Give your child more freedom with the right iPhone and iPad guardrails

Apple's iOS 27 parental controls help you manage your child's apps, contacts, and screen time. Here's how to get started.

Technology, including iPhone and iPad, gives children opportunities to learn, create, and connect with others. Safety guidelines help them explore those possibilities while developing healthy habits.

Ideally, those guidelines should reflect each child's age, development, and readiness. Younger children need closer guidance, while older children can gradually take on more responsibility.

What children do on their devices matters just as much as how much time they spend using them. Thoughtful limits support creative activities while preserving time for sleep, homework, exercise, and family.

Apple's new parental controls, which came out with iOS 27, help families establish these boundaries. This includes contact management, app allowances, and device schedules.

You can think of them like guardrails that are there to keep your kids on the straight and narrow, while still giving them enough freedom for education, creativity, and knowledge. Combined with regular conversations, these tools give children a foundation for using technology confidently and responsibly.

Setting up these safety guardrails might be a bit intimidating, especially if you've never had to do it before. That's why we've come up with this helpful guide to iOS 27 Parental Controls.

Get ready

Let's talk about how you can make this entire process as painless as possible. Family tech administrative work is, frankly, no one's idea of a good time.

But we can make it easier by limiting pain points.

The very first thing you should do is pick somewhere relatively distraction-free for this whole process. I'd avoid living rooms or anywhere out in public; the last thing you want is to speed through menus because you can't focus, only to find out you missed something important.

The next is that your device, along with any child device you're setting up, should be updated to whatever the most current version of iOS or iPadOS is. This is especially crucial in the event that one device is on iOS 26, while the other is already on iOS 27.

By ensuring that both devices are on the same system, you can be assured that everything matches up correctly.

Charge both devices to full. You don't want to stop halfway through the process because you realized an iPhone is at 2%, and juggling cords isn't necessarily a stress-free activity, either.

I highly recommend that you plan on dedicating the back half of an afternoon to this process. It might not take you long at all, especially if you've already set up devices as part of your family group.

Or, it might take you a couple of hours to make sure everything is in the right place.

The nice thing, however, is that once you go through the process the first time, any subsequent setups are much, much easier.

Setting up a Family Sharing group and adding family members

Before you start anything at all, you'll need to have a Family Sharing group. You'll also need to be the person helming the group, or have access to that person's device.

On the administrator (parent) device, follow these steps:

• Open the Settings app
• Tap your name
• Tap Family
• Tap Continue
• Follow the on-screen instructions to set up the Family Sharing group

While you're in that menu, it will give you the chance to add members during the setup process. However, there's a chance that you may already have created a Family Sharing group at one point, but may need to add new members.

Creating a Family Group on iOS 27

Here's how to add new members to your Family Sharing group:

• Open the Settings app
• Tap the Add Member
• Tap Invite Others to add another member
• If your child already has a Child Account, enter their account password on your device to add them to the group
• If the child does not have a child account, tap Create Child Account and follow the on-screen instructions

From there, Apple will walk you through the process of setting up parental controls, location sharing, and more.

This may be where your journey ends. However, if you want to delve into granular safety settings, we've got you covered.

How to set safety settings for websites and apps on a child's device

The very first thing you should do, if you haven't done it yet, is start thinking about what apps and websites are child-appropriate. Fortunately, the App Store provides safety "nutrition labels" that say the recommended age rating and what in-app controls it offers.

If your child is 8 or older, we suggest discussing this with them directly. Tell them what kinds of apps you think are appropriate, and ask them what kinds of apps they plan on using.

Setting up Apps & Websites permissions on iOS 27

Ideally, the entire process should be done with your child involved, so they can understand what their limits and freedoms are.

And then, of course, after you have that discussion, the onus is on you to set up the guardrails.

Setting up Ask to Buy

Ask To Buy is an extremely handy feature. When enabled, you'll receive a notification whenever your child tries to buy or download an eligible purchase or download.

This doesn't just include apps. It also includes anything from the iTunes Store, Apple Music, or Apple Books.

If your child is under age 13, Ask to Buy will be enabled by default. However, it may be a good idea to enable it for older children; here's how to do that:

• Open the Settings app
• Tap Family
• Tap your child's name
• Tap Ask to Buy
• Toggle on Ask to Buy

Additionally, you can set restrictions for both apps and Game Center features. This includes limiting apps by age rating, as well as controlling what your child can do with apps, including installing and deleting, making purchases, using App Clips, or playing in Game Center.

• Open the Settings app
• Tap Family
• Tap your child's name
• Tap Apps & Websites
• Tap Restrictions
• Allow, block, or set restrictions for any settings shown

Enabling age-appropriate content restrictions

It's also a good time to make sure you've set age-appropriate restrictions on music, books, TV shows, and more. Again, Apple has already done the lion's share of the work for you.

Child accounts automatically have their content filtered by age. However, you can adjust them at any time by following these steps:

• Open the Settings app
• Tap Family
• Tap your child's name
• Tap Content & Privacy Restrictions
• Allow or block settings shown under Content Restrictions

Restricting and allowing websites

All the app restrictions in the world won't make a difference if your child is having unfiltered access to the internet.

Apple automatically enables Approved Websites Only for children with a Child Account under 13. Limit Adult Websites is turned on by default for children with a Child Account under 18, or whatever the restrictions are for the country your child's account is registered to.

For younger children, it's recommended to allow only approved websites. Older children may only need adult content blocked

But there are going to be times when you may want to restrict specific websites or change settings. Here's how you can do that.

• Open the Settings app
• Tap Family
• Tap your child's name
• Tap Apps & Websites
• Tap Restrictions

From there, you can set up the following:

• Tap Approved Websites Only to only allow access to websites that you've approved
• Tap Limit Adult Websites to limit access to detected adult websites
• Tap Unrestricted to allow unrestricted access to websites

Managing who and how your child can talk to others

You can manage your child's contact list from your device, control whether they can add or edit contacts, and require permission before they communicate with someone new. Important: Your child must approve your request before you can manage their contacts.

• Open the Settings app
• Tap Family
• Tap your child's name
• Tap Allowed Contacts

From there, you can view and make changes to your child's contacts. You can also turn on and off "Allow Contact Editing," which will send you requests to communicate with new contacts.

Choosing who your child can contact during Screen Time

You can also restrict when your child can call, FaceTime, or message others. You'll need to make sure Allowed Contacts is enabled, so be sure to follow the steps above.

• Open the Settings app
• Tap Family
• Tap your child's name
• Tap Allowed Contacts

Now you can do the following:

• Tap During Screen Time to choose who your child can communicate with during Screen Time hours
• Tap When Device Paused or Unavailable to choose who your child can communicate with when their device is paused

Now, critically, you should turn on Communication Safety. This feature helps protect children from viewing or sharing photos with detected nudity, gore, or violence.

Enabling Communication Safety protects children from explicit content

Restricted content includes pictures and videos sent through a text message or a FaceTime Video Call.

• Open the Settings app
• Tap Family
• Tap your child's name
• Tap Communication Safety
• Toggle on Communication Safety

Setting responsible screen time limits

Now that we've tackled what apps your child can use and who your child can talk to, let's discuss the next important part: when.

Screen time limits are critical for children, especially elementary-aged kids. But it's also important to realize that not all screen time is equal, either.

That's why we'll show you how to set up these limits, and how to exempt certain apps — and people — from being limited.

How to set up Time Allowances

Time Allowances let you manage how much time your child spends in different app categories, with Entertainment, Games, and Social Media included by default on their device. Time Allowances also features helpful tips, such as how much time to give each category.

Apple's Time Allowances suggestions were created in partnership with the American Academy of Pediatrics

You can adjust each category's time allowance, add categories, or move apps between categories to suit your child's needs.

• Open the Settings app
• Tap Family
• Tap your child's name
• Tap Time Allowances

From there, you can do any of the following:

• Toggle on Match Screen Time Schedule to use Time Allowances during certain times in your schedule
• Drag the slider left or right to increase or decrease the amount of time your child can spend in an app category or on their device
• Tap the name of your schedule to view or edit Time Allowances for different schedules
• Under additional Time Allowances, tap or click the plus or minus buttons to create Time Allowances for apps that aren't assigned to a category

Screen Time Schedules let you set a custom schedule for your child's device use to fit your family's routine. You can choose which app categories, including Entertainment, Games, and Social Media, they can access at different times of day.

• Open the Settings app
• Tap Family
• Tap your child's name
• Tap Screen Time Schedule
• Toggle on Schedule
• Tap Add Schedule
• Select the days where the schedule would apply

Once you've got a schedule set up, you can then:

• Tap Add Time Window, then enter a new name, time, and allowed app categories to add a new time window to your child's schedule
• Tap a time window, then modify the name, time, and allowed app categories to edit a time window in your child's schedule
• Tap a time window, then tap Delete Time Window to delete a time window from your child's schedule:

Now here's the critical part: setting up Always Allowed. Always Allowed is crucial for emergencies.

By default, essentials like FaceTime, Phone, and Messages are always available, so your child can reach you or anyone on their Always Allowed list. Here's how to manage Always Allowed.

• Open the Settings app
• Tap Family
• Tap your child's name
• Tap Always Allowed

From there, you can do the following actions:

• Tap Add Apps, Add People, or Specific Contacts , then follow the on-screen instructions to allow an app or contact at all times
• Tap the Edit or Remove button next to the app or contact to remove an app or contact

Growing together

Now that you've managed to get everything set up, here's where I get to break a bit of bad news to you: this process is never really finished. At least until you decide your child is responsible enough to handle unrestricted access to the internet or they turn 18, whichever comes first.

For younger children, you might find initial settings are too loose and need tightening down. For older children, you'll most assuredly find that some are overly restrictive.

It's a learning process for both you and your child. And no two children are alike, so don't automatically assume your first child's experience will be a particularly useful roadmap for any kids that follow.

The best thing you can do is maintain an open dialogue with your kids. As someone who grew up on the internet in a time when there were no guardrails, I can offer a bit of insight into what might help.

First, kids are going to accidentally — or intentionally — stumble into content you don't want them to see. Don't automatically assume that they're doing it to hurt you, themselves, or others.

Instead, if you notice this, approach them gently. Teaching a child to fear repercussions is a sure-fire way to get them to avoid telling you about any scary situation.

Tell your child what you expect of them. Explain why the rules exist, but don't frame it as your child not being smart enough or too untrustworthy to follow the rules.

Don't attempt to scare your child away from "bad" content. For certain kids, and for many teenagers, this just assures that the kids are going to go look for the content on their own behind your back.

Assume questions your child asks are in good faith. They may have a valid reason for relaxing screen time limits or wanting to use an app you may be on the fence about.

Fostering good communication with your child, especially when they're young, is a great way to set the precedent for your relationship going forward.

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