Apple highlights 8 ways to keep kids safer online with iPhone and iPad

In honor of Safer Internet Day, Apple has shared a list of features and tips to provide a more secure and private experience for kids on devices like iPhone and iPad. Along with 8 ways to stay safer, Apple has highlighted its dedicated educational hub for parents and families plus a new free Today at Apple session called “Your Kids and Their Devices.”

Apple shared all the details in a Newsroom post:

“In recognition of Safer Internet Day on 7 February, Apple is sharing powerful tools and resources to empower families and keep children safe online. As a longtime privacy and security leader, Apple continues to innovate, create, and uplift family-friendly tools that promote children’s safety and privacy — along with parental controls that help families understand, monitor, and set limitations on their children’s screen time.”

8 ways to keep kids safer online with iPhone and iPad

Apple lists iPhone and iPad features including Family Sharing, Screen Time, Downtime, Communication Limits, Communication Safety, Content & Privacy Restrictions, Ask to Buy, and the Made for Kids section as valuable resources:

• iOS 16 offers improved child account setup as part of Family Sharing — which helps parents and guardians put parental controls in place right from the start. The new Family Checklist shares helpful tips, including reminders to update a child’s settings as they get older.

• With Screen Time, families can get weekly reports on their children’s activity, and set limits on the amount of time spent on-device or on certain apps. Downtime lets families block apps and notifications at certain hours of the day, and Communication Limits helps them choose who their children can communicate with.

• Through Content & Privacy Restrictions in Screen Time, parental controls can block or limit specific apps and features on a child’s device — restricting the settings for explicit content, purchases, downloads, and privacy.

• On the App Store, parents can restrict downloads to age-appropriate apps, and use Ask to Buy to approve or decline purchases and downloads. And in the Made for Kids section, Apple enforces strict standards that require every app to protect children’s data and prevent age-inappropriate advertising.

• Parents can also turn on Communication Safety for the Messages app to provide warnings and resources on their child’s device if they receive or attempt to send photos containing nudity. Using on-device machine learning, Messages detects and blurs the image and offers age-appropriate guidance. In partnership with local experts, Apple is expanding the feature to more regions around the world.

Along with those 8 features, Apple is offering a new “Your Kids and Their Devices” Today at Apple session across its 500 retail stores.

“To help parents get the most out of these features and more, Apple is offering a free class called ‘Your Kids and Their Devices.’ Available online and in over 500 stores globally, the Today at Apple workshop will empower Apple users with the knowledge and skills to protect their children’s safety online. The 60-minute session covers how to manage content and maintain privacy with the latest features on iPhone and iPad, including Family Sharing, Screen Time, App Limits, and more. To sign up for a session, visit apple.co/safer-internet-uk.”

Presumably, this should be showing up for other countries soon.

Apple also recommends checking out its hub for families and parents for more tips and ideas to stay safe online.