Apple is making a big push around child safety and parental controls with iOS 27, including a completely redesigned Screen Time experience, new restrictions for websites, expanded communication controls, and more flexible tools to manage when kids can use apps. The changes are part of Apple’s wider OS 27 updates to iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Vision Pro.
A redesigned Screen Time experience
Screen Time has been redesigned to be more intuitive for parents with Apple’s iOS 27 updates. The new design gives parents a simpler view of their child’s device usage, including weekly summaries and the most used apps on a given day.
Parents will also be able to make quick changes directly from Screen Time, including temporarily suspending access to the device or allowing access for a specific period of time. Apple says Always Allowed apps and contacts will remain accessible even when access is suspended.
One important caveat is that the new Screen Time experience requires all devices in a Family Sharing group to be running iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, watchOS 27, or visionOS 27.
New time allowances
iOS 27 adds a new Screen Time feature called Time Allowances. It allows parents to set daily limits for key app categories such as Entertainment, Games and Social Media.
Apple will also provide suggested benefits based on a child’s age, citing expert health research and guidance from child development experts, including child development specialists. American Academy of Pediatrics. Parents can adjust these recommendations, create custom categories, and move apps between categories.
When approving a new app through Request to Buy, parents can also instantly assign that app to the Time Rewards category.
School days, weekends, etc. tables for
Another new feature is Schedule, which allows parents to decide which programs are available at different times of the day.
For example, a parent can create different program login windows for before school, during school hours, after school, in the evening, and at night. Apple says parents can create weekday, weekend and custom schedules for things like holidays or early school dismissal days.
Ask to browse is coming to Safari
Apple is also expanding the Ask to Buy model on the web with a new feature called Ask to Ask.
When enabled, children must ask for permission before visiting new websites. The request appears in Messages on the parent’s device, where the parent can review and approve the site. Once approved, the child can access it.
Ask to view work in Safari on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Apple says it’s on by default for kids under 13, but parents can turn it on for teens.
Apple says it will by default block adult websites that are known to target children under 18. Parents will also be able to proactively approve websites, including full lists of sites.
This feature also applies to content embedded on websites. For example, if YouTube is disallowed, an embedded YouTube video will not appear on an otherwise approved website.
iOS 27 also gives more control over who kids can communicate with. Parents can ask for approval before a child can connect with someone new on Messages, FaceTime, or Phone.
If a child receives a message from an unverified contact, they won’t be able to view it until the parent approves the request. Apple says approved contacts can also work with third-party apps that adopt its PermissionKit framework.
iOS 27 goes even further for group chats. For example, if an approved contact is part of a group chat, parents can allow the group chat to work without having to approve each contact.
Communications Security expands its categories
Apple’s Contact Safety feature now warns children before viewing or sending images and videos that contain nudity.
In iOS 27, Apple said the feature will also intervene when it detects blood or violent content in shared images and videos. The feature is enabled by default for children under 18 years of age.
iOS 27 is currently in developer beta. A public beta version will arrive in July before the official release this fall.
You can learn more here Apple’s new Child Safety website.
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