When your kids are babies, you want them to sleep through the night and eat well. But soon, you start worrying about other things. They learn early on that your iPhone is the source of a lot of fun. And you want them to learn how to use it responsibly. But you also want to protect them in the process.
You’ve heard about parental control, and you could be scratching your head and thinking, “How do I change parental controls on an iPhone?” The good news is that you have several settings at your disposal.
Contents
Content & Privacy Restrictions
Your first step towards ensuring parental controls on your iPhone are on, is to review and chance content and privacy restrictions. To do that, follow these steps:
- Go to Settings and select “Screen Time.”
- Select “Continue” and then select “This is My (Device) or “This is My Child’s (Device).”
- If you are a parent or a guardian and you are setting this up on your iPhone, and you don’t want anyone else changing the settings, select “Use Screen Time Passcode” to create a passcode. Then you have to re-enter the passcode for the confirmation.
- If, however, you’re making restrictions for your child’s iPhone, follow the instructions until you get to Parent Passcode and then enter a passcode. You have to re-enter it again and confirm.
- Select “Content & Privacy Restrictions.” You might be asked to enter your passcode. After that, turn on “Content & Privacy.”
Important note: It’s wise to select a passcode that differs from the one that unlocks your device.
If you want to change or turn off the passcode on your child’s device, follow this route: Settings>Screen Time> (Your child’s name). Then select “Change Screen Time Passcode or Turn Off Screen Time Passcode.” Finally, authenticate this with a passcode, Touch ID, or Face ID.
Preventing Purchasing
Many apps contain in-app purchases. That’s why so many of them are free to download. Your kid is going to figure this out pretty quickly, while not understanding that in-app purchases are real purchases. You can avoid any unexpected purchases or even downloads with a few taps.
- Go to your iPhone’s Settings and select “Screen Time.”
- Select “Content & Privacy Restrictions”. You might be asked for a passcode.
- Next, select iTunes & App Store Purchases.
- Select “Don’t Allow” for In-app Purchases.
You can also select “Don’t Allow” for installing, as well as deleting apps.
Preventing Explicit Content and Ratings
Young minds develop quickly, but they are also particularly vulnerable and susceptible to certain content. You can’t control what’s on the internet, but you can make sure they don’t see explicit song lyrics or movies and TV shows inappropriate for their age. To set these restrictions on their iPhone, so this:
- Go to Settings and then “Screen Time.”
- Select “Content & Privacy Restrictions” and then tap “Content Restrictions.”
- Choose the settings you prefer for every category under “Allowed Store Content.”
You can go through music, podcasts, news, as well as movies, books, and apps. Depending on your child’s age, you can choose what’s appropriate and what isn’t.
Preventing Web Content
You know you can’t protect your child completely on the internet, but you can let them grow up a bit more before letting them tackle it on their own. That’s why you can use iPhone’s iOS to automatically filter and limit access to adult content in Safari, as well as other apps in your device.
Additionally, you can add specific websites you don’t want your child to visit, or mark certain sites as safe. To set this up, follow these steps:
- Go to Settings and then “Screen Time.”
- Select “Content & Privacy Restrictions” and proceed to enter your Screen Time passcode.
- Select “Content Restrictions,” and then “Web Content.”
- Now you can choose between:
- Unrestricted Access
- Limit Adult Websites
- Allowed Websites Only
If you go for “Allowed Websites Only,” you will have to continue and add more information about which sites you want to backlist and which to whitelist.
Family Sharing
It’s hard to peel off kids from screens, and everyone understands this. It’s hard for adults, as well. Too much online time can disconnect the family. So, how do I change parental controls on an iPhone?
You can use Apple’s Family Sharing feature to connect with your family and still do fun stuff with your iPhone. With Family Sharing, six people can share App Store purchases and all of the Apple subscriptions. That includes an iCloud storage plan. You can also use Family Sharing to set up an Apple ID for your children. And you can manage permissions remotely with Screen Time.
How to Start a Family Group
One adult in the family can set up Family Sharing from their iOS device. Follow these steps to enable the feature:
- Go to Settings> (Your name).
- Select “Set Up Family Sharing” and then select “Get Started.” Follow the instructions you see on the screen.
You are now ready to invite your family members to your family group. Remember, though, to go through these steps, a person you’re trying to invite must have an Apple ID.
- Go to Settings > (Your Name)>Family Sharing.
- Select “Add Family Member.”
- Type in your family member’s name or email address and follow the instructions on the screen.
After you sent the invitation, you can check its status by looking under the person’s name. Once the Family Sharing feature is established, you can download books, music, and apps.
Screen Time
You can use the Family Sharing feature to control how much time your child spends in front of the iPhone’s screen. Go to Settings>Screen Time>Turn on Screen Time>Continue>This is My Child’s device. That will allow you to set Downtime, Communication Limits, and even get detailed reports about how your child is using their device.
Protect Your Kids
Protecting kids means keeping inappropriate content away. And it also means limiting how much time they spend with their devices. It’s all about balance. Smartphones and tablets are tools that aid your child in their education, but they also make them forget to do their homework.
The answer to the question, “how do I change parental controls on an iPhone” is that you can do it easily. It’s up to you what kind of restrictions you are going to set.