Apple is putting more focus on the parental controls introduced with iOS 27, releasing a new video showing how parents can manage what their children download, browse, and see on their devices.
The features arrived September 14 with iOS 27, iPadOS 27 and macOS Golden Gate, and several go beyond the Screen Time limits Apple has offered for years.
Parents can approve websites, control who their children communicate with, automatically block sensitive images and videos, and temporarily shut down access to certain apps.
Parents get more control over apps and websites
Apple has made Child Accounts easier to set up and expanded the approval system parents can use once those accounts are connected through Family Sharing.
Ask to Buy still lets a child request permission before downloading an app or game. Ask to Browse brings a similar system to Safari, letting a child request access when they encounter a restricted website.
Communication controls can limit who a child can call or message.
Apple has also expanded Communication Safety in Messages and FaceTime. The system can detect nudity and violence in photos and videos and intervene before a child views or shares that content.
Screen Time also gets more flexible scheduling. Parents can create different allowances based on the time of day and activity, including restricting particular apps during school hours.
There are also controls for situations where you don’t want to rebuild the schedule. You can pause device access during dinner or another family activity, and temporarily remove time limits when you want to give a child unrestricted access.
Your family’s older devices could be a problem
There’s an important requirement if you’re planning to use the new Screen Time features: every device in the Family Sharing group needs to run iOS 27, iPadOS 27, or macOS Golden Gate.
That could be a problem in exactly the kind of household where parental controls are particularly useful.
An older iPad handed down to a child may still work perfectly well for homework, games, and streaming but may not be able to install iPadOS 27. Keeping that device around could therefore prevent the family from taking full advantage of Apple’s latest controls.
Apple hasn’t announced plans to bring the new features to older operating systems.
There have also been reports of the updated Family Sharing interface not appearing correctly even when devices have been upgraded, so families moving everything to Apple’s latest software may still encounter some early problems.
The new controls give parents considerably more flexibility than Screen Time previously offered, but they’re also another example of newer software features becoming dependent on every Apple device in a household being able to keep up.
