How to Set Up Parental Controls on iPhone (iOS 27 Steps, 2026)

Quick answer: On iOS 27, open Settings on your own iPhone, tap Family, then tap your child’s name. From there you control apps and websites, who your child can contact, time limits and content ratings. Your child needs a Child Account in your Family Sharing group, and every device in the group should run iOS 27. Apple renamed several menus this year, so older guides with paths like “Downtime” and “App Limits” may not match what you see.

Part of our Kids’ Online Safety guides: phones, watches, games and apps.

Before You Start

• Set up Family Sharing if you haven’t already, and create a Child Account for your child. Apple says their Apple Account must be in your group and not shared with anyone else.
• Update every device to iOS 27. Apple says all devices in the Family Sharing group need iOS 27 for the new controls.
• Use your own iPhone. Apple recommends managing your child’s Screen Time from the parent’s device. If Family Sharing manages the child’s account, you must set the Screen Time passcode on your device, not theirs.
• Add yourself to your child’s contacts, so their requests for apps and more time reach you.

Step 1: Open Your Child’s Settings

Open the Settings app on your iPhone, tap Family, then tap your child’s name. Every step below starts here. If it’s your first time, tap Screen Time and follow the onscreen instructions.

Step 2: Approve Apps and Purchases

• Ask to Buy: go to Apps & Websites, then Restrictions, then Ask to Buy, and turn on Require Purchase Approval. Enter your Screen Time passcode if asked.
• App Store settings: go to Apps & Websites, then App Store, and set options such as Installing Apps or App Clips to Allowed or Blocked.
• Block one app: in Apps & Websites, select the app and tap Block App. Apple says blocked apps are dimmed, not deleted.

Apple notes that in some regions Ask to Buy is on by default and can’t be turned off for children under 18.

Step 3: Filter Websites

• Defaults: Apple says Ask to Browse is on by default for children under 13, and Limit Adult Websites is on by default for children under 18.
• Change the filter: go to Apps & Websites, then Restrictions, then Filtering under Websites. Choose Limit Adult Websites, or Approved Websites Only so your child must ask before visiting new sites.
• Block one site: in Apps & Websites, select the website and tap Block Website.

For young children, Approved Websites Only is the safest choice. For teens, Limit Adult Websites gives more freedom.

Step 4: Control Who Can Contact Your Child

Strangers reaching your child is a bigger risk than most content. Apple gives you two tools:

• Allowed Contacts: go to Allowed Contacts, then During Screen Time, and choose Contacts Only, Contacts & Groups with at Least One Contact, or Everyone. Turn on Manage Contacts to pick the approved people yourself, and decide whether your child can edit contacts.
• Communication Safety: tap Communication Safety and make sure it’s on. It blurs photos and videos with detected nudity, gore or violence in Messages and FaceTime.

According to Apple’s Communication Safety page, when it detects nudity your child sees a warning and options to message a trusted adult, leave the conversation or block the contact. For children under 13, viewing the content needs your Screen Time passcode. Apple says it doesn’t get access to these photos or videos unless your child reports them.

Step 5: Set Time Limits and a Schedule

• Time Allowances: tap Time Allowances, then Add, and set daily limits for app categories.
• Screen Time Schedule: turn on Schedule, tap Add Schedule and pick the days, for example a school-night bedtime and a different weekend schedule.
• Pause or unlock: Apple says you can pause your child’s device or unlock it for the rest of the day from Screen Time settings.

Step 6: Content and Privacy Restrictions

Setting	What it controls	Where
Content Restrictions	Age ratings for music, TV and books	Content & Privacy Restrictions
Siri	AI features such as Writing Assistance and Image Creation	Content & Privacy Restrictions, Siri
Game Center	Connecting with friends and private messaging	Apps & Websites, Restrictions
Privacy Restrictions	Changes to things like Accounts and Calendar	Content & Privacy Restrictions
Location and Focus	Changes to Share My Location and Driving Focus	Content & Privacy Restrictions

Blocking Game Center private messaging is worth doing for younger kids. Locking Share My Location stops your child from turning off location sharing without you.

On iOS 26 or Older?

If some devices in your family can’t update to iOS 27, Apple says you can keep the previous version of Screen Time or change the controls directly on your child’s device. On older versions, the controls sit under Settings, Screen Time, then your child’s name. Menu names such as Downtime, App Limits and Communication Limits come from that older version.

What iPhone Parental Controls Won’t Do

• Other apps’ chat: Screen Time controls Apple features like Messages, FaceTime and Game Center. Chat inside games and social apps follows each app’s own settings.
• A shared password: if your child knows your Screen Time passcode or Apple Account password, the controls stop working. Use a passcode they’ve never seen you type.
• Scams aimed at you: scammers now fake children’s voices to trick parents. Our guide to AI scams shows how to spot them, and our Online Predator Bible goes deeper into AI fakes and fake profiles.
• Someone else tracking the phone: if you’re worried a stranger or ex can see your family’s location, see how to tell if someone is tracking your phone.

Using Android Instead?

iPhones and iPads can’t be supervised with Google Family Link, Google says. On Android 6.0 and later, Family Link lets you approve apps, set daily limits and a bedtime, filter mature content on Google Play and see the device’s location. If you’re choosing a first device, our guide to the best tablet for kids compares iPad, Fire and Android tablets by their parental controls.

How We Researched This Guide

We didn’t set these controls up on a child’s phone ourselves. This guide follows Apple’s iOS 27 support pages on parental controls (September 14, 2026), Screen Time (September 22, 2026) and Communication Safety (September 29, 2026), plus Google’s Family Link help page, all checked on October 14, 2026. Apple often renames menus, so if something looks different on your phone, tell us and we’ll update this page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

• Apple Support: Set up parental controls to manage your child’s iPhone or iPad (September 14, 2026)
• Apple Support: Use Screen Time to manage your child’s iPhone or iPad (September 22, 2026)
• Apple Support: About Communication Safety (September 29, 2026)
• Google For Families Help: Family Link

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