Google Family Link
Ranked 2 of 3 parental controls by recommenders
Free Android app letting parents limit apps, websites and screen time, seen as easier than Apple's options. Critics say it cannot block YouTube Shorts.
Free Android app letting parents limit apps, websites and screen time, seen as easier than Apple's options. Critics say it cannot block YouTube Shorts.
23 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 15
- criticize it
- 8
- approval share
- 65%
Recommended in 9 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 15 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 1.8 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 9 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
Strong controls on Android
“Apple isn't very good in proper parental controls compared to family link on Android.”
Comment from 9 Jun 2026 in “Apple Watch for Your Kids” “Google's implementation of parental controls is way superior to Apple's.”
Comment from 11 Aug 2026 in “The UK's War on Anonymity Has Come to America” “Google Family Link seems much more powerful and easy to manage to me”
Comment from 10 Jul 2026 in “Buried Apple Feature Turns an iPhone into the Perfect Kids' Dumb Phone” - Comment from 1 Feb 2026 in “Finland to end "uncontrolled human experiment" with ban on youth social media”
Restricts apps, websites and adult content
“You can also use Googles family link to enable a restricted mode that hides adult content for specific accounts.”
Comment from 13 Dec 2025 in “YouTube's CEO limits his kids' social media use – other tech bosses do the same” “which allows me to limit any apps/websites my child could view. Works really well.”
Comment from 13 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What's a good "semi-dumb" phone/watch for kids?” Works reliably for families
“which allows me to limit any apps/websites my child could view. Works really well.”
Comment from 13 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What's a good "semi-dumb" phone/watch for kids?” “Contrast this to google’s system which, well, works.”
Comment from 15 Sep 2026 in “iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27” Manages several family accounts
“I do that using Family Link. I have there my child and also my in-laws”
Comment from 25 Sep 2026 in “F-Droid 2.0” “Google Family Link seems much more powerful and easy to manage to me”
Comment from 10 Jul 2026 in “Buried Apple Feature Turns an iPhone into the Perfect Kids' Dumb Phone”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Cannot limit YouTube Shorts
“family link is not enough, try disabling gemini and news access with it, and you cannot block shorts”
Comment from 1 Feb 2026 in “Finland to end "uncontrolled human experiment" with ban on youth social media” “they would add an option in the Family Link app to set time limit for shorts for children”
Comment from 16 Apr 2026 in “YouTube now lets you turn off Shorts” “not as good as blocking them entirely from even being seen .. but at least it's something”
Comment from 16 Apr 2026 in “YouTube now lets you turn off Shorts” Gaps on school and other devices
“It worked really well up until she got a school managed chromebook for homework with no access controls.”
Comment from 23 Feb 2026 in “The Age Verification Trap, Verifying age undermines everyone's data protection” “Cross-platform support is very poor”
Comment from 30 Jul 2026 in “Google will expand age checks on Android worldwide till the end of the year” Setup needs extra accounts and permissions
“you have to allow the Google app. And you have to allow it unrestricted time”
Comment from 2 Jan 2026 in “TIL: Parental Controls Aren't for Parents” “Had to setup MS accounts, Minecraft accounts and MS family link setup.”
Comment from 5 Aug 2026 in “Xbox goes down. You can't play games you own on disc”
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 LinkThis page | 15 | 8 | 65% | 9 | — | — |
| Apple parental controls | 8 | 12 | 40% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
24 of the 25 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I do that using Family Link. I have there my child and also my in-laws”
“Contrast this to google’s system which, well, works.”
“which allows me to limit any apps/websites my child could view. Works really well.”
“Google's implementation of parental controls is way superior to Apple's.”
“None of the screen time monitoring features work.”
“Had to setup MS accounts, Minecraft accounts and MS family link setup.”
“Cross-platform support is very poor”
“Google Family Link seems much more powerful and easy to manage to me”
“Apple isn't very good in proper parental controls compared to family link on Android.”
“not as good as blocking them entirely from even being seen .. but at least it's something”
“they would add an option in the Family Link app to set time limit for shorts for children”
“There are so many ways to child-proof a device .”
“my kids have limited access to their (Android) phones using family link but I don't see option there to”
“I don't see option there to”
“It worked really well up until she got a school managed chromebook for homework with no access controls.”
“Our middle child (aged 12) has an Android phone, but it has Family Link on it.”
“You are still far ahead with Family Link”
“family link is not enough, try disabling gemini and news access with it, and you cannot block shorts”
“So buy an Android: https://families.google/intl/my/familylink/”
“There is no way to prevent kid accessing Google Play Store and spam You with requests”
“you have to allow the Google app. And you have to allow it unrestricted time”
“Google family link is also kinda weird”
“You can also use Googles family link to enable a restricted mode that hides adult content for specific accounts.”
“The sneaky little shit still found ways to circumvent all this”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.