Part 2 of 3: find the gaps between your child’s devices
This article is part of Luminae’s three-part guide to parental controls. Part 1 explains the iOS 27 settings on an iPhone or iPad. This part covers the other devices a child may use. Part 3 considers how to agree boundaries without closing down trust or discussion.
Suppose your child has an Android phone, uses a school Chromebook and plays games on a console. A limit on the phone will not set the same limit on the Chromebook or console. Nor will a console’s age rating necessarily decide who can talk to your child inside a game.
Before you spend an evening changing settings, make a short list of the devices and accounts your child actually uses. Then set one useful protection in each place. You do not need to master every menu at once.
Start with the account, then the device
Most controls rely on your child having their own account with the correct age. If they use an adult’s account, age-based settings may not apply. An account is the name and password they use to sign in; a device is the phone, tablet, computer or console itself. One child may have several accounts on one device.
For each device, write down: the account used to sign in, the web browser, the two or three apps or games used most, and whether your child can make purchases or talk to other people there. A school-managed account may be controlled by the school, so ask the school about restrictions rather than assuming a home setting covers it.
Android phone or Chromebook: Google Family Link
Family Link lets a parent supervise a child’s Google Account on a compatible Android phone or Chromebook. You can manage app approvals, daily limits, bedtime, some content settings and some permissions. The parent can use the Family Link app on an iPhone; that does not mean Family Link supervises the child’s iPhone. Google also says a school Google Workspace for Education account cannot be managed through Family Link.
To get started: install Google Family Link on the parent’s phone. In the app, create or add the child’s Google Account and follow the prompts on the child’s Android device or Chromebook. In Family Link, select the child and tap Screen time > Time limits to set a daily limit or an app limit. Check Controls for Google Play, Chrome and other service settings. The exact screens can vary by device and version; Google’s current setup instructions take you through them.
Test a limit on every device. Google notes that a daily limit may apply separately to each Android or Chromebook device. A two-hour limit therefore need not mean two hours shared across all of them. Google Play purchase approval also applies to purchases billed through Google Play, not every purchase elsewhere.
On a Samsung Galaxy, Google Family Link can sit alongside Samsung’s own family controls. On supported Galaxy software, Samsung’s Galaxy for Families guide starts at Settings > Samsung account > Family. Review web content, app age ratings and downloads there. Samsung Kids is a separate, simpler space for younger children; leaving that space or signing in elsewhere changes what it covers.
Windows computer and Xbox: Microsoft Family Safety
Give the child their own Microsoft account and add them as a Member to your family group at Microsoft’s family page or in the Family Safety app. Sign them into Windows or Xbox with that account. Then select the child in the Family Safety app or website and review Screen time, Apps and games, Spending and Content filters. Microsoft’s setup guide explains the current steps.
Microsoft’s website and search filtering works through Microsoft Edge while the child uses their Microsoft account. When the filter is turned on, Microsoft says unsupported browsers are blocked unless someone unblocks them. Check that the child is signed into the right account and that the filter works in practice. Limits on a Windows computer do not replace the rules inside a game or a separate account used on that computer.
Amazon Fire tablet: a child profile
An Amazon Fire tablet can have an Amazon Kids child profile with its own content, web access and time settings. Open Amazon Kids or the tablet’s Settings > Profiles & Family Library and create or select the child’s profile. Then open the Amazon Parent Dashboard to review what is available, set time limits and check the web settings. Amazon’s time and usage help is useful if the labels on your model differ.
Look at the tablet while signed into the child’s profile, and check whether it is easy to switch into an adult profile. A time rule inside Amazon Kids does not necessarily cover another profile or an app added outside the child space.
Games consoles: PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo
Start by creating or confirming the child’s own console account. Then check four things: the age rating for games, play time, who can communicate with them, and spending. The parent’s console app or family account is usually the easiest place to manage these settings.
- PlayStation: use Family Management to select the child’s account. Check play time, communication, content and spending in PlayStation’s parental-controls guide.
- Xbox: select the child in Microsoft Family Safety and check screen time, games, communication and purchases. Make sure the child signs into the Xbox with their own account.
- Nintendo Switch or Switch 2: link the console to the Nintendo Switch Parental Controls phone app for play-time and content settings. Check Nintendo Account settings separately for eShop spending. Nintendo warns that the console app does not control voice chat in the separate Nintendo Switch mobile app; that needs checking on the phone too. See Nintendo’s parent guide.
A game may also have its own friends list, chat, in-game purchases or linked account. Open the game with your child and inspect those settings. A console age rating is a useful gate, but it does not tell you everything about the people or content a child will meet while playing.
A quick check across the whole household
Pick one ordinary day and follow what your child actually uses: phone, school computer, TV app, console and shared tablet. Check each sign-in. Ask your child to show you where they watch videos, message friends and make game purchases. Try a blocked website or a request for extra time so you know what they will see. Luminae’s practical map of recommendation systems explains why the child’s behaviour in those services affects what appears next.
Home broadband filtering can add another layer, but it may not apply on mobile data or another Wi-Fi network. App settings, device settings and network settings each do a different job. Review the list when a new account or device arrives and again every few months.
This exercise is useful even if you decide against a particular restriction. It makes the child’s digital environment easier to understand and gives you both a clearer basis for choosing what to change.
Continue reading
- Previous in the series: Set up parental controls on an iPhone or iPad with iOS 27 covers Apple’s menus.
- Next in the series: How to talk to your child about parental controls covers agreements, privacy and review.
- Understand the environment: When Influence Becomes Shaping the Environment examines the design features that make some platforms difficult to leave.
- Help a young person read the system: Critical Thinking for the Next Generation moves from checking single posts to noticing patterns, repetition and framing.