As technology continues to evolve, safeguarding children from the many risks associated with the internet has become more difficult, as there are many devices, applications, games and videos that children have access to today that are not appropriate for their age.
However, with the use of Android’s parental control tools, parents can now monitor their child’s internet usage, specifically on the Google Play Store.
This guide offers step-by-step instructions and helpful hints on how to set your parental controls correctly and effectively.
What Do Google Play Parental Controls Actually Do?
Google Play parental control is a digital filter that gives parents control over the content that their children access on their Android devices. With the help of a secure PIN, parents can block certain types of media and software from appearing in the Google Play Store.
For example, they can prevent apps, games, movies and TV shows that are rated “Teen” or above from being visible in Google Play.
In addition to just blocking inappropriate content, these tools also allow parents to prevent unauthorized spending by requiring their permission for every download and in-app purchase. This way, parents do not have to worry about surprise charges on their credit cards.
For a more comprehensive way to manage their children’s access to content, Google has integrated the Google Play parental control settings with the Family Link app. This allows parents to manage their child’s access to digital content as well as their daily screen time limits, setting “bedtime” for the device to shut down at night and the ability to remotely block certain apps, such as social media apps and web browsers, after they have been installed.
How to Turn On Parental Controls on Google Play Store
Follow these steps:
Step 1:Open the Google Play Store app
Step 2:Tap your profile icon (top right corner)
Step 3:Go to Settings
Step 4:Tap Family
Step 5: Select Parental controls
Step 6: Turn it ON
Step 7: Set a PIN (make sure your child doesn’t know this)
Once it’s on, you can start filtering content based on categories like apps, games, movies and more.
How to Set Parental Controls Using Family Link
Step 1: Open the Family Link app
Step 2: Select your child’s account
Step 3:Tap Manage settings
Step 4: Go to Controls on Google Play
Step 5: Choose what you want to restrict
Step 6: Apply filters based on age or content type
You’ll also get alerts when your child tries to download something, giving you the option to approve or deny it instantly.
How to Set Content Restrictions
After enabling parental controls, you’ll see options to filter content.
- Apps & Games: Choose an age rating (like PEGI 3, 7, 12, etc.)
- Movies & TV: Restrict based on maturity ratings
- Music: Block explicit content
This basically creates a safety wall. If an app or content crosses the selected rating, it won’t show up or be downloadable.
Evolution of Google Play Parental Controls
Parental control has been present in the Google Play Store since before it was even called the Google Play Store. In December 2010, when the service was still known as Android Market, Google added basic content filtering.
At that point, setting only allowed parents to filter apps to four different maturity levels, which were as follows: Everyone, Low, Medium and High.
Also due to the rapid development of the app store and large number of apps being developed at that time, parents needed to have at least one tool at their disposal to control what their child could see/download from an already massive number of items that existed.
When Google Play was updated in 2012, there were many structural changes, which made the application store easier for parents to navigate. Over time, however, Google has begun to use established local rating systems to replace its generic label system. ESRB (North America) and PEGI (Europe), to give parents a better understanding of the type of content that will be allowed.
Also, during this time period, parental control software was extremely limited to being “on-device,” meaning for a parent to be able to put restrictions in place on the child’s device, the parent would have to touch the child’s device, make restrictions, and set up a PIN in the settings on the Play Store.
Also Read: How To Use WhatsApp On CarPlay For Calls and Messages Seamlessly
