Kids can now request to browse specific websites and contact specific people.
At WWDC ’26, Apple announced changes to give parents more control over what their children see and do. The company is expanding its “Ask” feature beyond just giving adults a say in what apps their kids download. Children will be able to ask their parents to visit a specific site that would otherwise be outside of their filters. Likewise, if a child account user wants to connect with an unknown person, a parent will need to approve it before chatting.
As part of a series of child safety improvements, Apple will pre-emptively warn children about potentially harmful photos. As part of this, any image sent to their device that, according to the system, could contain inappropriate content will be automatically censored. This not only extends to adult content, but also to bloody and violent images that may be disturbing. The company added that this system would also work to censor potentially inappropriate material visible during live FaceTime calls.
Additionally, Apple is redesigning Screen Time to provide much more control than before. Parents and guardians will have much more nuance in defining access to their children’s devices with discrete time allocations for distinct categories of experiences, like movies or games. These rules can also be adjusted depending on whether it is a weekday or a weekend.
Apple also said it was working with the American Academy of Pediatrics to create guidelines for healthy screen time. Given the global push for age verification and banning teenage users from social media, it will be interesting to see how well this work keeps Apple out of regulators’ crosshairs.
