How to set up effective parental controls on your kids phone

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Has your child recently gotten a phone? Setting up a few simple parental controls can keep your child safe and give yourself some peace of mind. You may be reluctant to let your child loose with a phone, but as long as you have the right settings in place and monitor what your child is doing, phones can help your child stay connected with both you and his or her friends and can serve as a powerful tool for both education and fun.

Why Should You Use Parental Controls on Your Child’s Phone?

First, you always want to be sure your child is safe while using his or her phone. Your child should never be allowed to give out any personal information without your permission. There are predators lurking on popular apps who will try to manipulate kids into giving them sensitive information. These predators can use this information for identity theft or worse.

It’s also important to control what your child sees online. Even if your child isn’t searching for things he or she shouldn’t, an innocent search can sometimes lead to explicit results. Parental controls can make sure your child stays on websites with appropriate content.

Parental controls are also important when it comes to downloading and apps and spending money on apps. If you have a younger kid, they may not understand that they are actually spending money on something. These controls will make sure that your child is not authorized to download apps or make purchases without your permission.

In our world of ever-increasing data collection, it is important that your child’s data is protected. Setting parental controls can help with how much data is collected on your child.

Additionally, if you have a smaller child, you may want to set up his or her phone so that apps cannot be deleted or rearranged. Kids this age often tap around on everything on the screen, and this can be frustrating if the phone is shared.

Ready to set parental controls? Read on to learn how to set up iPhone parental controls or scroll down to learn how to set up parental controls on your child’s Android phone.

How to Set Up iPhone Parental Controls

1. Begin by going to Settings and then to Screen Time. From here, you will have several options to customize the parental controls. All of these options can be locked behind a passcode.

2. Select Downtime. Once you turn on this option, you can set a time period every day or on custom days where only the apps you choose and phone calls will be accessible. This allows you to limit the amount of time your child spends on his or her phone or on certain apps.

3. Select App Limits. This feature allows you to choose a particular app and set a time limit on how much your child can use it each day. Once the time is up, the app is closed. This is a great way to limit TikTok time so your kid can spend some time in the real world.

4. Select Communication Limits. Once inside this setting, you can choose who your child is allowed to message, call, and FaceTime during both screen time and downtime. This feature can be helpful, because it allows your child to get in touch with you even when iPhone is in downtime.

5. Select Always Allowed. From here, you can set which apps are always allowed for use on the phone and which apps are only available during set screen times.

6. Select Content and Privacy Restrictions. You will have many options on this screen. You can choose whether your child can install or delete apps and make in-app purchases without a password.

Content Restrictions lets you limit the types of content your child can consume, both on the web and in other apps. You can also allow only approved websites. You can opt of out multiplayer games and adding friends from games.

There are also many privacy features you can select. You can choose which apps are allowed to use your child’s location and which apps can use other features like photos, calendars, the microphone and more. You can turn the Share My Location Feature on and off. You can also turn off advertising.

This screen also controls whether your child can make changes to passwords, accounts, and volume. You can even set the Do Not Disturb While Driving Feature.

How to Set Up Android Parental Controls

1. Go to Settings, then System, then Advanced, then Multiple Users. Then choose add a user.

2. As you create your child’s account, you will be able to set controls. If you do not want your child to be able to access the Play Store to download apps and other content, just Skip Setup.

3. If you choose to let your child have access to the Play Store, you can go to the app and choose Settings from the hamburger menu. Then choose Parental Controls. From here, you can put restrictions on the types of apps and content your child can download. You can also require a PIN for purchases.

4. The Family Link app allows you to have control over the apps your child uses. It also gives you the option of setting a bedtime, or a time each night when your child can no longer use the phone and allowed screen times. You can even pause your child’s phone if you want his or her attention during family game night.

5. The Family Link app lets you keep track of where your child is. You can even know if he or she enters or leaves a designated space. You can also easily locate your child and your child can send you a notification if he or she needs to be picked up from somewhere.

Parents now have more control over their child’s cell phone usage than ever. Both Apple and Android make it easy to keep your child safe and keep their information secure.