Apple is rolling out a major expansion of its parental controls, giving families more ways to manage what children can access, who they can communicate with, and how much time they spend using apps.

The new child safety features are now available with Apple’s latest software updates and bring a redesigned Screen Time experience alongside new tools such as Time Allowances, Schedules, Ask to Browse, expanded Communication Safety protections, and a simpler way for parents to control which apps children can use.

Apple first previewed the changes in June as part of its broader software announcements. The company says the new tools were developed with guidance from online safety and health experts, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, with the goal of helping families establish more age-appropriate protections and healthier digital habits.

A redesigned Screen Time experience

One of the biggest changes is a redesigned Screen Time experience intended to make parental controls easier to understand and adjust.

Parents now get an at-a-glance view of a child’s average device usage and most-used apps. From there, they can quickly change access to apps and websites without having to dig through multiple settings.

Apple also gives parents quick controls for situations where they may want to temporarily restrict device access. A parent can pause access during meals, outdoor activities or other family time, while also being able to extend access when a child needs a little more time to finish something.

The redesign turns Screen Time into more of an active control center rather than simply a report showing how long a child has been using a device.

Time Allowances put app categories on a schedule

Apple is also changing how parents can set limits on children’s app usage.

The new Time Allowances feature lets parents establish daily limits across categories such as Entertainment, Games and Social Media. Apple provides age-based guidance when setting these limits, drawing on clinical and child-development research, although parents can adjust the recommendations to fit their own family.

Parents can also create Schedules that determine which apps are available at particular times of day or on specific days of the week. That could be useful for restricting certain apps during school hours, homework time or bedtime while leaving other essential functions available.

When a child reaches a Time Allowance, they can request additional time from a parent, giving families a way to handle situations where a child needs a few extra minutes without permanently changing the limits.

Ask to Browse brings parental approval to websites

Apple is extending the same approval concept it already uses for app downloads with Ask to Browse.

With the feature enabled, children can be required to ask a parent before accessing a new website through Safari. The request can be reviewed by the parent through Messages, where they can decide whether to approve access. Ask to Browse works across iPhone, iPad and Mac.

Apple is also making it easier to start a child’s device with a deliberately limited selection of apps. During setup, parents can choose a few essential apps, use Apple’s recommended starter selection or pick exactly which apps their child can access. More apps can then be added as the child gets older.

This approach gives parents more control from the beginning instead of requiring them to configure every restriction after a child already has access to the device.

Communication Safety expands beyond nudity

Apple is also expanding Communication Safety, its system for protecting children from potentially harmful imagery.

The feature already helps detect and warn about nudity in places such as Messages and FaceTime. With the latest changes, Apple says Communication Safety can also intervene when shared images or videos contain gore or violent content.

The broader protection is designed to give children an additional layer of warning before they encounter disturbing material, while keeping the underlying safety tools integrated into Apple’s operating systems.

Apple is also giving parents more control over who their children can communicate with. Children can be required to request permission before adding new contacts, with parents able to review and approve those requests before communication through Phone, FaceTime or Messages is enabled.

Child Accounts remain the foundation

Apple is positioning Child Accounts as the starting point for these protections.

A Child Account enables age-based safeguards across Apple’s ecosystem, including restrictions around adult websites, media and App Store content. Apple says a Child Account is required for children under 13 and is available for children up to 18, although the minimum account-creation age can vary by country or region.

The company is also working with the American Academy of Pediatrics to adapt its Family Media Plan into guidance that parents can use alongside Apple’s controls. Apple says the goal is not simply to restrict technology, but to help families establish healthier and more age-appropriate digital habits.

The new controls are available now

The new child safety features are rolling out with Apple’s latest software updates, including iOS 27, iPadOS 27 and macOS 27. Apple says devices belonging to members of a Family Sharing group need to be updated to the latest versions of iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS and visionOS to use the Screen Time update. Availability can vary by region, language and device model.

Taken together, the changes represent one of Apple’s biggest updates to its parental-control system in years. Rather than adding another collection of isolated restrictions, Apple is bringing app access, web permissions, communication controls and screen-time limits into a more unified system.

For parents, the biggest improvement may ultimately be the simpler interface. The controls are designed to make it easier to see how a child is using a device and change those boundaries in the moment, without turning parental controls into a settings maze.