The iPad is an entertainment tool that the little ones in the house have become accustomed to and that drive with a skill that often exceeds the knowledge of their parents. But in addition, its role as a tool for studies is increasingly important, and at an increasingly early age. It is not uncommon for little ones to come home with interactive tasks that they must perform on their tablet, or view multimedia content.
With this situation, it is essential to be able to control what they can and cannot do, as well as being able to limit their use both in duration and at specific times. A tablet with internet access opens up a world of possibilities that are not always suitable for a minor, and Apple with iOS 12 gives us the necessary tools to control this, and we explain it to you below.
Time of use, a very useful tool
It is a function that appeared within iOS 12 as one of the main novelties that this new version brought, which will soon turn the year. With it we can see how long we use certain applications, what notifications we receive, and we can even set certain limits so that we are aware that we are making excessive use of our mobile devices. But it not only serves us for us, but also serves to control our little ones.
A mistake that many adults make is to put their own account on the devices of minors. The best thing is that they have their own Apple account and that we associate it with our account through the option "In family" offered by Apple. It is a very simple procedure that will allow us to share our purchases with them, so that they cannot download anything without our authorization, and to be able to make use of the Parental Controls that we are going to explain in this article.
If we have minors in our family account They will appear at the bottom of the "Usage time" section, with all the devices associated with your account. In the case of my example, "Natalia's iPad" is associated with Luis's account, and I can access the use that is given to it on a daily or weekly basis, seeing the times of use of each application and other statistics that always result interesting to know the habits of our little ones with the iPad.
Setting parental controls
But the most interesting are the options that appear in the central part of this section, and that are the tools that Apple offers us to restrict the use that minors can make of the iPad (or iPhone if that were the case).
- Inactivity time: we can establish periods in which the device will be locked and cannot be used. We can establish a fixed schedule or customize it each day of the week. If the minor wants to use it, they can send us a request to our device that we can authorize or not, or directly enter the "time of use" code that we have defined (and that must be different from the device's unlock code).
- App usage limit: by categories we can establish limits of use, for how long they can use these apps. We can define it by individual applications, only by categories of apps. Once this time has elapsed, the app will be blocked and can only be used with our authorization.
- Always allowed: here we can define applications that can always be used, even if the limits are exceeded or during lockdown hours. If we want minors to always be able to call, or receive and send messages, or use certain applications "for example, those used at school", this is the section where we must configure it.
- Content and privacy restrictions: here we can set limits for the contents. Being able to download or delete apps, which series and movies are allowed and which are not, which websites can be freely accessed and which are not ... is a section that is worth exploring to configure it appropriately for the minor's age.
