Choose who your child can communicate with on their device
You can choose who your child can communicate with using Phone , Messages
, or FaceTime
, and set those limits to apply all the time or only during certain hours. You can also manage the contacts on their device from your own, and have your child ask you before connecting with someone new.
Manage your child’s contacts
You can manage whether your child can add or edit contacts on their own, and you can manage their contact list directly from your device. You can also require permission before they communicate with anyone new.
Before you can manage your child’s contacts, they need to approve your request. Your request to manage their contacts appears in their Screen Time Settings or in their Notifications on their iPhone or iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch.
Open your child’s settings:
On iPhone or iPad: Go to the Settings app, tap Family, then tap your child’s name.
On Mac: Go to System Settings, click Family, then click your child’s name.
Tap or click Allowed Contacts, then do any of the following:
View and make changes to your child’s Contacts: Turn on Manage (your child’s name) Contacts.
Allow your child to send you new requests to communicate with new contacts: Turn off Allow Contact Editing.
Allow or block calls and messages at certain times
Allowed Contacts lets you manage who your child can have phone calls, FaceTime calls, and messages with, either at all times or only during certain hours. These limits apply to the contacts your child has saved in iCloud.
Note: For Allowed Contacts to work, Contacts needs to be turned on in iCloud on your child’s device.
Open your child’s settings:
On iPhone or iPad: Go to the Settings app, tap Family, then tap your child’s name.
On Mac: Go to System Settings, click Family, then click your child’s name.
Tap or click Allowed Contacts, then do any of the following:
Choose who your child can communicate with during Screen Time hours: Tap or click During Screen Time, then choose an option.
Choose who your child can communicate with when their devices are paused: Tap or click When Device Paused or Unavailable, then choose an option.
What’s next?
After you set up contact management for your child, you can decide if you want to approve their requests to talk with new contacts. See Approve your child’s purchases, downloads, and Screen Time requests.
You can also turn on Communication Safety to help protect them from shared images or videos that have detected sensitive content. See Check for sensitive images and videos on your child’s device with Communication Safety.