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Screen Time (Apple)
The strongest starting point for an iPhone household, because the limits live in the phone itself and your child can see exactly what is set. Time Allowances can budget whole categories of apps, so you agree on an hour of games rather than policing each title, and Ask to Buy turns downloads into a request your child sends you, which is a conversation rather than a surprise.
Apple has also leaned toward teens: accounts for ages 13 to 17 now get web content filters and Communication Safety switched on from the start, and children must ask a parent before communicating with a new phone number. Setting it up requires Family Sharing, and every setting can be relaxed as your child earns more room.
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Google Family Link
The Android equivalent, free and run from the parent's phone. You can set a bedtime and a daily limit, approve or block app downloads and adjust app permissions, while your child can check their own daily limit and gets a one minute warning before a blocked app closes, so nothing is switched off without notice.
It also supervises Chromebooks and Wear OS smartwatches, which matters when school work happens on a laptop. The location feature is the part to discuss openly: agree when it will be checked before you turn it on. A supervised teen under 18 now needs a parent's approval to end supervision, and both of you are notified when it stops, so leaving is a family decision rather than a secret one.
More about Google Family Link3
Microsoft family features
Microsoft Family Safety
The one to set up when the family computer runs Windows. Screen time limits apply to the device as a whole or to individual apps and games across Windows, Xbox and Android, and when time runs out your child can send a request instead of hunting for a workaround. You decide case by case, which suits homework nights that run long.
Web and search filters only work in Microsoft Edge, and other common browsers are blocked to make that stick. That is effective for a 10 year old but heavy-handed for an older teen, so it is a good setting to switch off first as independence grows.
More about Microsoft family features4
Xbox Family Settings app
Built for the console in the living room, and handier than digging through menus on the TV. You set a screen time schedule for each child, and the requests flow both ways: your child can ask for more console time or for a new friend to be added, and you answer from your phone.
That request model is what makes it fit older kids. Instead of a hard stop mid-match, a teen can ask for twenty more minutes and you can say yes without walking downstairs. Spending history is visible too, which takes the guesswork out of in-game purchases without needing to read anyone's chat.
More about Xbox Family Settings app5
Nintendo Switch Parental Controls app
The gentlest console control here, and a free app that links to both Switch 2 and the original Switch. You set how long or how late the system can be used each day, then choose what happens at the limit: an on-screen alarm that trusts your child to save and stop, or an automatic interruption if the alarm keeps getting ignored.
Starting with the alarm and keeping the interruption in reserve is a fair way to hand over responsibility. The monthly play summary shows patterns rather than moments, and on Switch 2, players under 16 can only use GameChat with friends a parent has approved.
More about Nintendo Switch Parental Controls app6
PlayStation Family app
PlayStation's free phone app mirrors the Nintendo approach with more flexibility. Playtime limits can differ for each day of the week, and when time ends you choose between a reminder and blocking further play. Your child can request extra playtime from the console and you approve or decline on your phone.
The same request route works for a game above your child's age setting, which turns a blocked title into a discussion about that specific game rather than a blanket no. The monthly spending limit starts at zero by default, so any budget is a figure you agree on together and raise deliberately.
More about PlayStation Family app7
Instagram Teen Accounts and parental supervision
The protections switch on by themselves: teen accounts are private, so new followers need approval, notifications go quiet in sleep mode from 10 PM to 7 AM, and a reminder to leave appears after 60 minutes a day. Teens under 16 need a parent's permission to change any of those built-in settings.
Supervision is the useful extra, and it is opt-in on both sides. Once linked, you can see who your teen has messaged in the past seven days but not what was said, which is enough to spot a stranger without reading a single private conversation.
More about Instagram8
Snapchat
Snapchat Family Center
Snapchat is built around messages that disappear, which makes covert monitoring apps tempting. Family Center offers the honest alternative: your teen receives an invitation and must accept it to take part, and both of you are notified when that status changes.
Once connected, you can see their friends and how they may know them, who they are chatting with and their average time in the app, all without the content of private conversations. Location works as a two-way request, so you share yours in return. A new friend with no obvious connection to your teen's life is exactly the kind of thing to raise calmly over dinner.
More about Snapchat9
YouTube
YouTube supervised teen accounts
The most respectful supervision model on this list, aimed at teens who post as well as watch. Either of you can start the link, but both of you must agree before it turns on, and either a parent or a teen can switch it off at any time.
What you see are counts: how many public, private and unlisted videos your teen has uploaded, how many comments they have posted and how many channels they subscribe to, plus email alerts about channel activity. You learn that something is happening without watching over their shoulder, which suits a 14 or 15 year old starting a channel and keeps the door open to ask about it.
More about YouTube10
Discord
Discord Family Center
For the gaming chat app many teens live in, this is the tool that works without breaking trust. Your teen generates a QR code in Family Center, you scan it with the Discord mobile app, and the link only starts once your teen accepts it, so nothing is shared without their consent.
The dashboard and weekly email cover the past week: the servers they have joined or taken part in, the friends they have recently added and who they have messaged or called, never the conversations themselves. That is enough to notice a sudden flood of new contacts or an unfamiliar server and ask about it, which is the conversation that actually keeps teens safe.
More about Discord11
TikTok
TikTok Family Pairing
TikTok already gives every account belonging to someone under 18 a 60 minute daily screen time limit by default. On its own that limit is a nudge, since a teen can enter a passcode to keep watching, so Family Pairing is what gives it weight.
Linking your account to theirs lets you set different limits for each day of the week, more on weekends and less before exams, and schedule notifications to go quiet at night. The screen time dashboard shows how long the app was used and how often it was opened, a sensible basis for agreeing on a number together rather than guessing.
More about TikTok12
Roblox
Roblox parental controls
Essential for the 10 to 13 crowd, because Roblox is where many younger children first meet other players online. A linked parent account lets you adjust controls from your own device, see your child's average screen time over the past week and view their friends list, and a daily limit locks the game until the next day once it is used up.
What earns it a place here is how it grows with the child: built-in settings update automatically as your child moves into an older age group, and both your child and linked parents are told about the change beforehand. Linking requires verifying yourself with an ID or a credit card, which is worth knowing before you start.
More about Roblox13
Eero (wireless networking brand)
eero profiles and eero Plus
The router-level option, which can reach any gadget on the home Wi-Fi, including the smart TV and the old tablet that never got any controls of its own. Group each child's devices into a profile and schedule when they can connect, so the internet goes off at bedtime without confiscating anything. Every eero user gets profiles and schedules at no extra cost.
The paid eero Plus subscription adds control over which content, apps and websites each profile can reach. Because the schedule is visible and fits the whole household routine, it reads as a house rule rather than surveillance, though it only works at home and stops where cellular data begins.
More about Eero (wireless networking brand)14
OpenDNS
OpenDNS FamilyShield and OpenDNS Home
The cheapest safety net here: free filtering that works whatever router you already own. FamilyShield comes preconfigured to block adult content, so it suits a household with younger children that wants a set-and-forget baseline.
As children get older, the free OpenDNS Home service is the natural next step, because its filtering is customizable and you can unblock categories one at a time instead of keeping a blanket rule. It filters web addresses rather than reading anything, so it involves no monitoring of what your child says or types. A determined teen on cellular data or a VPN can step around it, which is a reason to talk about it openly rather than rely on it alone.
More about OpenDNS
