Frequently Asked Question
You want to do what’s best for your family. So do we.
https://www.apple.com/families/
iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and Apple TV. They’re some of the most powerful tools ever made for learning, exploring, and staying in touch. Parents love them. Kids love them. And we’re continually designing new features to help make sure kids use them in the ways you want.
Tools that let parents know, and feel good about, what kids are doing.
You know your kids better than anyone. That’s why we’ve put a lot of thought into helping parents choose how — and how often — their kids can use their devices.
Keep track of your
family’s app usage.
Screen Time gives you a better understanding of the time you and your kids spend using apps, visiting websites, and on your devices overall. You can get weekly reports or see specific app usage, notifications, and device pickups.
Set limits and exceptions.
Screen Time also lets you set the amount of time you and your kids can spend each day on specific apps and websites. You can create exceptions for specific apps, like Messages or education apps, and kids can always request more time for you to approve.
Take time away.
With Downtime, you can set a specific time, like bedtime, when apps and notifications are blocked. You can choose which apps are on and off limits.
The App Store.
A safe place for kids.
The Kids section is carefully curated to be a great space for children. And we review every app to make sure it does what it says it does. In Restrictions, you can also tap an age range and, just like that, your kids can buy or download only apps appropriate for them — including curated recommendations.
Learn more about the App Store
Choose which apps they can use.
If you want to, you can prevent kids from installing new apps, like social media or photo sharing — or even turn off the Safari web browser. Enable Ask to Buy, and you can approve or decline their app purchases and downloads right from your device.
Learn how to turn on Ask to Buy
Easily create app limits.
With Combined Limits, you can combine individual apps and websites, and even whole categories, into a single, easy-to-manage limit. Set a limit for a group of apps and websites, like games or your kids’ favorite streaming apps.
Decide who can talk to them.
Communication Limits let you choose who your children can communicate with throughout the day and during downtime, so you can make sure they’re always reachable.
Keep them safe on the internet.
You can set up your kids’ devices to limit adult content or open only websites that you select. You can also install special web browsers that are designed to display kid-friendly content and nothing else.
Get one more minute.
Give your kids an extra minute to wrap up what they’re doing. They’ll get a notification when they’ve reached their time limit, so they can quickly wrap up a conversation, save a file, or close a game session before their time runs out.
Make sure what they see is appropriate.
With a few taps you can keep your kids from accessing movies, TV shows, music, music videos, apps, books, or podcasts that contain things you don’t want them to see or hear.
Manage in‑app purchases.
Many apps, even free apps, allow (or encourage) purchases within the app itself. A setting in Restrictions lets you block all in‑app purchases automatically.
Find your missing device with Find My.
The Find My app combines Find My iPhone and Find My Friends into a single, easy-to-use app on Mac, iPad, and iPhone. Find My can help you locate a missing family member’s iPhone, Mac, iPad, or Apple Watch — even if it’s offline and sleeping.
Map its location.
The Find My app enables offline, Wi-Fi–enabled devices to send out Bluetooth signals that can be detected by other Apple devices in use nearby. They can then relay the detected location of your missing device to iCloud so you can locate it in the app.
Share locations with friends and family.
Easily locate friends and family members to stay coordinated and keep kids safe. Using the People tab, you can invite friends to share a location or automatically receive location-based alerts — like when your child leaves school. Parents can even manage how their kids share locations.
It’s all anonymous.
The process is anonymous and encrypted end-to-end so no one, including Apple, knows the identity of any reporting device. And because the reporting happens silently using tiny bits of data that piggyback on existing network traffic, there’s no need to worry about your battery life, your data usage, or your privacy.
Share apps, movies, music, and more.
Family Sharing lets you share the things you love with the people you love, so you don’t all have to buy the same stuff over and over. It’s simple to set up and gives everyone in your family access to shared iCloud storage.
Purchase once, share forever.
With Family Sharing, each family member can enjoy the same movies, TV shows, music, books, and apps. And an Apple Music family subscription gives everyone access to a library of over 75 million songs.
Share photos, calendars, and storage.
Create a family photo album that everyone can view and add to. Stay on schedule with a family calendar. And share up to 2TB of iCloud storage* among everyone’s individual accounts.
Get everyone started with an Apple ID.
The first step to sharing is making sure each family member has an Apple ID. That way you all have your own private logins, and everyone’s info stays separate. It’s fast and easy — parents can even set one up for kids under 13.
Be one big happy, healthy family.
We’re always working on new ways for our products to be even more helpful. Here are some features everyone in your family can use to stay safe and be well.
Make teen driving safer.
No one should be distracted by the phone while driving. With Do Not Disturb While Driving, iPhone won’t interrupt you with messages, calls, or notifications until you reach your destination. In an emergency, callers can override it and get through.
Learn how to set up Do Not Disturb While Driving
Keep everyone fit.
Apple Watch offers a fun way for everyone to get fit and stay fit: Introduce a little daily competition to see who can close their Stand, Move, and Exercise rings first. And the winner is…your whole family.
Turn down the blue light at night.
Research has shown that exposure to blue light before bedtime can make it harder to fall asleep. Night Shift automatically changes the display to a warmer hue when the sun goes down.
Better sleep for better health.
Set up iPhone or iPad to tell you and your kids when it’s bedtime and wake you with customized alarms — which might save a few “time to get up” visits to their bedrooms. And you can all track your sleep over time with daily, weekly, and monthly summaries.
Reduce distractions overall.
Do Not Disturb eliminates distractions from calls and notifications for a specified period of time. It’s a great way to keep your kids from getting interrupted when they’re sleeping or doing homework. If you need to get through in an emergency, you can.
Learn how to set up Do Not Disturb
Your medical info, there when it’s needed.
On iPhone and Apple Watch, emergency personnel can quickly access a Medical ID with important information like allergies, blood type, emergency contacts, and more.
Learn how to set up a Medical ID
Emergency SOS.
If you need help, ask Siri to call 911 or your emergency contact. You can also enable your iPhone and Apple Watch to automatically dial emergency services with a press or a few taps.
Learn how to set up Emergency SOS
Reach kids in an emergency.
Even if your children don’t have their iPhone at school, you can still reach them in an emergency if they’re wearing an Apple Watch with cellular.
Technology should be for everyone.
We design products for everybody, including people with disabilities. In fact, every device we make offers a wide range of innovative tools that help people of all abilities create, explore, stay in shape, and communicate.
Learn more about Apple and Accessibility
Help first responders locate you.
Get help when you need it most. When you call 911 with your iPhone, you can automatically and securely share your location with first responders.
Your privacy comes first.
So much personal data lives on your family’s devices. That’s why we’ve designed our hardware and software to keep this information private. Touch ID and Face ID, for example, are two of the most advanced security technologies on personal devices. We’ve also made it easy for parents to set privacy controls on their kids’ devices.
Learn more about Apple and Privacy
Apple helps in the classroom, too.
Our commitment to families doesn’t stop at your front door. Apple devices expand what’s possible in the classroom, and apps like Classroom help teachers keep students on track. Educators have access to many of the same controls you do. And Apple doesn’t use your kids’ information to create a profile or market to them.
Learn more about Apple and Education