Children are coming into contact with iPhones and iPads earlier and more often. Fortunately, there are a number of measures to set up parental controls in iOS. In this tip, you can read how to set up iPhone parental controls and what you can do with it.
Set up iPhone parental controls
Many children like to play with an iPhone or iPad, but do not always realize what they are doing exactly. As a result, they may unknowingly make in-app purchases or end up with content that is not suitable for children.
That is why it is smart to set up parental controls, a digital child lock. This is quite easy to activate, as Apple provides its devices with many options for shielding specific parts. Follow the steps below to set this up on your iPhone or iPad as well.
This is how you set up iPhone parental controls in 4 steps
- Open the Settings on your iPhone or iPad;
- Select ‘General’ and then ‘Restrictions’;
- Tap Enable Restrictions to set up a code. Make sure this is a code that is not easy to guess;
- You can then shield various things by tapping the green switches. The corresponding icons will then disappear from the start screen.
Apps, privacy and accounts
Once you’ve set up the code, the amount of options might be a bit overwhelming. However, these are all laid out quite logically and easy to understand. Under the heading ‘Allowed Material’ you will find some general settings that are useful to go through. For example, you can set which age ratings are allowed in the list from ‘Music and podcasts’ to ‘Websites’. Tap the individual items to determine what you approve and don’t approve. These can also be encrypted with a password, which appears immediately or after fifteen minutes.
If you then swipe further down, you will end up at the ‘Privacy’ heading. Here are a number of important parts at a glance. It is advisable to go through these one by one and adjust them where necessary. For example, you can set that calendars cannot be edited, so that children no longer have access to them. In addition, things like Facebook, Twitter, contacts and your photos can be protected.
Perhaps even more important is the option to shield accounts and mobile data usage (which are at the very bottom). We recommend that you choose ‘Do not allow changes’ in ‘Accounts’ (which relate to the Mail, Contacts and Calendar app). It is also advisable to do this for ‘Mobile data use’. Finally, you can deny children access to Game Center, Apple’s gaming platform. If you prefer not to have your child play online games, choose to turn off ‘Multiplayer games’.
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