Family Tech

Set Up Your Kid’s iPhone

Every iOS 27 parental control, in the order you’d actually do it, with the exact taps.

Updated for iOS 27 · checked against Apple’s own guides, September 2026

Apple rebuilt parental controls from the ground up in iOS 27. So if the steps you remember (or the video you watched last year) don’t match your screen anymore, it’s not you. The menus moved. This checklist walks through every setting in the new layout, one box at a time. It works the same on an iPad.

Your checkmarks save in this browser, so you can do a few tonight and finish the rest tomorrow. Prefer to watch? Here’s my full iOS 27 walkthrough.

How old is your kid?

This changes which steps you see and what’s already turned on for you. Ages and defaults here are for the US, and they can vary by country or region.

Start here: it all happens on your iPhone

Almost every setting lives on your phone, not theirs, and it syncs to every Apple device your kid uses. So whenever you see a blue Your kid chip, it’s short for this:

Where to find it: Settings, then Family, then Your kid’s name

So Your kid Allowed Contacts means open Settings, tap Family, tap your kid’s name, then tap Allowed Contacts.

Had parental controls set up before iOS 27? Read this first.
  • Everyone in your family has to update. The new controls only turn on once every device in your Family Sharing group is on iOS 27, iPadOS 27, or macOS 27. If one of them can’t update, you can keep using the older Screen Time setup for now.
  • Look for Get Started. After you update, Settings › Family asks you to review what you had and move it over.
  • Downtime has a new name. It’s now part of your kid’s Screen Time Schedule, where you pick the hours their apps are available.
  • App Limits have a new name too. They’re now Time Allowances, set by category: Entertainment, Games, and Social Media.
  • Who they can talk to lives under Allowed Contacts on your kid’s page.
Your progress 0 done

Nobody’s grading you. It saves in this browser, so you can pick it back up later.

Get Your Family Ready

A few minutes of prep that makes everything else work.

  • Where to find it: Settings, then General, then Software Update

    To see which devices still need it: Settings › Family › View Family Devices.

  • Where to find it: Settings, then Your name, then Family
  • Where to find it: Settings, then Your name, then Family, then The other adult’s name, then Set as Parent/Guardian

Give Them Their Own Child Account

This is the big one. A Child Account is what turns on Apple’s age-based protections and lets you manage everything from your own phone. It’s required under 13 and available up to 18.

  • Where to find it: Settings, then Family, then Add button, then Create Child Account

    Your teen doesn’t have to have one, but it’s the only way to manage their settings from your phone.

  • Change it in Settings on a device where they’re signed in, or at account.apple.com under Personal Information › Birthday. Apple walks you through it in Change an Apple Account to a Child Account.

  • Apple’s steps: What to do before you give away your iPhone.

Set Up the Phone Itself

If the phone is brand new (or freshly erased), set it up with yours right next to it.

  • Pick your kid from the list, or tap Create New Child Account.

    Heads up: only kids under 13 show up on that list. For a teen, tap Set up Without Another Device and follow the onscreen steps.

  • Where to find it: Your kid

    Skipped it? It’s waiting for you on your kid’s page.

Choose What They Can Get Into

Apps, websites, and purchases. Every approved request lands in one Allowed list you can change anytime.

  • Where to find it: Your kid, then Apps & Websites, then Restrictions, then Ask to Buy, then Require Purchase Approval

    On some phones, Ask to Buy shows up right on your kid’s page instead.

    Already on for kids under 13

    For teens it’s sometimes on by default, depending on where you live. Check that it’s set the way you want.

  • Where to find it: Your kid, then Apps & Websites, then Restrictions, then Filtering Approved Websites Only is already on under 13 Limit Adult Websites is already on under 18

    I’d leave it there for now. It works in Safari and other supported browsers.

    For most teens that’s a good middle ground. It works in Safari and other supported browsers.

  • Where to find it: Your kid, then Apps & Websites, then Add button

    If you don’t answer a website request within 24 hours, it expires and they just ask again.

  • Where to find it: Your kid, then Apps & Websites, then Restrictions
  • Where to find it: Your kid, then Apps & Websites, then Restrictions, then Game Center
  • Where to find it: Your kid, then Apps & Websites, then The app or site, then Block

Decide Who They Can Talk To

These cover the built-in Phone, Messages, and FaceTime apps. Apps like Snapchat and Discord have their own settings, and the Parental Controls Map has those.

  • Where to find it: Your kid, then Allowed Contacts, then Manage (kid’s name) Contacts Already on for kids under 13

    It’s off by default once they turn 13, but you can turn it on.

  • Where to find it: Your kid, then Allowed Contacts, then Allow Contact Editing

    For group chats, you can choose whether everyone needs your approval or just one contact you’ve already approved.

  • Where to find it: Your kid, then Allowed Contacts, then During Screen Time
  • Where to find it: Your kid, then Allowed Contacts, then When Device Paused or Unavailable

    Contacts have to be turned on in iCloud on their phone for these limits to work.

  • Where to find it: Your kid, then Communication Safety Already on for everyone under 18

    While you’re there, tap View Child Safety Resources for help starting the conversation.

Set When They Can Use It

Let the phone be the one saying “time’s up” every night, instead of you.

  • Where to find it: Your kid, then Screen Time Schedule, then Schedule, then Add Schedule

    Apple’s guide passes along a tip from the American Academy of Pediatrics: screens off at least an hour before bed, and devices out of the bedroom overnight.

  • Where to find it: Your kid, then Screen Time Schedule, then School

    Got practice nights or early-out days? Tap Add Time Window and make one just for that.

  • Where to find it: Your kid, then Time Allowances, then Add button

    Want allowances to count only during certain parts of the day? Turn on Match Screen Time Schedule.

  • Where to find it: Your kid, then Always Allowed

Fine-Tune Content, Siri, and Features

A lot of this is already set for their age. Give it a once-over so you know what they can and can’t do.

  • Where to find it: Your kid, then Content & Privacy Restrictions, then Content Restrictions Age-based ratings are already on under 18
  • Where to find it: Your kid, then Content & Privacy Restrictions, then Siri

    If you’d rather homework get done the old-fashioned way, look at Writing Assistance and Math Assistance.

  • Where to find it: Your kid, then Content & Privacy Restrictions, then Other Features
  • Where to find it: Your kid, then Content & Privacy Restrictions, then Allow Changes to Settings
  • Where to find it: Your kid, then Apple Account & Password, then Age Range for Apps

Lock It In and Keep It Easy

The last few steps are the ones that keep everything above from quietly coming undone.

  • Where to find it: Your kid, then Manage Screen Time, then Lock Screen Time Settings
  • Where to find it: Your kid, then Manage Screen Time
  • Where to find it: Your kid
  • Where to find it: Your kid, then Daily Average

Straight from Apple

Every step here comes from Apple’s own iOS 27 support pages, in case you want to dig deeper.