Family Link parental controls

Google LLC

About this app

Family Link parental controls is the companion app to Family Link for parents. Please only download this app to a device being used by a child or teen.

Try the Family Link parental controls app from Google. Whether your children are younger or in their teens, the Family Link app lets you set digital ground rules remotely from your own device to help guide them as they learn, play, and explore online. For children under 13 (or the applicable age of consent in your country), Family Link also lets you create a Google Account for your child that's like your account, with access to most Google services.


With Family Link parental controls, you can:

Guide them to good content

• View app their activity - Not all screen time is the same. Help your child make healthy decisions about what they do on their Android device, with activity reports showing how much time they’re spending on their favorite apps. You can see daily, weekly, or monthly reports.
• Manage their apps - Handy notifications let you approve or block apps your child wants to download from the Google Play Store. You can also manage in-app purchases, and hide specific apps on their device all remotely from your own device.
• Feed their curiosity - It can be hard to figure out what apps are right for your child, so Family Link shows you teacher-recommended apps on Android that you can add directly to their device.


Keep an eye on screen time

• Set limits - It’s up to you to decide the right amount of screen time for your child. Family Link lets you set time limits and a bedtime for their supervised devices, so you can help them find a good balance.
• Lock their device - Whether it’s time to go play outside, have dinner, or just spend time together, you can remotely lock a supervised device whenever it’s time to take a break.


See where they are

• It’s helpful to be able to find your child when they’re on the go. You can use Family Link to help locate them as long as they’re carrying their Android device.


Important Information

• Family Link’s tools vary depending on your child’s device. See a list of compatible devices at families.google.com/familylink/setup
• While Family Link helps you manage your child's purchases and downloads from Google Play, they will not need approval to install app updates (including updates that expand permissions), apps you have previously approved, or apps that have been shared in Family Library. Parents should regularly review their child’s installed apps and app permissions in Family Link.
• You should carefully review the apps on your child’s supervised device and disable those you don’t want them to use. Note that you may not be able to disable some pre-installed apps.
• To see the location of your child or teen’s device, it must be powered on, recently active, and connected to the internet.
• Teacher-recommended apps are only available on Android devices in the US to parents of children of certain ages.
• While Family Link provides tools to manage your child’s online experience, it does not make the internet safe. Rather, it is intended to give parents choices about how their kids use the internet, and encourage conversations about internet use.

Ratings and reviews

Family Link is a poor choice. It counts time spent on the menu as screen time, and it doesn't help me with time management, it's actually doing the opposite. I spend extra time I'm given faster than I would if it helped. I know how useful this app is to parents, but it's still not ok. If your phone is locked you get one minute for calls, making this app possibly dangerous during emergencies. And when did mistrust become so popular? I can't wait to have my own phone plan and get rid of this app.

I'm in the middle of something on my phone it locks out and says,"Come back tomorrow at 11:00 am"💔AND when I'm in a game,when I'm playing and it locks out,doesn't close out the game SO it keeps me in the app and it doesn't close out until like an HOUR as gone by so I'm just standing in the game.Oh, and when it locks out,it gives you the option to call,but sometimes it doesn't let me press the button to call,so that's bad for emergencies.It takes forever to update your location. HORRIBLE APP!🤬

Recently it's taken forever for allowances (such as allowing more screen time/blocking an app) to actually process and show up on the supervised phone. The parent phone would make a change that would only show up on the supervised phone hours later. This has made things so much more annoying than necessary, on top of regular annoyances with this app. It's started more fights than ones prevented.

What's new

Several stability improvements and bug fixes.