Safer Internet Day (February 6) may have passed, but the infomation Apple shared with me can still be useful to help families use technology responsibly.

Apple makes tools for learning, exploring, and staying in touch. But their goal is to create technology that empowers families — while helping them stay safe.

Apple also continually designs new features to help kids use their devices in ways parents or guardians want. Here are a few features families should know about.

Screen Time

Screen Time gives users a better understanding of the time they and their kids spend using apps, visiting websites, and on devices overall. You can get weekly reports or see specific app usage, notifications, and device pickups.

Screen Time also lets users set the amount of time they and their kids can spend each day on specific apps and websites. Parents can create exceptions for specific apps, like Messages or education apps, and kids can always request more time for adults to approve.

With Downtime, users can set a specific time, like bedtime, when apps and notifications are blocked. Users can choose which apps are accessible or off limits.

With App Limits, users can combine individual apps and websites, and even whole categories, into a single, easy-to-manage limit. They are able to set a limit for a group of apps and websites, like games or their kids’ favorite streaming apps.

Kids will get a notification when they’ve reached their time limit, so they can quickly wrap up a conversation, save a file, or close a game session before their time runs out – or ask for more time.

Communication Limits let parents choose who their children can communicate with throughout the day and during downtime, so they can make sure the kids are always reachable.

Communication Safety detects sensitive images or videos that children might receive or attempt to send in Messages, Airdrop, FaceTime messages, Contact Posters in the Phone app, and Photos.

If Communication Safety detects that a child receives or is attempting to send content that might contain nudity, it warns them, gives them options to stay safe, and provides helpful resources. Learn more about Communication Safety.

Using Restrictions, parents can prevent their kids from installing new apps and making in-app purchases. Parents can set up their kids’ devices to limit adult content or open only websites that the parents select.

They can even turn off the Safari web browser and install special web browsers that are designed to display kid-friendly content and nothing else.

Screen Distance uses the TrueDepth camera to detect when a user holds their iPhone closer than 12 inches for an extended period, and encourages them to move it farther away.

Screen Distance can help children engage in healthy viewing habits that can lower their risk of myopia and can give people of all ages the opportunity to reduce digital eyestrain.

Learn more, visit - support.apple.com/en-us/108806

iCloud Private Relay

Helps protect the users privacy when they browse the web in Safari. It ensures that no single party — not even Apple — can see both who the user are and what sites they're visiting.

Users with an iCloud+ subscription can turn on Private Relay in Settings > Apple ID > iCloud > Private Relay.

Learn more, visit - support.apple.com/en-us/102602

Expanded guidance in Siri, Spotlight, and Safari Search

Provides additional resources to help children and parents stay safe online and get help with unsafe situations. For example, users who ask Siri how they can report child exploitation will be pointed to resources for where and how to file a report.

Family Setup

Lets family members who don't have their own iPhone enjoy the features and benefits of an Apple Watch.

Learn more, visit - support.apple.com/en-us/109036

Family Sharing

Lets the user and up to five other family members share access to amazing Apple services like Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple News+, Apple Arcade, and Apple Card. Family members access each service from their own Apple IDs, so they see only their own content, preferences, and recommendations — not the whole family’s.

The entire family can also share a single iCloud storage plan large enough to store everyone’s photos, videos, and files. Each person’s files and documents remain private, but it’s easy to see how much storage everyone is using.

Learn more, visit - support.apple.com/en-us/HT201088


When a family sets up purchase sharing, all new Apple Books and App Store purchases will be billed to the organizer’s account.

And if Ask to Buy is turned on for children in the family, when a child initiates a purchase, an alert is sent to the organizer, who can review the download and approve or decline it right from the organizer’s device. This applies to both purchases and free downloads.

Learn more, visit - support.apple.com/en-us/105055

Apple Card Family

enables parents to add children 13 years or older to their Apple Card account to help teach safe and smart financial habits, while offering optional spending limits, controls and real-time notifications.

Apple Card Family can help children learn how to spend independently and responsibly, while giving parents transparency and features that provide insight into purchases and control over their purchase limit.

Learn more, visit - www.apple.com/apple-card/family/