Part 1 of 3: a practical guide for parents
This article is part of Luminae’s three-part guide to parental controls. It begins with Apple’s current settings. Part 2 covers Android, Windows, Fire tablets and games consoles. Part 3 explains how to introduce digital boundaries and review them with your child.
An iPhone can be useful for school, travel and friendships. It can also make it easy to stay up late, spend money by accident or reach websites a child is not ready to use. Apple’s updated parental controls give you ways to deal with those particular problems. You can start with a few settings, test them with your child and adjust them as they grow.
This guide applies to iOS 27 and iPadOS 27. If the menus on your device look different, check the software version in Settings > General > About, or use Apple’s guide for your version.
What changed in iOS 27?
Apple has redesigned Screen Time, its set of tools for managing a child’s device. The main additions are:
- Ask to Browse: a child can request permission to visit a new website in Safari and other supported browsers. You can also approve useful sites in advance. It does not govern every link opened inside every app.
- Time Allowances: set a daily amount of time across categories such as games, entertainment and social media. Apple’s suggested amounts are starting points, not a rule that fits every child. If you want to understand why some feeds are so difficult to leave, Luminae’s guide to how recommendation systems learn from behaviour provides the wider context.
- Screen Time Schedules: choose when most apps and websites are available, with different times for weekdays and weekends. You can also pause selected categories during school hours.
- Communication Safety: warnings and protective actions for images and videos that appear to contain nudity, gore or violence, including supported sharing and live FaceTime video. Detection can make mistakes and cannot replace a conversation.
- A clearer overview: see usage and change access more quickly when a plan needs an exception.
These features are available after the version 27 Screen Time update. Apple says every device in the Family Sharing group needs the relevant version 27 update to use the redesigned experience. Availability can also vary by device and region. An older device can still use earlier Screen Time controls; follow the instructions shown on that device.
Start with the child’s own account
Family Sharing is Apple’s way of linking separate accounts so an adult can manage a child’s settings. Give the child their own Apple Account, with their correct date of birth, rather than signing them into yours. This lets Apple apply the right age settings and keeps your purchases, messages and personal information separate.
On the parent’s iPhone or iPad, open Settings > Family. If you have not set up Family Sharing, follow the prompts to create a family group and a child account. Add another adult as a parent or guardian if you want them to handle requests too. Then tap the child’s name to start the parental-controls setup. Apple’s step-by-step setup guide shows the screens you will see.
Six settings to check together
- Websites. Go to Settings > Family > [child’s name] > Apps & Websites > Restrictions > Websites > Filtering. Choose Approved Websites Only if you want to approve each new site, or Limit Adult Websites for broader access with filtering. Ask to Browse works in Safari and other supported browsers. Check a school website on the child’s device before deciding the rule is finished. Apple’s Ask to Browse instructions explain approvals and how to reverse them.
- Apps and purchases. In the child’s Family settings, review the age ratings for apps and content. Turn on Ask to Buy if you want to approve downloads and purchases. Check spending and chat settings inside games and apps as well; an Apple approval does not settle every purchase or contact option in a third-party service.
- People who can contact your child. Review Allowed Contacts and the contact approval options for Phone, Messages and FaceTime. The child’s own messaging or gaming apps can have separate contact lists, so open those apps as well.
- Sensitive images and video. Check Communication Safety in the child’s setup. Explain that a warning is a prompt to stop and ask for help, not proof that the system has understood what is happening. Apple describes the setting in its child safety guide.
- Hours and allowances. Set a Screen Time Schedule around sleep or school first. Then add a Time Allowance for games or social media if there is a specific problem to solve. Make sure calling, travel, accessibility and school tools remain available where needed. Apple’s schedule and allowance guide has the latest menu details.
- Passcode. Set a separate Screen Time passcode that the child cannot guess. This is different from the code that unlocks the phone. Keep it somewhere you can retrieve it.
If a menu is missing, first check that the child is in your Family Sharing group and that the devices have the required updates. Do not guess at a switch labelled differently: use the linked Apple guide for the software on your screen.
Test the result on their device
Ask your child to open a school site, request a new website, contact a trusted adult and try an app close to the scheduled stopping time. Decide together how they will request a genuine exception. A setup that blocks homework or an important call needs fixing.
You can explain what each setting does in ordinary language: “I will see a request when you want a new website; I will not automatically see everything you say to your friends.” Explain any usage or location reporting you enable. A child who understands the boundary has a better chance of learning to use it well.
The settings can give your child some room to practise decisions while reducing risks that are hard to manage alone. Revisit them after a few weeks, when a new device arrives, or when the child’s needs change.
Continue reading
- Next in the series: Parental controls across Android, Windows, Fire tablets and games consoles looks at what happens when a child uses more than one system.
- Then: How to talk to your child about parental controls deals with the conversation around the settings.
- Explore the wider issue: When Influence Becomes Shaping the Environment explains how infinite scroll, autoplay and notifications shape behaviour over time.
- A broader family question: The Hidden Cost of Convenience considers what can disappear from view when technology removes effort and choice.