apple/iphone parental contols for teenagers

Looking for info about setting up parental controls in the hellscape that is iOS and ‘Apple UX for none apple owners’
Going through the “setup phone for a child”, it appears apple only consider <13 to be child (so do all the apple FAQ pages), no options to add a 15 yo.
How do I setup an iphone that can be used for most stuff but still have time/content restrictions. Presumably if I lie about his age he wont be able to use whatsapp and a bunch of other apps

This was wasnt too difficult to do in android and Family Link, so far *everything* is proving to be difficult with iphone.

Anyone considering unsolicited parenting advice along the lines of “have a chat about trust”….well, just dont, ok?

Our son is 14 and we manage to setup all the restrictions we want on iOS very easily.

To be fair even at 14 we feel that education is better than blocking. We pretty much now just monitor the sites hes accessing and the time he is on, and the hours use ie blocked late at night

just to flesh it out a bit, with android kids have a gmail account, with real age in account settings, I setup the phone for them, it asks for an adult to login to adjust the parental controls, then its theirs, I can adjust settings find phone, lock it etc from the family link app.
with apple do I set up a phone with their account?
Iirc on a very old ipad I had you could go to privacy or something, punch in a parental lock code, add some controls, whitelist apps and then hand the device to kids, but that was all on my account. And Im guessing would run in to issues with my child trying to use whatsapp etc

@funkydunc so did you setup phone with his account or yours?

Just to confirm we are all apple devices, I assume you are too?

He has his own email (apple) account. Then we just followed this

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/105121

I will be thinking about this in a year or so. I honestly think there needs to be more done here. Maybe kids have a different sim card or restricted network by default. I see so many kids with normal phones that have access to anything.

I will be thinking about this in a year or so. I honestly think there needs to be more done here. Maybe kids have a different sim card or restricted network by default. I see so many kids with normal phones that have access to anything.

You’d need to be very good and constantly on top of a technical battle to lock them out of stuff completely.  Most phone network operators will provide the option to block the dodgiest end of the internet from “data” connections.  Most premium (and many free IP provider) routers will have an option to block sites.   None of that will stop them popping round a mates house and using their WiFi.  None of that will stop their mates from sending them video/pic on WhatsApp etc.   To be honest that last issue always worried me far more than anything my kids might actively look for.

BUT all of that is I think a different question from the OP is asking?

OP – does this help? https://support.apple.com/en-us/108806

I don’t understand the hellscape comment.

We have had parental controls on our kids devices for years, dead easy to set up and adapt. As they have got older we have loosened things significantly, now only have screen time come on overnight to help them get better sleep (they are teenagers).

If you have family set up and are all on iPhones it is intuitive, user friendly and effective. Just another of those things that Apple do very well.

As they have got older we have loosened things significantly, now only have screen time come on overnight to help them get better sleep (they are teenagers).

Completely agree with this. Education and understanding is the only answer.

Screentime and the associated ‘activate screen time’ (off) button that converts it into a dumb phone is what you need. You then have basic discipline about when it’s used plus a ban hammer for when you need it.

“I don’t understand the hellscape comment.”
I couldnt even get an “adult” account setup and verified without an apple device. The official fix appears to be “go to an apple shop and ask to use one of their devices” https://discussions.apple.com/thread/255294740?sortBy=rank thats just one link but theres loads of other people with same issue

So after setting up the phone for me and getting a full adult account and adding payment  option (to prove i was an adult), followed by a factory reseting the phone and another attempt to “setup phone for a child”, they decided the payment option (credit card) wasnt acceptable after all.
Ah £$^k it, I think Im just sticking a normal account on.

as a windows/android user I knew I was going to struggle, there was a learning curve with Family link, but this morning’s little adventure was stupidly difficult.

I have now, finally, got an adult account and his phone is setup with his own account. Go to Family Sharing on his phone “only an adult can do this”
Log in to appleID with my account in a web browser, got to Family Sharing and…. “To change these settings use an apple device”

So yeah, if you want to buy everyone an apple device its probably a really great streamlined experience. But £$^k anyone who doesnt.

Got the screen time setup with a lock code, its manual, so any changes, I have to be there to unlock it and change it, how very last century.
Find my iphone, hahahaha not happening.
Tweaking anything else (of which Im sure there are many options) probably not. Well not without buying another apple device anyway.

android and MS (xbox) both offer parents web options to use with their hardware, it seems apple do not. Unless anyone can point me in the direction of the apple version?

Currently I appear to be in the ludicrous situation of, if I want to “parent” anything in my sons account I need to factory reset his phone, set it up with my credentials, make the changes, then reset and put his account back on. Come on apple fans, surely this isnt true? Tell me Ive done something fundamentally wrong and theres a much easier, accessible method….that doesnt involve buying another apple device…?

Thanks for the advice links posted btw, appreciated, but they all seem to be for The Apple Family, parents on iphones, kids on iphones, not much for single device setups.

But I guess I needn’t worry, the screen will be no doubt be cracked within a couple weeks, then device totally fubared not long after, so it’ll be back to android when he’s earned enough pocket money for a basic replacement handset

Does any teenager require that much tech?

Simpler just to buy them a smartwatch.

You’ve got a funny way of asking for help from Apple users, is all I can say.

Currently I appear to be in the ludicrous situation of, if I want to “parent” anything in my sons account I need to factory reset his phone, set it up with my credentials, make the changes, then reset and put his account back on. Come on apple fans, surely this isnt true? Tell me Ive done something fundamentally wrong and theres a much easier, accessible method….that doesnt involve buying another apple device…?

No apple fans can tell you as they all have iDevices of their own so found the process simple.  I’m sure a trip to your local apple store would sort you out.  At 15 it won’t be long before they are expecting increasing freedom so maybe see if the features apple provide to adult users is enough to help them with the carrot/stick that if you don’t think its working you’ll go back to kiddy mode.

But I guess I needn’t worry, the screen will be no doubt be cracked within a couple weeks, then device totally fubared not long after, so it’ll be back to android when he’s earned enough pocket money for a basic replacement handset

My experience of extensive drop testing is modern Apple screens are surprisingly robust – more so than the cheap androids we get our children!

Does any teenager require that much tech?

I’d say yes grandad!  Realistically any teenager today is living in a highly digital world, much though you may not like it.  They need to learn to use that tech to their advantage and also how to moderate the temptation to overuse it too.

Simpler just to buy them a smartwatch.

A smartwatch without a matching phone is probably not that useful, but potentially has all the same issues!

Cheers for input Poly, no apple shops nearby but something to consider if I end up near one. However after some googling and experimenting it does seem that apple have the admin side of parental controls limited to apple devices only.

You’ve got a funny way of asking for help from Apple users, is all I can say.

“this is the silly situation I seem to be in, that cant be right can it? Have I done something wrong?”
I thought that was a reasonable way of putting it.
“yes, you are doing this wrong” sounds like a better putdown while also proving apple’s superiority. But sure, just implying you may know something but that I didnt ask nicely will definitely improve my opinion of apple.

You can’t really blame Apple for setting up family systems that are designed around the assumption that the family are Apple device users! Of course they will make the system more friendly for users of their ecosystem.

Just caught this dropping off the front page….

…. Try googling “screen time passcode” or similar. Will try and post a screen shot later

I think there are 2 ways of thinking, Apple and Android. when you go from one to other it just does not make sense.

Apple parental controls is OK but really quite limited. Why does it see each webpage as an app. Why cant I just block games but not web browser. Then you get companies like Snapchat that somehow evade Apples app controls and doesn’t give you any way to limit what your kids can do. I am happy for them to chat with the friends but I don’t want them watching hours upon hours of TikTok like videos.

p.s. who decided that 13 was when you become an adult in the social media world?

Appreciate there are differences as my daughter moved from Android to iOS, but they aren’t that big.

If you set the age of the user then the App Store will prevent them seeing apps rated higher. For instance WhatsApp is rated 17+. No idea how the ratings are set.

The challenge is that each app may also have features that vary in age appropriateness. But often they have their own parental controls. Though most parents aren’t savvy enough to use them and kids are pretty good at circumventing them.

You can also set all app installs to require approval, and you can set daily screen time limits for app types, apps, and web pages.

Afaik, you can only sync one Apple Watch to an iPhone.

dont know if google has the same restrictions.

it would be simpler if a parent could sync multiple devices to one iPad or Mac.

If the market share is currently 80/ 20 (phones vs smartwatches), this will be reversed in five years time. Phones are a big chunk of weight.

You could potentially phone your kids, keep track of their whereabouts, send push notifications, set fitness goals, etc. all the relevant stuff without the bulk or expense of a smartphone.

There’s been discussions on the media about allowing smartphones in school and using AirTags to keep track of your kids.

the answers right there (almost).

This looks good
https://blog.cloudflare.com/introducing-1-1-1-1-for-families/

“Introducing 1.1.1.1 for Families — the easiest way to add a layer of protection to your home network and protect it from malware and adult content. 1.1.1.1 for Families leverages Cloudflare’s global network to ensure that it is fast and secure around the world. And it includes the same strong privacy guarantees that we committed to when we launched 1.1.1.1 two years ago. And, just like 1.1.1.1, we’re providing it for free and it’s for any home anywhere in the world.”