How to Set Parental Controls for Your iPhone, iPad

Now that the , let’s look at managing access, functionality and content on your kids’ mobile device. These security features are available in the latest version of the iPhone, iPod Touch and .  A subset of these features is available in previous version of the software.

Through Settings> General (via the home screen), you’ll want to enable “Restrictions." You’ll need to set a password, so make it something less obvious than someone’s birthday, street number or phone number. Make it something they’ll never guess but that you’ll remember.

Once you’ve enabled the restrictions, the first section on the screen is labeled "Allow." Here you’ll see apps and functions where you can toggle restrictions off and on. You’ll be able to disallow apps such as YouTube and Safari or prevent your child from installing or deleting apps. By toggling the “On” to the “Off” position, you’ll prevent access to these functions and the apps will be removed from the Home screen.

The next section, "Allow Changes," can be used to prevent your kids from adding email accounts.  It can also restrict or disable Location Services, the feature that, using information from WiFi, GPS and cellular towers, enables an app, for example, to know what is ‘nearby’ or to provide directions to an address from your current location. 

Scrolling down the Restrictions screen, you’ll find a section titled "Allowed Content." In this area, you can prevent your kids from downloading music or podcasts with explicit content, restrict downloaded movies/TV shows to specific ratings and allow apps to be downloaded with minimum age ratings.  

Even if you’ve prevented your kids from downloading apps (using the "Installing Apps" toggle), they can still make purchases within an app. Need that biplane to instantly grow your crops in the "free" Farmville app? It’ll cost you.  The "In-App Purchases" toggle will allow you to prevent your kids from buying additional credits or add-on’s within games.  

The last section in Restrictions is called "Game Center" and will restrict your kids to multi-player games (with strangers, perhaps) or prevents them from adding "friends" to games.

Perhaps setting all of these restrictions may be overkill, but finding the age-appropriate set of restrictions for your child will put your mind and your bank account at ease. Have doubts? Just ask the parents of the second-grader who accumulated $1400 in in-app purchases playing "Smurfs Village."

Interested in Parental Controls for your Mac?  It's coming next week.