How to enable parental controls on iPad

iPads are phenomenal devices for younger users. Regardless of age range, there is something for everyone. From education to entertainment, tablets have become a hot item for children around the world. However, like any internet-enabled device, there are drawbacks to allowing a child or young person free access to the internet.

If you were wondering how to enable parental controls on iPad, you’re in the right place. Read on and find out how to do it, along with some helpful tips and tricks. Parental controls can help keep your children away from inappropriate content and also block in-app purchases.

What you can control

Apple is a parent-friendly company, offering several content management features and making it easy to control what your child can do on their iPad right from your iPhone. Before we show you how to enable parental controls, we’ll first show you what you can control:

• Content and privacy restrictions – You can use Screen Time to limit other users’ ability to change settings (i.e. parental control settings) and set screen time limits.
• Purchases: If you don’t want another user to make purchases, you can restrict purchases in iTunes and the App Store.
• Explicit content – Set age-appropriate ratings for apps, websites, etc.
• Websites and Siri – You can restrict access to specific websites and even the Siri assistant.
• Game Center – From multiplayer games to private messaging, you can restrict most aspects of your child’s gaming experience.

You can also enable settings to prevent changes to things like Driving focus, Loud sounds, Mobile data changesand more.

Now that you know what you can control on your child’s iPad, let’s show you how to do it.

Enabling iPad Parental Controls on iPadOS 12 and above

Apple knows how vital parental controls are; Therefore, they have been carefully customized to help parents. In fact, we have a lot of control over our kids’ iPad activities thanks to Apple’s screen time and content restrictions. For those of you with updated iPads, let’s pe in.

Parental controls on iPad can be found in the Screen Time tab. Here’s how you can enable them:

1. Open the Settings app from the home screen. Select Screen time.
   
2. Tap This is my son’s iPad.
   
3. Tap Continue in the summary pop-up window to move forward.
   
4. Tap Continue again.
   
5. Take this opportunity to set user downtime or tap Not now.
   
6. Set app limits or tap Not now.
   
7. Enter a four-digit code that you will not forget, but that the user does not know. You will need to enter this code to bypass security features and change settings.
   

Now, you can follow the same steps to implement new restrictions or change parental controls.

when you touch Lack of time, You can set iPad to restrict access during certain times. For example, setting the downtime option from 7 pm to 6 am means that the user cannot access any applications or the Internet between those hours.

However, if you want to add more time, a window will appear requesting the Screen Time passcode. The user can also tap the option to request the main account. If the latter is chosen, you can enter the Screen Time passcode on your device to allow more time.

Low Content and privacy restrictionsyou can enable Ask to buyApp restrictions and content restrictions.

Tap on ‘Content restrictions‘ to visit the personalization page. From here, you can block explicit content, apps, and even search engine capabilities. The latter may not seem like a big deal, but if you’ve locked the YouTube app, your child can easily open it with a quick search.

Share with family

Another useful tool for monitoring and controlling your child’s iPad activity is the Family Sharing feature. All you need to do is add their Apple ID to yours in Settings under your phone using the “Family Sharing” link.

Once this is done, you can activate “Request to buy”, “Share purchase” and “Screen time”. Requesting Purchase not only prevents your child from purchasing apps, but it also means that she will receive a notification before he downloads free apps.

Enabling iPad Parental Controls on iOS11 and below

Enabling parental controls on iPads with iOS11 or earlier operating systems is slightly different. Instead of the Screen Time menu, you must use the Restrictions menu.

Follow the steps to enable parental controls on older iPads:

1. Go to Settings, followed by General, and finally Restrictions.
2. Select Choose Enable restrictions and confirm with the four-digit access code.
3. All parental controls are grouped on the Restrictions page. Move the slider on each option to enable or disable it.

Here, the main parental control options include in-app purchases, privacy settings, content restrictions, and app blocking. Carefully consider all of these options and which ones you want to enable.

There is no right or wrong way about this. You can choose as many parental controls as you think are appropriate for your child or even an older family member.

Frequent questions

Here are the answers to more questions about Apple parental controls.

At what age can I create an iCloud account?

While you must be 13 years old to create your own iCloud account, a parent can create an account for a child of any age. This account is linked to yours, and you can control almost all of your child’s activity on any Apple product that uses your child’s iCloud account.

Is Screen Time available on all Apple devices?

Most of the Apple devices we use today support Screen Time. But you won’t see the option in iOS 11 or earlier. The company introduced the feature in 2018 with the release of iOS 12.

If you don’t see the Screen Time option, update your device to iOS 12 or later.

Parental controls management

From experience, parental controls are not something you set and forget. Today’s younger generation is much more determined and tech-savvy when it comes to bypassing the controls you’ve put in place. Parental controls across the board are not bulletproof. It’s a good idea to do a regular check to make sure parental controls are still intact if you have a particularly determined child. If we’re honest, there are tons of TikTok videos waiting to show your child how to bypass the controls (and many more on YouTube).

Do you use parental controls on your devices? If so, which ones do you leave on and which ones do you deactivate? Feel free to talk about your experience with the iPad Parental Controls app in the comments section below.