Last month, Google introduced the Family Link app. This app, much needed in a world where the average age of kids first getting a smartphone is just over 10 years old, allows parents to set some limits on their children’s phone usage. However, the app premiered with one caveat: Both the parent and the child had to have an Android phone. Now, Google has updated the app so it works on iOS devices.
If you’re not familiar with Family Link, the app allows parents to block or approve app downloads, block apps that are already installed, and will give parents weekly and monthly app activity reports. There is also a way to set a “bedtime” by locking the child’s device at certain times.
Unfortunately, the child’s phone must still be using an Android device running Nougat or higher, or they must have one of the few devices using Marshmallow that are also supported to run Family Link. Currently, parents must request an invite to actually use the app, as it is not fully ready for a full-scale roll out.
Your children may find this annoying, but hey, at least they never have to get off the internet every time their parents want to make a phone call, so these ’00s kids get no sympathy from me.
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