– Apple introduces Child Accounts with parental controls for monitoring and limiting device use.
– Parents can whitelist apps, websites, and contacts, and authorize new app requests from children.
– Message and FaceTime filtering automatically blocks nudity, gore, and other harmful graphics.
– Screen time for entertainment, gaming, and social media can be tracked and limited per day.
– Apple provides usage time recommendations based on guidelines from organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Parental Controls Unveiled by Apple
Apple has detailed upcoming parental controlls for its products, allowing parents to monitor and controll device use, while protecting children from naughty and dangerous messaging. Any young person can be added to the new Child Account, which enables features such as age and site access restrictions, app access and usage, website whitelisting, contact whitelisting, and message filtering.
App Management and Usage Limits
Age-appropriate apps are recommended, but parents have ultimate say over what can be added to a child’s Apple device. Parents can remotely track the amount of time each app has been used, while limiting total use time per day. Entertainment, gaming, and social media use can be tracked and limited, too. Recommendations for total use times are provided by Apple, developed with third-party organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Request and Whitelist System
Children can ask for authorization of new apps from their devices, and each request is reviewed by parents prior to authorization. The same whitelisting of apps prior to access also applies to websites and contacts, helping protect them from dangerous websites, child traffickers, and other unknown people. To further protect children from criminals and themselves, all messages and FaceTime communications can be automatically filtered for nudity, gore, and other undesirable graphics.
Developer Access
Apple developers gain access to these new features through a variety of safety APIs that can be utilized within apps. Apple WWDC, Apple Child Safety, Apple Developer