Step 5: Manage your child’s contacts
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) notes that while parental controls are a helpful starting point for online safety, they work best alongside open, ongoing conversations. It also encourages building a network of trusted adults that children can turn to when something online feels unsafe or uncomfortable, noting that these connections are often linked to safer choices online.
If you’re setting up these parental controls for a child in your Family Sharing group, all devices in your family must be upgraded to version 27 or later of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, or visionOS. Learn how to update your Apple devices. | |||||||||||
Decide who your child can communicate with
You can help your child connect with people they know and trust by managing their contacts in the Contacts app. Your choices apply to Phone, Messages, and FaceTime, and to third-party apps that ask to use your child’s contacts. You can require your child to ask for approval before connecting with anyone new through those services. Choose to have your child communicate with approved contacts only, or allow group chats that include at least one approved contact, which can help teens stay included with friends.
To get started, go to your Family Sharing settings, select your child‘s name, then click or tap Allowed Contacts. For more information, see Manage your child’s contacts.
Note: Contact management is on by default for children with a Child Account under 13, and can be turned on for children with a Child Account 13 and over. (Ages may vary by country or region.)
Help protect your child from sensitive content
You can help protect your child from seeing or sharing sensitive images and videos. If Communication Safety detects nudity in a photo or video that your child receives or attempts to send, it blurs the image and provides guidance and age-appropriate resources to help them make a safe choice, including the choice to contact someone who they trust. Communication Safety works in apps like Messages, FaceTime, AirDrop, and Contacts, depending on the device. Any detected gore or violent content is also blurred in images and videos, and your child receives a warning. And when you set a Screen Time passcode, children under 13 can’t view sensitive content without your permission.
To get started, go to your Family Sharing settings, select your child’s name, then click or tap Communication Safety. For more information, see Check for sensitive images and videos on your child’s device.
Note: Communication Safety is on by default for all children with a Child Account under 18. (Ages may vary by country or region.) For more information on Communication Safety and the apps and services it works in, see the Apple Support article About Communication Safety on your child’s Apple device.