Parental controls that actually help on iPad and Android tablets

By the Scribblie team · Published October 10, 2026 · 9 min read

If you only have ten minutes, do four things: set a passcode your child does not know, switch on a nightly downtime, require your approval before anything is downloaded or bought, and use the one-app lock when the tablet is handed over for something specific. Those four cover most of what parents actually need on an iPad or an Android tablet, and everything else is optional.

The catch is that the menus move. Apple and Google rename and rearrange settings every few software updates, so we will describe what each tool does and what it is called, and leave you to find it by searching the settings app. If a name below does not appear on your device, search for the closest word, and check the maker's current help pages.

Start with the passcode, not the limits

Most parents begin by setting limits. We would begin one step earlier: the passcode that protects the limits.

Every set of controls on either platform is only as strong as the code that guards it. If your child knows the code, or can watch you tap it in, the limits are advisory. Pick a code that is not a birthday, not 1234 and not the same as the one for your phone. Do not type it in front of your child, and do not store it in a place a reader of notes could find.

Then decide who owns the device in the system's eyes. Both Apple and Google have a way to set up a child as a member of your family group, with you as the organiser. That route gives you the fullest set of controls, and it is usually worth taking even if the tablet is shared, since it is much easier to set up cleanly at the start than to patch later.

The built-in tools, by name

Here is the lay of the land at a general level. Please check the current help pages from Apple and Google, since the details shift.

On iPad, the main tool is called Screen Time. Inside it you will find downtime, which switches off most apps during a window you choose; app limits, which cap time in categories or specific apps; content and privacy restrictions, which control purchases, adult content and what can be changed; and a way to approve requests from your own device. There is also a lock called Guided Access, which pins the tablet to a single app.

On Android tablets, the main tool for children is usually Google's Family Link, which is set up from the parent's phone. It handles app approvals, daily limits, bedtime and location, depending on the device. Some manufacturers also include their own kids' mode, which turns the tablet into a fenced-off space with a short list of allowed apps. Android also has screen pinning, which holds a single app on screen until a combination is used to leave.

If your household uses both, you will do two separate setups. That is fine. They do not talk to each other.

The four settings that carry most of the weight

Downtime or bedtime. A nightly window in which apps are blocked, apart from a short allowed list. This does more than any other setting, since it removes the nightly argument. The device enforces it, and your child learns that the tablet, not you, ends the day.

Purchase and download approval. Switch on the setting that asks you before an app is installed or bought. Do this even if you think you have no payment card attached, because gift cards, stored cards and shared accounts exist. It also lets you see what your child wants to try.

Content restrictions. Set the age rating for apps, films and websites to match your child. Ratings are blunt, and they are not perfect, but they screen out the obvious.

App limits for the one or two apps that cause trouble. Skip the temptation to set a limit on everything. Choose the app your child gets lost in, and set a sensible cap there. The fewer rules, the more likely they are to be understood.

Locking to one app for handing over the tablet

This is the most under-used feature, and it solves a very ordinary problem: you hand a child the tablet to draw, and two minutes later they are in the browser.

On iPad, the tool is Guided Access, found in the accessibility settings. You switch it on once, set a passcode for exiting, and then in any app you start it with a triple click of the side or home button. The screen then stays inside that app. You can even turn off areas of the screen, such as a banner or a settings icon, so stray taps do nothing.

On Android, look for screen pinning in the security or system settings. Once on, you pin the current app from the recent-apps view, and unpinning needs a gesture and often your lock code.

We suggest this for younger children, and for any app you have not fully tested. It is also lovely for a long car ride: one app, nothing else, no accidental purchases.

Walk through it once on your own device first

The best moment to learn these settings is when no child is waiting. Make a coffee and do it in this order.

1. Check that the tablet's software is up to date, since fixes for broken controls often come with updates.
2. Create or confirm the child's profile within your family group.
3. Set the passcode for the controls and write it somewhere safe.
4. Switch on downtime for the evening, and add anything you really do want available, such as phone calls to a relative.
5. Switch on approval for downloads and purchases.
6. Set the content rating to suit your child's age.
7. Choose the one or two apps for limits.
8. Try Guided Access or screen pinning once yourself and practise leaving it.
9. Hand the tablet to your child for a short session with you nearby, and see what happens.

That last step is the real test. Watch for the moments the controls surprise you, then adjust.

What to do when the controls misbehave

Controls fail in boring ways. Here is where to look first.

If the limits seem to have no effect, check that the device is actually listed as your child's, not under your own profile, and that the limits are switched on for that person. Check also whether the app is on an always-allowed list; some apps, such as phone calls, are exempt on purpose.

If a limit applies on one device but not another, remember that many tools only manage what they can see. If your child also uses a school laptop, a games console or a friend's tablet, none of those are covered. Our piece on bedtime and play limits that stick is partly about this gap.

If it worked and then stopped, blame updates first. Software updates sometimes reset a setting or break a sync. Restart both your device and your child's, sign out and in again if you need to, and check for a pending update.

If your child found a workaround, that happens. Children are good at spotting a changed clock or a forgotten code. When it does, treat it as information, not a betrayal. Change the code, tighten the one setting they used, and talk about why the rule exists.

The shared family tablet, and the grandparent's phone

Plenty of homes have one tablet that everybody uses. That makes controls fiddly, since a limit meant for a five-year-old would stop an adult halfway through a recipe.

If you can, give the child their own profile on the device or, better, their own cheap tablet with nothing of yours on it. If you cannot, lean on the one-app lock: you hand over the tablet, start the lock, and take it back when the session ends. It is less elegant than a profile, but it works on any device, including a relative's phone.

Which brings us to grandparents. Children visit, and the controls on your tablet do not travel with them. A short, friendly note helps more than a rulebook: which app, roughly how long, and where the tablet lives afterwards. Most grandparents are glad to be told what you would like, and will not mind the lock if you set it up for them.

What controls cannot do

No setting can judge whether a video is right for your six-year-old. No setting can know that a particular game has a chat feature that will start a conversation with a stranger, unless you check. And no setting replaces being nearby.

Controls are a fence. They are useful, and we recommend them. But the thing that protects a child is the grown-up who looks over their shoulder from time to time, asks what they are playing and says "show me". That is the same advice that applies to asking whether an AI chatbot is safe for kids or to checking a new drawing app before it goes on the tablet.

Controls also depend on honesty about the device. If the tablet has your own account signed in, your child may be seeing your emails, your photos and your saved cards. Keep a separate profile or a separate device for your child wherever you can.

A word on third-party apps

You will see apps that promise to do everything the built-in tools do, and more. Some are good. Some are heavily advertised.

We would start with the free built-in tools, and add something else only if you can name the gap. If you do install a third-party monitoring app, treat it like any app that handles your child's data. It will often ask for broad permissions, since that is how it works. Read what it collects and who it shares with, and look at how to read a kids' app privacy policy if you have not done that before. Be sceptical of anything that asks for more access than you can explain in a sentence.

Controls inside the app itself

Device settings are one layer. Some apps add another: their own play-time limit, a bedtime, a grown-up gate that keeps settings away from a child. Where an app has those, we like them, because they keep working when you are not in the room and because they work on any device the app is on.

Our own app, Scribblie, which is not in the stores yet, has a grown-up check (a simple multiplication question) in front of settings, deleting and links, plus a play-time limit and a bedtime set by the parent. Those sit on top of whatever your tablet does, and do not replace it. There is more in how Scribblie works.

Tonight's five-minute check

Pick up your child's tablet. Open the settings, search for the word "passcode", and check that you know what it is and that your child does not. Then search for "downtime" or "bedtime" and see whether a window is set. If both are in place, you are further along than most households. If not, do those two now, and leave the rest for the weekend.