Google Unveils Family Link Redesign and New Parental Controls for Kids’ Devices

Google Announces Family Link Redesign and New Features for Kids

Overview:

• Family Link Redesign: A major update for the Family Link app (available on both Android and iOS) aimed at simplifying parental controls.
• Screen Time Tab: Replaces the 'Highlights' tab with a new 'Screen Time' tab featuring large cards displaying important stats and controls, such as locking devices, setting time limits, and managing schedules.
• Controls Tab: Streamlined to highlight key apps like Google Play, YouTube, Chrome, and Search.
• Location Tab: Improved with Material You design updates for a better visual experience.

School Time Feature:

• Rolling out in the next week, this feature allows parents to limit or restrict app access during school hours on Android phones and tablets. It can be accessed from the 'Screen Time' tab under 'Schedules.'

Sensitive Content Warnings:

• Google Messages will include sensitive content warnings for users under 18 with parental controls. This is an opt-out feature for supervised accounts.

Parental Contact Controls:

• Starting in March, parents can add specific contacts to their child's device and limit phone calls and text conversations to these contacts.

Google Wallet for Kids:

• Launching this spring, this feature will allow parents to add payment cards to their child’s phone for NFC tap-to-pay transactions, view transaction history, and manage cards. It also supports gift cards and event tickets.

Gen AI Tools for Teens:

• Over the coming months, teen accounts will gain access to NotebookLM and the Learn About gen AI lab, following earlier launches of Gemini, AI Overviews, and Circle to Search.

Age Estimation Model:

• Google is testing a machine learning model in the US to estimate whether users are over or under 18, aiming to provide more age-appropriate experiences. This will be expanded to other countries over time.