Turn on Restrictions on iPad
The first step to a kid-friendly iPad is to turn on restrictions, the feature that limits which applications are permitted on the iPad. Restrictions are enabled through Screen Time, which you can get to through Settings > Screen Time. To set up restrictions:
iTunes & App Store Purchases Restrictions
The first section you come to in the Content & Privacy Restrictions screen is iTunes & App Store Purchases. Tap it. Elect to either Allow or Don’t Allow each of the following:
Installing AppsDeleting AppsIn-app Purchases
For young children, Don’t Allow may be the wisest choice for all three of these options, particularly for in-app purchases. While you are in this screen, select whether you want to require a password for additional purchases after making a purchase. Again, for young children (and maybe for older ones too) the best choice may be Always Require.
In-App Purchases
Some parents miss turning off in-app purchases in this step, and that can come back to haunt your wallet. In-app purchases are common in free apps, meaning that your child might download something free only to spend a lot of money buying things within the app. One example is with freemium games, which are iPad games that are priced for free but stacked with in-app purchases. These purchases, which are often currency, levels, items, or food within the game, can easily add up to a high price tag. This makes it all the more important for parents to turn off in-app purchases on a child’s iPad. Sometimes, an in-app purchase is valid, such as for an expansion to a game that provides real content. Many times, in-app purchases are shortcuts that can be obtained by playing the game and achieving certain goals. Often, a game or app is designed around enticing users into in-app purchases. When you disable in-app purchases, the option to buy these extras within games and other apps is disabled. This means no surprises when the iTunes bill comes in your email.
Installing and Deleting Apps
It doesn’t take even a two-year-old long to learn how to use an iPad. This includes finding their way onto the App Store and purchasing apps. By default, the App Store will prompt for a password for even a free game or app, but if you’ve recently typed in your password, there’s a grace period where apps can be downloaded without being verified. If the iPad is primarily used by kids, especially toddlers, it may be a good idea to turn off the App Store. Not only does this give you peace of mind that your child isn’t downloading apps, but they also can’t browse through the App Store and beg for a fun game they find. If you decide to turn off the App Store, you may also want to turn off the ability to delete apps. Remember, it takes the intervention of a parent to download apps to the iPad, so if your child deletes a game because they’re tired of it or simply by accident, you’ll need to re-enable the App Store, re-download the app or game, and then restrict the App Store again.
Allowed Apps
Many of the apps that come with the iPad, including email, FaceTime, the camera, and the Safari browser, are in this section: On the Content & Privacy Restrictions screen, tap Allowed Apps. Move the sliders next to each app or feature to the On/green or Off/white position. For young children, Off may be the best choice.
Content Restrictions
This screen is a treasure trove of options you can use to personalize the iPad content for children. While it might be easier to simply disable the App Store for a younger child, when it comes to someone older like a pre-teen, you might prefer to give them a bit more access. You may not mind if your teen listens to music, but prefer Explicit content is not included. You may prefer to allow G movies, but not PG-13 movies. You can do that and much more from the Content Restrictions screen In the Apps categories, you can restrict content by age. The categories are 4+, 9+, 12+ and 17+. You can limit adult websites or forbid explicit language in general. To enable one or all of these age restrictions on the iPad: Tap Content Restrictions on the Content & Privacy Restrictions screen, and then make selections in each category to allow it or set limitations.
Restrict Safari Web Browser
Apple has included a setting that allows you to have full control over what your child can view on the web. You can get to this setting via Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions > Content Restrictions > Web Content. By default, iPad allows all websites to be displayed, but you can set the web content limit to Limit Adult Websites or Allowed Websites Only to choose specific sites from a pre-populated list (including Disney, PBS Kids, Time for Kids, or a custom URL).
Privacy
The Privacy section of the Content & Privacy Restrictions is the place where you allow (or not) your child to have access to Location Services, Contacts, Calendars, Share My Location, and other Apple services. In most cases, tapping each service presents you with a simple choice of Allow Changes or Don’t Allow Changes.
Allowed Changes
In the Allowed Changes section, it may be best to select Don’t Allow for the listed options, which include Passcode Changes, Account Changes, and Cellular Data Changes, for all children. You may want to make exceptions for older children for Do Not Disturb While Driving, Volume Limit, or Background App Activities.
How to Download Apps to a Childproofed iPad
Now that your iPad is kid-friendly as you define it, you may want to make it kid-fun by downloading some appropriate apps or games. How do you do this with all those restrictions you put into place? You use your passcode and temporarily turn on Installing Apps in the iTunes & App Store Purchases section of the Content & Privacy Restrictions screen. Download the app or game and turn off Installing Apps again.
Gifting Apps to Your Child’s iPad
Apple discontinued the iTunes Allowance feature in 2016. Another way to handle adding apps to a child-friendly iPad is to set up the iPad with its own iTunes account and remove the credit card from it. You then have the option of gifting apps to the iPad, which allows you to monitor what is installed.
