“You know your kids better than anyone. That’s why we’ve put a lot of thought into helping parents choose what their kids can do with their devices.” – Apple
SAN FRANCISCO – Kids love iPhones, and that has created some problems for Apple.
In January, two major Apple investors criticized the company for not doing more about childhood smartphone use. They called on the company to add more advanced parental controls.
At the time, Apple pointed out that it has offered parental controls since 2008. Now it is debuting a new landing page that rounds-up all of the ways parents can get more control over how and when their children use any Apple devices.
Apple is not rolling out any new features or controls at this time. However, in January, Apple said, “We have new features and enhancements planned for the future, to add functionality and make these tools even more robust.”
The new “Families” page – located at apple.com/families – is an attempt to help parents understand and use all the features that are already floating around on Apple devices. Many parents may not know that they have the power to track their children’s location, monitor and limit their purchases, and filter what content they can see on their devices.
It also covers privacy, health related settings like sleep mode, sharing between family members, and the use of Apple devices in education.
Some examples:
- The App Store. A safe place for kids.
The Kids section is carefully curated to be a great space for children. And we review every app to make sure it does what it says it does. In Restrictions, you can also tap an age range and, just like that, your kids can buy or download only apps appropriate for them — including curated recommendations.
- Choose which apps they can use.
If you want to, you can prevent kids from installing new apps, like social media or photo sharing — or even turn off the Safari web browser. Enable Ask to Buy, and you can approve or decline their app purchases and downloads right from your device.
- Manage in‑app purchases.
Many apps, even free apps, allow (or encourage) purchases within the app itself. A setting in Restrictions lets you block all in‑app purchases automatically.
- Keep them safe on the Internet.
You can set up your kids’ devices to limit adult content or open only websites that you select. You can also install special web browsers that are designed to display kid-friendly content and nothing else.
- Make sure what they see is appropriate.
With a few taps you can keep your kids from accessing movies, TV shows, music, apps, books, or podcasts that contain things you don’t want them to see or hear.
The company also updated its support page for parental controls.
Screen time worries
Screen time and kids is an increasingly fraught topic. A recent survey from Common Sense Media found that 98 percent of homes with children have mobile devices, and young children are spending an average of 48 minutes a day on them. According to the study, 42% of those young kids already have their own device.
Some studies connect excessive screen time to obesity and depression, but not all research has concluded screen time is dangerous. Some experts say its the quality of screen time — not the quantity — that should be addressed.
Former and current Apple executives have also commented that excessive iPhone use could be a problem. Former Apple designer Tony Fadell has said he wants tech companies to be more proactive about parental controls.
