As the name suggests, the primary function of Apple Screen Time—part of iOS, iPad OS, and macOS—is to monitor and limit your screen time. Apple customers can combine Screen Time with Family Sharing features to restrict access to explicit content and track the time family members spend on apps and websites.

Getting Started

First, you'll need to set up Family Sharing in your Apple account and add your child's account to your family's group. Next, access Screen Time by visiting the Settings menu on your child's iOS device or macOS computer. You can create a passcode to ensure the child cannot change the settings you agreed upon independently.

Set up content filtering by choosing your child's name under the Family tab within the Screen Time app, then enabling Content and Privacy Restrictions. Ensure that all of your child's devices have the latest version of iOS installed before enabling parental control settings.

What It Does

You can use the Screen Time app to prevent app store purchases by your child, filter explicit apps, games, and web content, restrict Apple Intelligence and Siri to prevent image creating, writing help, explicit language, math results, and other AI assistance. You can also use the app to prevent your child from changing their phone's privacy settings, cellular data settings, and other account changes.

If your child attempts to visit a blocked website using any browser, they will be presented with a message stating that the website is inaccessible. However, as the parent, you can remotely enter the Screen Time password to allow access to the website.

One handy feature of Screen Time is the ability to remotely approve requests from your child to extend screen time, communication time, or app time. You can add 15 minutes, allow an additional hour, or grant them all-day access. There’s also an Ask to Buy option, allowing kids to make their own choices regarding paid apps and games while you control the spending.

Finally, you can monitor your child's activity on their mobile device or computer via the Screen Time dashboard, which shows which apps were accessed and for how long. The activity monitor also reveals the websites your child has visited and how long they browsed. For more information on using the service, see our guide on setting limits with Apple's Screen Time. We suggest taking the time to scroll through the menu categories in Screen Time with your child present and use that opportunity to explain why restrictions are necessary.

The Communication Safety setting within Screen Time will detect nude photos and videos before they're sent or viewed on your child's phone using AirDrop, Contact Posters in the Phone app, or Messages. If it detects nudity, it blurs the image or video and displays an on-screen prompt to block the contact, message an adult, or view other options for help. We did not test this feature. Communication safety settings are enabled by default for children under 18 years old.

What It Can't Do

Screen Time does not have built-in location settings in the app, but you can monitor your child's location using the Find My feature, which tracks the location of Apple devices linked to their account.

Apple's Child Safety Resources

Like Google's Family Link guide, Apple offers suggestions for parents who want to know more about keeping their kids safe online. The advice in the child safety resource guide within the Screen Time app focuses on deterring cyberbullying, sexting, and sharing explicit photos and videos with strangers. It also provides guidance on discussing grooming and identifying potential warning signs with children.

Who It's Best For

If you want to give your child some freedom online while helping them establish healthy screen time habits, the built-in Screen Time settings are adequate and easy-to-use parental controls. Screen Time allows parents to set and lift restrictions remotely, making it a suitable option for parents of older children or teenagers.

Google Family Link enables parents to manage their child's device usage, review their privacy settings, block apps, track their child’s location, set daily device time limits, monitor usage, remotely lock devices, and configure web filtering on Google Chrome. In short, Google Family Link provides basic functions that help you monitor your child's online activities and content.

Getting Started

Installing the app on your computer or mobile device—there are both Android and iPhone apps—requires the child to have a Google account, and the child must give their permission to be monitored. Of course, a parent could circumvent this by simply taking the device in question and installing the app themselves. Still, throughout the setup process, Google encourages parents to talk to their kids and explain why online monitoring is necessary, which is a great approach. When a child turns 13 years old, Google allows them to manage their own accounts and remove parental control functions.

Parents and kids can also choose to turn on the child's web and app activity within Google. This setting saves your kids' Chrome browsing history, location data, and search history. If you don't want Google to save that data for future content recommendations, turn off the setting.

When you enable parental controls on your child's device, Google lists everything its settings can and cannot do, and asks you to discuss these settings with your child to establish trust. This is excellent advice echoed by experts who have told us that parental control software is most effective when combined with cooperation from the child being monitored.

What It Does

The Parent version of the Google Family Link app allows you to manage your child’s Android device and control which apps they can download and access. You can either block apps outright or set time limits for specific apps. When setting up browser filters in Family Link, Google notes that no filter is perfect, and Family Link may not be able to block all explicit websites. To combat this, Google offers a setting that creates a list of "safe" URLs and blocks all other websites. During our evaluation period, the app successfully blocked explicit content on Chrome, Google Search, and YouTube. Family Link did not block explicit content using the Samsung browser, though.

The apps also help you monitor your child’s screen time, and set bedtime hours, daily limits, and study hours that limit your child’s access to apps on their device. From the dashboard on the Parent app, you see what apps are installed on your child's device and when your child last used them. Keep tabs on your child by using the Location feature on the app’s dashboard, which tells you where your child’s device is at that moment.

Generative AI is everywhere now, and Google Family Link now includes settings to keep your kids from using Gemini apps. There's also a link to a guide for parents to help them teach kids to use AI responsibly. You can also set up a Google Wallet for your child, allowing them to pay for apps and games using a set amount of money you provide, and Family Link tracks their spending. There are also settings for locking down access to Google Assistant, Google Photos, and YouTube.

We like that kids are offered some degree of autonomy with the Family Link app. Only the child can change their default profile photo on the app, and the child has to enter their password on the device before the parent can enable parental controls.

What It Can't Do

As mentioned above, children can still access prohibited websites when using a browser other than Google Chrome. You can block other browsers as part of the app filtering feature, but there are a lot of lesser-known browsers available. You may be playing Whac-A-Mole with the app settings for a while. Google Family Link also won't let you listen to the child's calls, read messages, or see what's on your child's screen, nor will it provide their search history or Chrome browsing history from the parent app.

Family Link's Privacy Guides

One invaluable part of Family Link is Google's online privacy guides for kids. The guidelines are divided into three groups, ages 6-8, 9-12, and 13-17, since the app's suggested account restrictions decrease as children age. Each guide uses easy-to-understand language to explain how Google collects and uses personal information. The guides describe the activities a parent can view and provide links to Google account settings that parents and kids can modify to increase privacy. The documents aren't too long or too technical, and each is written in a way that addresses the child directly, instead of the parent, which is a nice touch.

Who It's Best For

If your child has an Android phone or tablet, Google Family Link is a helpful app that allows you to track your child's location and view the apps they are using. The content filter is powerful enough for most kids as long as parents take time to change the settings to block new browser app installations on their child's device.

Microsoft Family Safety's robust settings allow kids to use their computers and gaming consoles when they want as long as they follow the guidelines set for them. Parents can set screen time limits for their child, view their searches and web activity while using the Edge browser, control online spending, track the child’s location, monitor Xbox settings, and enable filters to prevent kids from accessing adult content.

Getting Started

Parents need to sign their kids up for a Microsoft email address to add them to Microsoft Family. Once that’s done, the child’s account is controlled from the parent’s dashboard.

What It Does

If you want to keep track of the websites your little ones frequent, you should turn on Activity Reporting. There, you see your child’s searches and web activity. Enable Content Filters to safeguard your children from mature online content.

Screen Time features are only available for Windows, Xbox, or Android devices. You can create a schedule for all devices or set a limit for individual devices. Once you connect a device to your child’s account, all the apps on that device are also under your control. You decide when and how long your child can use apps and games.

Another feature of Microsoft Family Safety is the Spending dashboard, which allows you to add money to your child’s Microsoft account so they can make purchases as needed. You can also set restrictions on their purchases in the settings to prevent them from buying adult content. From the Spending dashboard, you can view the child’s purchase history, determine whether they require approval for purchases, and set up email alerts for their transactions.

You can view your child's location with the Microsoft Family Safety app installed on your child’s mobile device. There’s also a link to change your family’s Xbox settings from the Microsoft Family dashboard. Controlling Xbox settings requires parental approval, and children can’t change the settings without knowing a parent's email address and password. Lockable settings include accepting friend requests, voice data collection, downloading and playing explicit music and video content, video communication, and much more. By default, kids can play games online and only share their status, voice, and text updates with their approved friends.

What It Can't Do

The browsing Content Filters only work with Microsoft Edge. When you turn on this setting, all other browsers are blocked, allowing only Edge to run on the computer. Bing’s SafeSearch also turns on when you enable Content Filters, and you can keep your child from accessing other search sites by blocking them using the filter settings.

Like the other apps and settings mentioned in this list, Microsoft Family Safety can't perform tasks that are a bit more invasive, such as scanning text in emails or messages, or monitoring your child's activity on social platforms.

Resources for Kids and Parents

Microsoft Family Safety doesn't include specific advice for talking to your kids about online safety, unlike Apple and Google.

Who It's For

Microsoft Family Safety is the best option for Windows users who also own Android mobile devices. Parents can monitor activities from the dashboard and set limits accordingly. If you have a young gamer in the house, the time-limiting feature for Xbox is a must-have to ensure those long gaming sessions don't extend past bedtime.