Family Sharing overview for kids and teens
iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac are some of the most powerful tools ever made for learning, exploring, and staying in touch. When you're part of a Family Sharing group, Screen Time and other parental controls help you have a fun and safe experience while taking advantage of everything that your Apple device has to offer.
When you're part of a Family Sharing group
With Family Sharing, your parent or guardian can help set up your device, so that it's easier for you to make safe choices about how you use your device, what you buy, and who can see your important personal information.
Adults in your family group can be designated as a parent or guardian. These adults can use Screen Time and other parental controls to view the apps and websites you use and help make choices about how often you use them. They can also help you avoid inappropriate content, approve things you want to buy, and see your location throughout the day.
If you’re under 13*, your family organizer or another parent or guardian must create an Apple ID for you, which is automatically added to the Family Sharing group. If you’re between 13* and 17, you can choose to join a Family Sharing group set up by an adult in your family.
When something changes about your Family Sharing group, you’ll know — for example, you’ll get a notification when a new parent or guardian joins your group or when your parent or guardian allows or doesn’t allow changes to your Share My Location settings.
These notifications appear on your Home Screen or Lock Screen where you see text messages and other important alerts, and you see a red exclamation mark in the Settings app.
View information about your Family Sharing group
Starting with iOS 17.5, iPadOS 17.5, and macOS Sonoma 14.5, it’s easy to see details about your Family Sharing group — including which parental controls are currently set for your account.
Just open the Settings app (or System Settings on Mac), tap Family, and then tap your name.
Tap Parent/Guardian to see the adults who can set parental controls for you and who get your Screen Time and Ask To Buy requests.
Tap Screen Time to see the parental controls that your parent or guardian has set. To make any changes, you might have to ask your parent or guardian to enter their Screen Time passcode.
Tap Ask To Buy to see if you need permission to buy things like apps from the App Store or TV shows or movies from Apple Media Services.
Tap Location Sharing to see who in your Family Sharing group can see your location and whether you can change your Share My Location settings.
How parental controls help you use your device safely
With Family Sharing and Screen Time, your parent or guardian can help make sure that you have a safe experience when you're using your Apple device.
To take advantage of all Family Sharing and Screen Time features, make sure that all of the devices in your Family Sharing group — both your devices and your parents’ devices — are updated to the latest software version. That way, Screen Time and parental controls settings will sync across devices. If you need help, just ask your parent or guardian.
Talk and text safely
With Communication Limits, your parent or guardian can help make choices about which contacts you can talk or text with, and when you can talk or text with them.
Although your parent or guardian can set limits for who you talk and text with, parental controls don’t allow them to hear your conversations or read your text messages.
The Communication Safety feature can help protect you when you receive or attempt to send photos or videos that contain nudity. Communication Safety gives you an extra moment to pause and think, and can help you find resources to get help.
If you’re under 13*, Communication Safety is turned on automatically.
View appropriate content
With App & Website Activity, your parent or guardian can help you choose which apps or features to use, make smart choices about when and how long you use them, and view your activity on apps and websites. They can also schedule downtime for you to spend time away from the screen, so that you can focus at school or wind down for bed without distraction.
If you feel like you need more time, just ask — when you hit a limit, you can select One More Minute once or choose Ask For More Time to send a request to your parent or guardian.
With Content and Privacy Restrictions, your parent or guardian can help make sure that the content that you access is appropriate to your age. They can also prevent changes to important account information.
If your parent or guardian sets up Ask to Buy, you need their approval before buying or downloading apps, movies, TV shows, books, or other eligible purchases on the App Store.
If you’re under 13*, Safari automatically filters content to show only what is appropriate for your age.
Share your location securely
Your location is among your most sensitive personal information and should be shared thoughtfully.
When your family organizer sets up location sharing for your Family Sharing group, you can choose whether or not to share your location with the rest of the group.
The first time an app wants or needs to use your location, it has to ask — and you can choose if and when to share that information. When an app is using your location from Location Services, an arrow icon appears in the status bar at the top of your iPhone or in Control Center.
Your parent or guardian can prevent changes to certain privacy settings, including Share My Location settings.
Manage the personal information you share
Apple designs our products and services to protect your privacy and give you control over your personal information. Your parent or guardian can help you manage your privacy settings and make safe choices about what you share.
When you see the Data and Privacy icon
, Apple is asking to use your personal information.When Apple uses your personal information, you have the chance to read more about what data is collected and how it’s used. If you need help, ask your parent or guardian to read and explain the information to you.
At any time, you can manage your data, see how it’s stored, and ask for a copy of that data — just visit your Data & Privacy page.
If you’re under 13*, your parent or guardian needs to give permission when you make a request related to your data.
When you’re ready to manage your own device
Depending on your age, you might be able to leave your Family Sharing group — or you might need permission from your family organizer.
If you're under 13*, you need to be part of a Family Sharing group.
If you’re between 13-17*, you can leave your Family Sharing group if your parent or guardian hasn’t turned on Screen Time for your account. If they have, you need permission from your family organizer to leave the group.
When you turn 18, you can decide to leave your Family Sharing group or manage your own Screen Time settings.
