Apple parental controls
Ranked 3 of 3 parental controls by recommenders
Free built-in controls that some parents find adequate for kids' accounts and app limits, but critics call them buggy, hard to configure, and unreliable.
Free built-in controls that some parents find adequate for kids' accounts and app limits, but critics call them buggy, hard to configure, and unreliable.
20 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 8
- criticize it
- 12
- approval share
- 40%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 8 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 0.6 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 5 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Works well for kids' accounts
“setting up a "kid's account" using the tools already provided in mainstream OS's is a fine option”
Comment from 23 Feb 2026 in “The Age Verification Trap, Verifying age undermines everyone's data protection” “a combination of talking to the kids plus Apple parental controls offered a reasonable approach”
Comment from 2 Jan 2026 in “TIL: Parental Controls Aren't for Parents” Praised as good overall
“Apple's parental controls are so good that parents give young children unsupervised internet access”
Comment from 29 Jun 2026 in “Age verification is just a precursor to automated attribution of speech” “The new parental controls are everything I could ask for.”
Comment from 10 Jun 2026 in “Apple WWDC 2026 Livestream” “Apple does a good job at parental controls”
Comment from 26 Jun 2026 in “The 'papers, please' era of the internet will decimate your privacy”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Buggy and frequently broken
“It is a hot buggy mess that randomly blocks whitelisted applications as well.”
Comment from 15 Mar 2026 in “Ageless Linux. We are legally required to ask how old you are. We won't” “It's totally buggy unfortunately, and has been for years.”
Comment from 18 Jan 2026 in “Apple parental controls have more holes than Swiss cheese” “Apple's parental controls just don't work.”
Comment from 5 May 2026 in “Kids bypass age verification with fake moustaches” - Comment from 4 Mar 2026 in “Apple Introduces MacBook Neo”
- Comment from 14 Jun 2026 in “UK set to announce social media ban for under-16s”
Hard to set up and use
“Configuring them from scratch is a minimum 20 minute job, and then you need to double and triple check to avoid mistakes.”
Comment from 23 Mar 2026 in “The hottest new phone is Tin Can, a 'landline' for kids” “incredibly hard to use, and very buggy”
Comment from 15 Mar 2026 in “Ageless Linux. We are legally required to ask how old you are. We won't” Weak per-app blocking
“apple's parental controls are total joke, per app blocks are not good at all”
Comment from 8 Jun 2026 in “Age verification tech could put children at greater risk, says think tank” “Apple is horrible in this regard. Their solutions never really work.”
Comment from 17 Apr 2026 in “US Bill Mandates On-Device Age Verification” Poor overall reliability reviews
“The state of parental controls on apple devices is absolutely appalling.”
Comment from 14 Sep 2026 in “iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27” “Parental controls are extremely weak on all the major platforms.”
Comment from 29 Jun 2026 in “Kids Act Would Require Age Checks to Get Online”
Other parental controls people recommend
The two most recommended other parental controls, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple Screen Time | 17 | 50 | 25% | 9 | 3.5 yrs3 owners | — |
| Google Family Link | 15 | 8 | 65% | 9 | — | — |
| Apple parental controlsThis page | 8 | 12 | 40% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
21 of the 22 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Everyone has to be on 27 or nobody gets the new controls.”
“The state of parental controls on apple devices is absolutely appalling.”
“I use Apple's parental controls daily and it is complete garbage.”
“Apple's parental controls are so good that parents give young children unsupervised internet access”
“Parental controls are extremely weak on all the major platforms.”
“Apple does a good job at parental controls”
“Apple’s Parental Controls Are Broken”
“The new parental controls are everything I could ask for.”
“apple's parental controls are total joke, per app blocks are not good at all”
“with Apple's parental controls, I can blanket-decline access to Social Media apps”
“Apple is pretty good at this when you’re in their eco system.”
“Apple's parental controls just don't work.”
“Apple is horrible in this regard. Their solutions never really work.”
“Configuring them from scratch is a minimum 20 minute job, and then you need to double and triple check to avoid mistakes.”
“incredibly hard to use, and very buggy”
“It is a hot buggy mess that randomly blocks whitelisted applications as well.”
“Apple Parental controls are either controllable on the kids device or one parents device but not both at the same time”
“Apple family controls are sorely broken.”
“setting up a "kid's account" using the tools already provided in mainstream OS's is a fine option”
“It's totally buggy unfortunately, and has been for years.”
“a combination of talking to the kids plus Apple parental controls offered a reasonable approach”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.