Under both iOS and Android, parents can control their children’s smartphone use

The 21st edition of World Fear-Free Internet Day takes place on Tuesday February 6 in more than 200 countries. The opportunity to focus on the parental control functions integrated into smartphones to protect young people.

World Day for a Fear-Free Internet, whose objective is to raise awareness of digital uses, was created in 2004. Without installing any application, the operating systems of our mobile phones include functions to control usage by our children from their own smartphone. The world is divided into two: on one side Android, Google’s system, and on the other Apple’s iPhones running iOS. Two worlds which often take up each other’s good ideas. This is the case for “Screen Time” on iPhone, and “Family Link” on Android smartphones: two settings over which parents can take control.

“Family Link” available in France for six years

Let’s start with Android. “Family Link” has existed in France since 2018. The application has gradually gained in finesse. The maximum duration of use can be set for each application but additional time can also be granted on the fly – a sort of bonus delay – as a reward after a good grade or homework well done.

“Family Link” allows you to authorize or prohibit downloading by type of apps, to obtain the child’s position using the phone’s GPS, to set the hours dedicated to sleep during which the smartphone must be turned off. It is also possible to authorize, by default, visiting certain websites while blocking pornographic or violent sites. And then, controlling an Android smartphone can also be done via an iPhone or iPad since the “Family Link” application is also available on the Apple App Store.

No app but settings on iPhone

Precisely, in the iPhone environment, we do not find an application as such. It’s a shame because “Screen Time” deserves it. Its hourglass icon on a blue background is buried in “Settings” on iPhone and iPad, after clicking on “Family”. Once inside, the granularity is quite impressive. From screen-free time to restricting usage time for each application, to choosing which apps are always allowed, to defining contacts with whom the child can communicate during and outside of screen time, the blurring photos and videos of naked bodies, even blocking certain functions such as sharing the position or modifying the secret code: everything is configurable.

“Screen Time” even uses the iPhone’s built-in radar, LIDAR, to warn children who hold their screen too close to their eyes, that is to say less than 30 cm. A shield-shaped alert appears, to prevent eye fatigue and the development of myopia. Unfortunately, Apple does not offer an Android app compatible with “Screen Time” on the Google Play Store. And so, to control your child’s iPhone, you necessarily need another device from the Apple brand.