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Set up your kids' devices with controls you understand
Why it matters: Built-in controls stop the most common problems: surprise purchases, strangers messaging, and apps that aren't right for their age. They support the conversation; they don't replace it.
On your path if you picked “Kids under 13” or “Teenagers” for “Who's at home?”.
Do it
- On iPhone and iPad, set up Screen Time through Family Sharing; on Android and Chromebook, use Google Family Link.
- Turn on Ask to Buy or app approval.
- Limit contact to known people in messaging, games and social apps.
- Turn on the platform's nudity warning features for children, such as Communication Safety on Apple devices or sensitive content warnings in Google Messages.
- Review the settings with older kids rather than setting them in secret.
Check it worked: Each child's device is in your family group, new apps and purchases need your approval, and you've limited who can contact them.
Simply put
Device controls are like training wheels: they keep the early wobbles small while your child learns. Approval for apps and limits on who can message them stop the most common problems, and you still do the talking.
In detail
Controls are easiest to set before a child gets the device. Teens can and will work around some of them, which is why the next step matters more over time.
If this is new to you: Not sure you'll get it right? Every setting can be changed later. With older kids, go through them together so they know why each one is there.
Points toward the Long View: a family where the conversation matters more than any single setting.