Apple Device Tools for Families & Kids
By TMF 10/21/2024 12:53:00 PM iOS, TechDid you know that Apple devices have built-in tools that helps families to keep safe while using their devices? During a family-focused brie...
Did you know that Apple devices have built-in tools that helps families to keep safe while using their devices? During a family-focused briefing, I was invited by the Apple team to learn more.
Note: I was invited as media to the event. Views expressed are always 100% my own.
Here's a breakdown of what I learned, including devices features and online resources.
Creating a Child Account
For family groups with kids, you can create accounts just for them with built-in parental controls to help you monitor their Screen Time and approve their purchases. Every child should have their own account to make the best use of parental controls, including age appropriate restrictions of apps, movies, books and more.
By default you will be able to approve your child’s purchases from the App Store, iTunes Store, and Apple Books. And, you can share your child’s location with other family members as needed in the Find My app.
Once they have an Apple Account, kids automatically appear as part of your family group with all the parental controls that you wanted to have in place right from the start. You can also add another adult in the family as a parent or guardian too, so they can help manage your child’s settings and controls.
Device setup for a child
Once you have your child’s account set up, it’s really easy to set up an iPhone or iPad for them with a feature called Quick Start. If you're a parent or guardian in a Family Sharing group, you can use your iPhone or iPad to help set up a child's new device with your preferred parental controls.
Simply turn on your child's new device and place it near your device and follow the steps: choosing who will be using the new device, or if you want to create a new child account in the family.
Screen Time & Communication Safety
Screen Time is great for helping you and your family manage time spent on your devices. Screen Time gives you a better understanding of the time you and your kids spend using apps, visiting websites, and on your devices overall.
You’ll see suggested content restrictions, based on your child’s age, and you can tap “Turn On Restrictions” to use these suggested restrictions.
Then, you can read about Communication Safety, which is designed to help protect your child from viewing sensitive photos and videos.
— Communication Safety is turned on by default for all under-13 children accounts, and starting in iOS 18, iPadOS 18, and macOS Sequoia, the feature will require that the Screen Time passcode for the Family Sharing group be entered on the child’s device in order to view or send a sensitive image.
Learn more about Communication Safety, visit - support.apple.com/en-us/105069
Communication Limits
With Communication Limits, parents can control who their children can communicate with, both throughout the day and during Downtime. These limits apply to Phone, FaceTime, Messages, and iCloud contacts.
There's also “Always Allowed” options, for parents who want to select certain apps that their child can always use — even if it’s Downtime — like maybe Books for school.
Phone, Messages, FaceTime, and Maps are always allowed by default — you can remove them if you want.
Content & Privacy Restrictions
With Content & Privacy Restrictions, parents can decide the type of content that appears on their child’s device. They can block inappropriate content, purchases, and downloads, and set privacy settings.
Learn more, visit - support.apple.com/en-us/105121
Family Sharing
Family Sharing is the easy and secure way to share purchases, subscriptions, and more with up to 5 other people. You can easily share subscriptions to Apple TV+, Music, News+, Arcade, Fitness+, as well as other eligible third-party subscriptions with everyone in your family group.
You can also share items you purchase and download from the Apple TV app, Apple Books, or the App Store. Family groups can also share iCloud storage too, giving everyone enough space to store photos, videos and files without having to purchase separate plans.
Importantly, personal content stored on each family member’s device won’t be shared — photos, videos, messages, and files will remain private. And, if you don’t want to share certain apps or other purchases, you can hide them from the rest of the family group.
Family Checklist
To help you make the most of Family Sharing, Family Checklist provides tips and suggestions, such as updating a child’s parental controls as they get older, turning on location sharing, or just reminding you that you can share your iCloud+ subscription with the whole family.
Family Checklist is found in Settings, then by tapping on “Family."
Family Checklist shows if parental controls and Communication Limits for the children in the family have been set up. If they are already enabled, it tells the parent when they were last reviewed.
By tapping on any of the options, you can get right into the relevant setting to make adjustments. Further down in Family Checklist, you can easily see whether Emergency Contacts, Location Sharing and iCloud+ features are enabled.
As you can see there's alot of options for parents and families to use to keep kids safe and focused while enjoying Apple devices.
Learn more, visit - www.apple.com/families
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