Set up Family Sharing
On the parent’s iPhone or iPad, open Settings and choose Family. Create or add the child’s Apple Account, confirm the correct age information and make an appropriate adult a Parent/Guardian where needed.
BASTIONHOST / IPHONE & IPAD FAMILY GUIDE
IPHONE & IPAD FAMILY GUIDE
Give a child their own account—and safer defaults from day one.
Apple’s Family Sharing and Screen Time controls can manage apps, purchases, websites, communication and device time. Start with the correct child account, protect the settings and test the finished setup before handing over the device.
BEFORE HANDOVER
Build the safety boundary in the right order.
Use the parent or family organiser’s device to manage the child. Menu names can vary slightly by software version, so update both devices before you begin.
Sign the child into their own device
Use the child’s Apple Account during device setup. Avoid a shared family login: it can mix messages, photos, backups, purchases and account recovery information.
Turn on Screen Time and activity reporting
From the parent device, go to Settings, Screen Time and select the child under Family. Enable App & Website Activity so schedules, limits and useful activity summaries can apply.
Lock Screen Time settings
Create a separate four-digit Screen Time passcode the child does not know. Do not reuse either device’s unlock code. Add passcode recovery and keep the parent Apple Account recovery details current.
Enable Content & Privacy Restrictions
Choose age-appropriate app and media ratings, limit adult websites, restrict explicit content and prevent unapproved account or privacy changes. Treat the web filter as a reduction in risk, not a guarantee.
Require approval for apps and spending
Turn on Ask to Buy, review each app before approving it and discuss why it needs access to the camera, microphone, contacts, photos or location. Also review in-app purchasing restrictions.
Review communication controls
Confirm Communication Safety is enabled and choose suitable Communication Limits. For a younger child, begin with known contacts and add people deliberately rather than opening communication widely.
Set location sharing openly
Decide whether Find My and family location sharing are appropriate. Explain who can see the device’s location and why. Review location access for individual apps and avoid silent surveillance.
TIME & ROUTINES
Use schedules to make stopping predictable.
Screen Time works best when the timetable matches family life and a child knows how to ask for a reasonable exception.
Downtime
Schedule quieter periods around bedtime, school or homework. Turn on blocking during Downtime if you want the schedule to require parent approval rather than act only as a reminder.
App Limits
Set limits for categories or individual apps where a boundary is useful. Avoid treating educational, creative and social use as if they are all the same activity.
Always Allowed
Choose the apps and contacts that remain available during restricted periods. Check that the child understands how to call for help and contact an agreed adult.
Extra time
Let the child request more time and decide whether the situation justifies it. An exception does not need to become a permanent change to the family schedule.
More than one device
Check whether Screen Time is sharing activity across the child’s Apple devices as you intend. Test the limits on every iPhone, iPad or Mac the child uses.
Adjust as they grow
Review the setup after a new app, new device or change in routine. Increase independence deliberately when the child shows readiness.
FIVE-MINUTE CHECK
Test the controls before the child relies on them.
- A free app download sends an Ask to Buy request
- An unsuitable test website is restricted
- App Limits and Downtime require parent approval
- The Screen Time passcode differs from device unlock codes
- Communication Safety shows as enabled
- Only intended adults are Parent/Guardians
- Camera, microphone, contacts, photos and location are reviewed
- Account and passcode changes are appropriately restricted
- Agreed contacts remain reachable when limits apply
- The parent can recover the Screen Time passcode
What this cannot do
Apple’s controls cannot guarantee that every allowed website, message, video, advert or conversation is suitable. Individual apps may need their own family settings, and Screen Time does not let a parent read a child’s private messages. Keep a calm “show me” route open when something feels wrong.
Official Apple guidanceSet up Family Sharing and a child Apple Account ↗Use parental controls on a child’s iPhone or iPad ↗Set and recover a Screen Time passcode ↗Approve apps and purchases with Ask to Buy ↗Understand Communication Safety ↗
Last reviewed 15 August 2026. Apple controls, defaults, age rules and menu names can change by country, device and software version. Check Apple’s current instructions while applying this guide. This is practical family guidance, not emergency safeguarding advice. Find UK help and reporting services.
PARENT-WRITTEN GUIDANCE
Set the boundary, explain it, test it and review it.
A safer setup should support a child’s growing independence without making them afraid to report a mistake or upsetting experience. If this guide misses a useful step, you can suggest an improvement.
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