On an Android device you set up parental controls with Google Family Link: a free app that limits screen time, blocks or approves apps, sets a bedtime and filters inappropriate websites. You install the app on your own phone and link it to your child's account. But settings are only the second part of the story; the first is a good conversation.
Parental controls work best alongside clear agreements, not instead of them. As Common Sense Media puts it, "digital tools and settings can help you stay on top of your kid's online life, but can't replace staying involved." No filter is watertight, and a child who understands why the limits exist keeps to them more easily. In this article you'll find that foundation first, then the concrete steps.
First talk, then set up
Never set up controls in secret. Set them up together with your child, because covert monitoring backfires: "the loss of trust prompted by parental controls can weaken your whole relationship," warns Common Sense Media, and it can push kids to hide their activity elsewhere.
Explain what you're setting and why: not because you distrust your child, but to learn to go online safely together. With young children getting their first smartphone, this works best. Older children often find ways around settings, so with them the conversation weighs even more than the technology.
Also agree on the rules before you pour them into an app. How to make those agreements concrete, you'll read in making family screen-time rules.
What you can set with Google Family Link
Family Link is Google's official free tool for Android. The main options:
| Feature | What it does |
|---|---|
| Daily limit | A time limit per day for the device |
| Downtime / bedtime | Fixed periods when the device locks |
| App time limit | A separate limit per app, or an app with no limit |
| Block an app | Block a specific app completely |
| App approval | New downloads from the Play Store must be approved by you first |
| Website filter | Block inappropriate sites and turn on SafeSearch |
| Location | See the device's location on a map |
So you can exempt educational apps from the time limit while games still count. Note that Family Link has no category filter: you block apps one by one, not in groups. Limits don't apply to system apps and need Android 7 or later.
Step by step: set up Family Link
The exact screens differ per device and Android version, but the broad lines are always the same:
- Download the Family Link app on your own phone, via the Play Store.
- Create or link a Google account for your child. Without an account you can't set up controls. For a young child you create the account with your permission.
- Link the devices. Sign in on your child's device with their account and approve from yours; the app guides you.
- Set the daily limit and bedtime. In the app: tap Screen time, then Time limits, turn on Daily limit, then Weekly schedule to choose the time per day.
- Turn on app approval, so new downloads pass by you first.
- Set the website filter and SafeSearch for Chrome and Google.
If needed, you can grant a one-off Bonus time below the device name without changing the daily limit. Afterwards, check together with your child that everything works as agreed.
Don't forget the settings in the apps themselves
Family Link manages the device, but inside apps there's often a layer of parental control of its own. Popular apps like TikTok, Roblox and Netflix have their own settings for age, privacy and contact with strangers.
A few things to check together:
- Privacy settings: set an account to private by default and limit who can send messages.
- In-app purchases: switch them off or put a password on purchases, so your child doesn't spend money by accident.
- Age filters: on video and game platforms, set content to suit the age.
Create social media accounts together too, so you set the strong privacy settings right from the start. In Belgium the age for social media is 13.
What to set per age
Not every child needs the same amount of oversight. Use the guide below as a starting point and adjust it to your child.
- Primary school (first device): app approval on, a clear time limit, bedtime, strict website filter. Oversight is most useful here.
- Early secondary school: slightly wider limits, but app approval and bedtime stay. Start giving more responsibility.
- Older teens: shift the emphasis to agreements and conversation. Hard filters work less well; trust and self-control become more important.
The limits of parental controls
Be honest about what controls can and can't do. They're a tool, not a guarantee. "If they put their minds to it, kids can defeat almost any parental control," notes Common Sense Media, and content can sometimes slip through, especially on the content side.
So the combination stays important: clear agreements, open conversation and settings as support. Used that way, controls "can serve as a safety net" while your child learns. The goal, in the end, is self-management: "eventually, we want them to remember to buckle up on their own." A few simple habits help too, like keeping the smartphone away from meals and out of the bedroom at night.
Also watch privacy and location: check together that location isn't shared automatically when posting on social media. That's easy to overlook.
One problem: devices that don't work together
Many families have not only an Android phone, but also a Windows computer and a tablet. Each device has its own parental-control system, with its own menus and rules. So you have to set and keep the same agreement in several places separately.
That makes it hard to stay consistent, which is exactly what children need. A rule that applies on the phone but not on the computer invites switching devices. For Windows, read the approach in parental controls on a Windows PC.
Frequently asked questions
Are parental controls on Android free?
Yes, Google Family Link is free. You install the app on your own phone and link it to your child's Google account. Some separate apps offer paid extras, but Family Link's basic features cost nothing.
Do parental controls work if my child tries to get around them?
No system is watertight. As Common Sense Media puts it, 'if they put their minds to it, kids can defeat almost any parental control.' Older children often find ways around settings, so trust and agreements stay important.
Should I set this up secretly?
No. Set it up together and explain why. Covert monitoring can backfire: 'the loss of trust prompted by parental controls can weaken your whole relationship.' Explain that the limits are there to learn to go online safely together.
At what age do parental controls work best?
They work best with younger children, for example with a first smartphone. As children get older, the emphasis shifts from settings to conversation, responsibility and trust.
How Atlas helps
The biggest nuisance of parental controls is that every device has its own system. Atlas solves that by making the same rules work on computer, phone and tablet at the same time; you set them once. Atlas works on Windows computers and Android phones and tablets, with an extension for Chrome and Edge. You decide which apps and sites are allowed, timed or blocked, and gambling and adult sites are blocked from the start. So you don't have to make an agreement in three places separately: it applies everywhere the same way.
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