How to protect your cherubs when they use an iPhone or iPad? This is the question that Apple wanted to answer by showing the different gears of its family mode.
On the occasion of “Safe Internet Day” (Internet Sans Fear in France), which will be held this Tuesday, February 7, Apple wants to remember the operation of its tools dedicated to the safety of children who use an iPhone, an iPad or a Mac… Enough to highlight a flight of features too compelling for concerned parents.
The principle is simple, when you set up one of these devices to be used by a child, you have the option to link it to your Apple account through the Family device. On their iPhone, the parent can access various settings and suggested restrictions tailored to the age of the child.
Family sharing and screen time
Since iOS 16, the family sharing feature has been modernized, allowing families to enjoy Apple services (iCloud+, Apple Music, Apple TV+, etc.). Parents can approve or disapprove app purchases and downloads, control time spent on the device, even based on app categories. For example, you can say that games should be limited to 45 minutes, but educational apps can be used without restrictions. The advantage of this categorization is that if the child downloads a new game, for example, it will be included in the category and the filter will be applied automatically.
The Cupertino firm insists on another asset: the possibility of accessing children’s screen time, with the same weekly reports as for each user. Thus, we can see the time spent on each application, but also the number of notifications. It is possible to change some settings on the fly.
Download and Notifications
Application download may also be subject to security settings. Parents can select an age range, which means that the child will not be able to download apps beyond the chosen age. If the child wants to download an app of her age, she may also need to ask the parent for permission. She will then receive a notification with a link to the App Store listing to make her decision.
The philosophy of the device is that whenever a parent changes a setting, whether it’s to close access to a game or reduce notifications from an app, the child is notified in good and due form. Once an app has become inaccessible, the child still has the option to return to it for a minute to “finish what they started” without asking for permission. If she wants more time, he can ask her parents for it.
Protection against nudity
Last layer of security proposed by Apple for children, and we are touching here an excessively sensitive topic, the “Communications security” feature. Clearly, this is a feature disabled by default, but available to child accounts that are part of a Family Sharing group. This feature allows the Messages app to analyze, on the device, whether the child “receives or attempts to send photos that may contain nudity”. The people at Apple who showed us the device insisted that Apple did not have access to the data and that it was an analysis on the device.
In the event that the content is suspected of containing nudity, the image will obviously be greyed out and if the child attempts to access it, they are given options, including the ability to notify an adult.
For those who want to delve deeper into these environments dedicated to families, Apple organizes training sessions in Apple stores under the title “Your children and their devices”. With a duration of 60 minutes, they allow you to learn how to use all the aforementioned functions. To register, go to the page
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