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Comment by mklepaczewski | Hacker News Reader

Last time I checked a parent needed their own Apple device to set up app limits, downtime, accept/reject app installation requests on child's device. Thanks Apple. Now I have an option to give my kid unrestricted access to their device and to the whole Internet, or buy another IPhone just because my child uses Apple product.

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Actually there are many ways to set parental controls on device and lock them with a passcode or you could use third party solution that use the Screen Time API but are compatible with Android.

That's not the impression that has been presented to me. Wording clearly pointed to me needing my own device.

It's so annoying that this isn't just a page on family.apple.com or whatever like Google does with familylink.google.com.

100% agree.

It literally is though. The link "Learn more about Parental Controls" takes you here https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201304 which walks you through doing all the setup.

That walks me through doing things on an iPhone I don't own, what am I missing? The familylink.google.com page lets me manage my kids' devices directly on that webpage, which is the feature I would like Apple to have.

People have said you can manage it on the kids' device directly by logging in with your AppleId, but that doesn't help me if my kid is out and messages me asking me to allow an app or give her an extra half hour of screentime or something.

You do it on the iOS device you’re trying to set screen time limits on. If you don’t own an iOS device, you’re not going to be setting limitations on an iOS device.

Right, that was the point of the parent comment that started this, I wish there was a web app to do this like Google has. And someone replied saying there is, and linking to instructions on how to use an iOS device, which is exactly not what the original comment was about.

The disconnect in your answers probably come from each other's expectations.

Parent mentions Google family link, whih can be setup and managed from litteraly everywhere. There's an iOS app and a fully functional website, so you can have no other android device than your kids, and still control everything.

Your kid can be visiting their grand parents and ask you to authorize some purchase or extra screen time, you'll be able to do it from your Windows computer.

That's the standard iOS' parental control is compared to.

Well I have another iPhone and it's not much better, it's frequent that app install requests will get lost for hours. And there's no obvious way to go look for pending notifications, you need to wait for it to show up again.

Parenting controls still have a long way to go on Apple devices, but still it's miles ahead of other stuff (looking at you Netflix/Disney Plus).

IIRC you can sign in with an adult iCloud account then set all those same restrictions, protecting them behind an unlock code. The separate child iCloud accounts are handy if you do have multiple devices (remote management of those permissions is nice, and app store content sharing is nice) but if you just have a single one for your kid, that's an option. Adult iCloud account, enable restrictions with an unlock code. Unlock it when you need to manage the device or use it yourself.

But, IDK, maybe they got rid of that feature. Definitely used to be able to do that.

Or not let your child use an Apple device .

That's actually your choice if it's your choice whether/which apps they can install.

Bit hard when its the dad thats non-existant in the kids life buying them a iphone @ 12. Restrict the usage of that and see how well your relationship with your kid holds up.

Had this happen to us, my partners kids. Its a subtle attempt to destabilize and subvert her authority as parent figure even though old mate isn't even around, hasn't been for years and still is an abusive S*t. We got forced to buy a iphone in order to put parent restrictions on. Its shits as. I hate apple. Company does bulk crap that enables abusers and does piss all to prevent it or be like hey...maybe this is a ethically shit thing to implement. Maybe its gonna cause a whole host of people grief. Don't even get me started on apple air tags.

Yes I’m sure that Apple has meetings and talks about how to enable abusive parents. If she has custody, she can just say no to her kid.

There are many reasons why it's not that simple. My kid may be old enough to make the decision on which phone to buy, but not old enough to have unrestricted access to it. I may be divorced, and the device might have been given to them buy another parent. The device might have necessary features that are missing from other non-Apple device.

Yep. I have a general 'no Apple' rule in my house, but my stepdaughter came home with an iPhone from her dad. It wasn't done with evil intent, but it got her stuck in the Apple ecosystem, and it's disjoint from the rest of us.

Why would you buy your child an iphone if you don't have one?

Because kids might bully you over not having a blue bubble but adults might not.

Why would you buy your child an Android if you don't have one?

Price, probably. Children are often quick to break fragile things like modern phones. But honestly, in my experience every parent I know buys their kids the same phone they use in terms of the OS.

Because they'll break or lose them every six months, and you can replace them for $50.

These phones are sometimes (always?) preloaded with ton of shady apps. I definitely don't trust my kid to read EULA's and understand dangers of agreeing to random permission pop-ups. Even if I pre-screen all apps before giving the device to my kid, each system update may install new apps and children will definitely not wait for daddy to come from work to review them.

Who suggested buying your child an android when you don't have one? When somebody asks why you drink bleach, it doesn't imply that you should drink motor oil.

Having tried both, the parental controls on the iPhone are much better.

The best out there and also still a buggy mess that hasn't been improved in almost ten years. Pretty sorry state of affairs if you ask me.

I've put in numerous bug reports on parental controls to Apple, I'm 0/9 on fixes.

Oh yeah, it's imperfect and much more a winner by default.

I can't tell if this is sincere or a send-up, because it's literally Apple's apologetic for everything. Always blame the customer.

"If your phone has bad reception, it's because you're holding it wrong. Why would you hold it like that?"

I don't own any Apple products and certainly wouldn't give my children any.

Especially if the children are young enough that you need to use parental controls.

I would buy a child a toy car, not a Toyota, even if I drove a Camry

So they're holding it wrong?

My kid wanted an iPhone, I prefer Android. Why is that confusing?

Why wouldn't I? While I'm not surprised by Apple's shennenigans, I haven't foreseen this. I can spin up servers, manage smart home, check my car's fuel through browser, surely I should be able to set daily time limit on my kid's phone through browser too.

Kids can be awful. Parents who don't have the income to buy even one of the newest iThing will stretch themselves to buy one for their kid if they think it'll help them fit in.

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