Parents are calling for new restrictions, rules and advice on children’s phones amid growing concerns about the harm they could cause.
Some calls suggest there should be new rules about phones being given to children.
Both Apple and Google already offer some tools for iPhone and Android to make it easier for parents to manage their children’s phone use.
While they may not remove all dangers from young people online, they are one relatively simple way to limit access to dangerous content.
Google refers to its tools as “Family Link” and they are accessible through an app of the same name. Apple refers to its tools as parental controls only, although they are accessible through the iPhone’s “Screen Time” settings.
On Apple devices, you can find this by going to the Settings app and clicking on Screen Time. Tap to turn it on and tap again to see the option to mark the device as your child’s.
After turning it on, a number of options will appear. Parents can restrict access to iTunes and App Store purchases, specific apps, explicit content, specific websites, and more, all of which can be found in the Screen Time menu.
All these settings can be protected by a passcode, which means that children cannot change the settings back. Apple recommends choosing a different passcode than the one used to unlock the device.
These same options can be turned on when setting up your device using the Apple Family Sharing options. If this is used, then the child’s phone will join a “family” in Apple services, meaning parents can use tools like “Request to Buy” to allow children to request purchases.
The same family settings can also be used to track the device’s location – which can prove useful if a child loses their phone or to keep them safe.
The process on Android is very similar. You can find the options by opening the Settings app, clicking on “digital well-being and parental controls”, scrolling down to “Set up parental controls” and following the prompts and questions on the screen.
This will offer features such as the ability to limit access to apps and screen time in general, as well as content restrictions. Information about them can then be viewed via the Family Link application.
