Apple has unveiled a major overhaul of its parental controls, giving parents the power to manage what their children can access on iPhones and iPads.
The tech giant has launched a suite of new child safety features, including stricter content filtering, app access controls, and tools that allow parents to approve new contacts and websites before their children can interact with them.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Apple unveils new parental controls for child accounts
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Apple CEO Tim Cook personally called him to brief him on the new safety controls for children.
“Mr Cook told me these changes are in part inspired by Australia’s world-leading social media age ban, as well as the continued research Apple is undertaking into the impact of social media on kids,” Albanese said.
Apple’s new child account system will enable parents to set up age-appropriate protections from the moment a device is activated.
Adults can choose exactly which apps their children can use, restricting access to everything except essentials such as phone calls or messages if they wish.
The changes were welcomed by digital wellbeing expert Dr Jo Orlando, who said Apple had worked closely with parents and researchers when developing the new tools.
“They’ve consulted with parents around the world and they’ve consulted with researchers, myself one of many researchers around the globe,” Orlando said.
“I think these changes really hit the mark. I think they’re evidence-based, and they’re moving in the direction that parents actually want help from big tech.”
Among the most significant additions is a feature called “Ask to browse”, which allows children to seek parental permission before visiting unfamiliar websites.
“Imagine you’re at work, your child is at home, they want to go onto a website, you’ve never heard of it,” Orlando explained.
“They send a request to you, you just say yes or no, approve it or not approve it.”
The feature will be enabled by default for children aged 13 and under.
Parents will also be able to approve or reject contact requests before their children can communicate with someone new, adding another layer of protection against unwanted interactions online.
The company has also introduced new screen time tools aimed at helping families develop healthier digital habits.
Parents can now set daily time allowances across categories including entertainment, gaming and social media, while new scheduling tools allow access to apps to be restricted at different times of the day.
Apple said the daily limits are based on recommendations from clinical and child development experts, giving parents a starting point when managing their children’s screen use.
Apple has expanded its existing content filtering tools as well. In addition to detecting sexually explicit material, devices will now automatically warn children about violent or graphic imagery.
For families already using Apple’s Family Sharing system, many of the protections will be automatically enabled. Other users can access the controls through the Settings menu by selecting their name and navigating to family options.
PM welcomes Apple’s new safety controls
Albanese also embraced Apple’s tighter child safety controls, saying Australia is leading the world when it comes to keeping kids safe online.
“I welcome this announcement, and I am proud of the world-leading work Australia is doing to fight for a safer online world for our children,” he said.
“We have a long way to go and we knew it would not be easy.
“However we are now seeing a number of nations follow Australia’s lead and take forward their own social media age bans.”
The PM said he will accept an invitation from Cook to visit Apple’s headquarters in the US to see the new technology in action “so we can keep learning how best to protect our kids”.
“Australian parents led this effort, and we are proud to back them. We have already seen more than 5 million under 16s accounts removed, deactivated or restricted,” Albanese said.
“Social media companies have a social responsibility, and we make no apology for holding them to account to help keep kids safe.”
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