Considering that we are on the 12th iOS, I think it is fair to say that Apple was late to the parental control party. While they have had “Restrictions” available in Settings for a while, the controls were hardly robust. Now, with release of iOS 12, it appears that they are finally STARTING to take parental control features seriously. If you think that I am being too hard on Apple, think about their ground-breaking innovations: the photo quality and capabilities of an iPhone camera, Face-ID to unlock a phone, and a watch that can do an ECG. Developing useful parental controls for iOS is simple compared to their other technological feats.
While Apple restrictions are still lacking, they are improved. If your child/teen has an iOS device, you will want to take advantage of these new controls that are built-in to the device operating system. (Step #5 on my Getting Started page) The most notable features in their latest version of parental controls involve app control. Not just how much time but whether certain apps are allowed and, if so, how much and what time of day they are allowed. I recommend that family iOS settings be set so that a child is not allowed to install an app unless the parent approves it. Which is a feature that has been available for some time. But, the time controls of allowed apps is certainly a welcome improvement. For parents who are already familiar with the restrictions settings in previous iOS versions, to navigate to the iOS 12 parental controls section you now need to go to Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions.
Setting up Apple Parental Controls:
Apple’s Families Page gives a good overview of their family-friendly features. But setting up your child’s device needs to start with Apple’s Family Sharing. That’s number one. Then, to further set up parental controls you will want to move to the Apple Screen Time page which will also link you to a more detailed page about the Content & Privacy Restrictions settings to finish.
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