive. The app attempts to send an SMS for approval, but the message never actually reaches the parent. No email arrives either.

You end up stuck in a loop with no way to recover from within the iPhone app.

Why It Happens

The parent email address registered on the child's account was a placeholder / unverified address. Because that email was never valid (or never verified), the approval request had no real destination — so no SMS, no email, no approval flow.

The catch: the iPhone app gives you no way to fix this, because the very setting you need to change is locked behind the broken approval gate.

Note that iPhone Parental Controls and Duolingo's in-app parental approval are two completely separate systems. Even if your iPhone-level family setup is perfect, Duolingo's own account data has to be correct independently.

Workaround (Step-by-Step)

Part 1: On the child's iPhone

1. Open the Duolingo app → Settings → Account and check the registered email address.
2. If it's a placeholder or an address you don't recognize, change it to an email the parent can actually receive mail on.

Part 2: On a PC or mobile browser

1. Go to https://www.duolingo.com
2. Log in to the child's account. If you don't know the password, use "Forgot password" to send a reset link to the newly registered email.

Part 3: After logging into the web version with the child's account

1. In Account Settings, verify the email address (this is the critical step that the iPhone app never prompts you to do). Click the "Verify" button next to the email field.
2. A confirmation email arrives — click the link to complete verification.
3. Go to Privacy Settings and click "Enable social features" again. Unlike in the iPhone app, the web version actually lets you click it.
4. An approval request is finally sent to the parent's email. Click the link in that email to grant permission.

That's it — social features and leaderboards come back. ✅

Why I'm Calling This a Bug

• The iPhone app silently allows a placeholder/unverified email to be registered as the parent contact, then later relies on that same email for parental approval — with no fallback when delivery fails.
• The "Waiting for parent's permission" state offers no way to resend, change the parent contact, or escape the loop from within the app.
• The fix requires switching to the web version, which is not mentioned anywhere in the app's UI.

If a Duolingo team member sees this: it would be very helpful to (a) require email verification before treating the parent address as valid, and (b) provide a way to update the parent contact directly from the locked screen.

TL;DR

If you're stuck on "Waiting for parent's permission" on a child account and no SMS/email ever arrives, the parent email on file is probably a placeholder or unverified. Log into the child's account from a web browser, verify the email address, then re-enable social features from there. The approval email will finally come through.

Has anyone else hit this? Curious whether it's specific to certain account setups, or if Duolingo has acknowledged it anywhere.