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Allowing your child to use the internet unsupervised can be risky, due to the nature of the content that can be accessed. Fortunately,Appledevices come with built-in parental controls that you can implement to protect your child’s online privacy and security.
Related:Fortnite: How To Set Up Parental Controls
Whether your child owns an iPhone, iPad, iPod, or Mac computer, parental controls allow you to control screen time, allowed apps and content, and more.
How To Turn On Parental Controls On iOS
The easiest way to set up parental controls is to set up Family Sharing.Seeour guide on setting up family sharing on your Apple devicefor detailed instructions. Once you do that, you can access parental controls for each child directly from your Family Sharing menu on your iPhone or Mac.
Alternatively, you can access parental controls directly on your child’s device.On iOS, parental controls are located in the Screen Time settings.
Click the settings icon on your child’s iPhone, iPad, or iPod. Then,click on Screen Timeandclick on Turn On Screen Time.
Tap on Screen Time Passcodeand choose a passcode. This will prevent your child from changing the Screen Time settings in the future. Confirm the passcode and enter your Apple ID and password, which you can use later to recover the passcode if you forget it.
This passcode should not be the same one used to unlock the device. verify to keep it a secret from your child.
How To Turn On Parental Controls On A Mac
On a Mac,parental controls are under Screen Time settings, which are accessible from the System Settings(System Preferences on older Mac versions). You can access the System Settings by clicking on theApple icon menuat the top of your screen.
If you have Family Sharing turned on, you can access Screen Time settings bylogging into your own Mac and selecting your child’s profilein the Screen Time settings. Otherwise, you will need to access the Screen Time settings on their physical device.
In Screen Time settings, click on Content & Privacy. Make sure to turn on Content and Privacy Restrictions.Set a passcode so that your child can’t change the restrictions or turn them off.
Things You Can Do With iOS Parental Controls
There are several things you should do once you activate a passcode and parental controls on iOS.
Set Up Downtime
UnderScreen Time > App & Website Activity >Downtime, you can turn on downtime, during which only apps you allow, and phone calls will be available.
You canturn on downtimeuntil midnight or schedule downtimes. You can also choose toblock the device entirelyduring downtime.
Set App Limits
UnderScreen Time > App Limits, you can set daily time limits for any app category. Click on Add Limit and then select All Apps & Categories or a specific category.
Categories include Social, Games, Entertainment, etc.Under each category, you’re able to also select specific appsif you don’t want to add a limit for the entire category. For example, instead of selecting all Social apps, you can select only Facebook and Instagram.
Once you’ve made your selection,select a time limitfor each day.
Set Communication Limits
UnderScreen Time > Communication Limits, you can set limits based on contacts.Set up different limits for screen time and downtime;for example, only allow your child to contact specific contacts such as Mom or Dad during downtime.
For added safety,turn off contact editing, so your child can’t edit an allowed contact.
Set Always Allowed Apps And Contacts
UnderScreen Time > Always Allowed, you can select contacts and apps that are always allowed, even during downtime.
Restrict iTunes And App Store Purchases
UnderScreen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions > iTunes & App Store Purchases,you canblockyour child from installing apps, deleting apps, ormaking in-app purchases.
you may alsorequire that your child enter a password for any additional purchasesthey make from iTunes or the App Store. Setting a password they don’t know can help prevent any overspending or accidental purchases.
Select Allowed Apps
UnderScreen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions > Allowed Apps,you can disable apps.
Disabled apps will not be shown on the home screen, although they will not be uninstalled. They will be inaccessible and unusable.
Set Up Content Restrictions
UnderScreen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions > Content Restrictions > Allowed Store Content,you can turn off orset age ratingsfor different types of store content.
Those includemusic, podcasts, music videos, TV shows, books, and more.
UnderScreen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions > Content Restrictions > Web Content,you can limit adult websites or set up a whitelist of allowed websites.
UnderScreen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions > Content Restrictions > Siri,you may turn off Siri web search content and prevent Siri from using explicit language.
UnderScreen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions > Content Restrictions > Game Center,you can set up gaming restrictions.
Options include choosing which people your child can play multiplayer games with,turning off the option to add or connectwith friends,disallowing screen recordingand Nearby Multiplayer, andturning off private messaging,profile privacy changes, and avatar and nickname changes.
Set Up Privacy Restrictions
UnderScreen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions > Content Restrictions > Privacy > Location,you can turn off location services anddecide which apps can access location services. You can also prevent your child from making changes to these settings.
UnderScreen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions > Content Restrictions > Privacy,you can also prevent your child from making changes to the following settings:
Prevent Your Child From Making Changes
UnderScreen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions > Privacy > Allow Changes,you can prevent your child from making changes to Screen Time restrictions.
