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  • The article has been updated to be in line with Google'southward latest rules when information technology comes to Family Link and child accounts.

Children nether the historic period of xiii can't create an unsupervised Google account for themselves. Instead, parents accept to set up the accounts for them using Family Link, which is supposed to give them a lot of control over what apps and games kids can get, how much screentime they're allowed, and which websites they tin visit. Parents can even get a streamlined overview of their kids' app usage à la Digital Wellbeing. Merely what does it feel similar to sit down on the receiving end of the system? Needless to say, kids seem to hate the service, and they're vocal about information technology; the Family Link for kids app has a staggering average rating of one.4 stars on the Play Shop.

I wanted to see what exactly is upward with Family Link and if it really deserves the hate it'south getting, so I locked myself into a kid business relationship. Meet Junior Vonau, my fictitious half dozen-yr-sometime, who used a child-safe Pixel three for a week.

Getting started

Setting upward a kid business relationship is pretty straightforward. You lot tin can do information technology on a make-new device or create a 2nd profile on a telephone already in use with some other account. I opted to factory reset my onetime Pixel three and started afresh. Google leads you through the mandatory parental consent and explains how the Family Link service works: Parents can meet stats, enforce age restrictions, set app limits and filters, command which apps can be installed, and and then on.

There are essentially two tiers of Family unit Link controls: Children under 13 accept much stricter limits past default and tin't utilize many Google services, while accounts for kids older than 13 don't need to exist set upwardly via Family Link. If parents want to, they can notwithstanding connect older children'due south accounts and supervise them via the service, though teenagers can turn that off from their terminate. (These are the conditions in the US and in many parts of Europe, merely the verbal ages and options may vary by country.) I wanted to run across what things are like for kids nether xiii, which is why I made Inferior six years old.

Since I had to become through my usual workday despite using a kid account, I lifted every bit many restrictions as I could: I allowed my 6-year-old self to install apps without permission, including those that are eighteen+ (like Twitter and Telegram, y'all dirty minds!), and enabled sideloading support. I could've lifted the mature sites filter, besides, simply I wanted to see if information technology would interfere with my regular phone usage in whatsoever way.

YouTube

YouTube used to exist the biggest pain betoken for whatsoever child under xiii. Before Feb 2021, YouTube was simply completely off-limits for kids. Google initially decided to practice this in oder to show regulators and advertisers that it was serious virtually protecting children from inappropriate content, but YouTube Kids, the extra app the company created that was supposed to safe-guard children, simply proved to exist also limited. The limitations were becoming fifty-fifty more problematic when the pandemic struck, as teachers weren't able to share educational videos with kids using supervised Android and Chrome OS devices.

Luckily, that'south in the past. When setting upward a kids account at present, you can select to give them access to "supervised experiences" on the regular YouTube app. There are iii tiers of protective layers, and Google is using a mixture of user input, automobile learning, and human review to determine which videos to include in each level. Features similar livestreams, comments, live chats, and whatsoever create options are unavailable for kids, and parents have full access to view and search history. You lot can read more nigh limits and features in our dedicated article hither.

Unfortunately, YouTube Music still isn't attainable for kid accounts. That means that people who have previously relied on Google Play Music to provide their whole family with music were essentially forced to switch to another service like Spotify, which is bachelor for kids. At least Google has promised to bring YouTube Music to kids in the time to come, though the company hasn't shared when that will happen. The subscribers it has lost likely won't return, though.

During my initial examination before this twelvemonth, losing the YouTube app was i of the biggest pain points, just back and then, I but installed Firefox to access the mobile site instead.

Third-party apps

Now, keep in listen that an app like Firefox may work fine for me, but the third-party browser doesn't respect the website restrictions yous might desire to impose on your kid — that'south the case for any third-party app non made past Google, so be certain to screen which apps you permit on your child'southward phone. If you only want your child to visit a specific subset of websites, you'll take to stick with Chrome and won't be able to use the browser workaround for YouTube and other blocked websites. If you lot were thinking, "Why not just employ Chrome's incognito mode," I'thou sad to inform yous that it's non bachelor on children's accounts. There'south a reason why sites similar VideoLink still take to exist.

If you admittedly practice demand or want your kid to employ an app that might non be 100% child-friendly like a tertiary-political party browser, you might want to expect into a service like NextDNS. It's a private D omain North ame lookup S ervice that acts like a customizable firewall for your habitation network or individual devices, and you tin apply it to block content you lot don't want your kid to exist able to view. The problem is that DNS settings can be changed on Android without parental approval, so it's not a foolproof technique. If you want to make sure that your kid tin't intermission out of the protected environment, adding a secondary router with NextDNS enabled and its own Wi-Fi network might be your best bet, though that introduces new bug for your kids with things like Chromecast and network-based press.

You could use Cloudflare's family unit DNS instead, which automatically blocks adult content, if you prefer a less restrictive approach for your whole dwelling network.

In-app purchases

In-app purchases are the blight of any family manager'south existence. While near purchased apps are automatically shared with all Google Family members, that doesn't utilize for in-app purchases. That makes sense for some IAP items similar in-game currency, but when apps rely on Google'south payment organization to unlock features or full variants, you'll run into problems. I couldn't utilise my preferred Reddit client Sync without ads because I had opted for the in-app buy instead of the standalone Pro version. That's no biggie for a $3 app, but information technology's significantly worse one time you lot get to more expensive IAPs or if you have several kids.

Android Police founder Artem Russakovskii ran into that issue when he wanted to ready new tablets for his kids. He got a couple of learning apps from Originator Inc., a company specialized in education and entertainment apps for kids. It offers the full versions of its services as in-app purchases, which Artem got with his own account — as we learned, that ways these aren't available for his kids.

The developers were kind enough to offer promotion codes worth about $66 per account to go around the IAP sharing block, and so it would seem like they successfully managed to trick the capricious limitation. But hither's the kicker: When Artem tried to redeem the codes via his kids' accounts, he got an fault, telling him that merely family unit managers can redeem codes. That would be him, the person who already purchased the IAPs in question. Other family unit managers have been reporting like issues, so it's not an edge case barely anyone runs into.

And as you tin can tell from the screenshot below, children also aren't allowed to redeem regular gift cards, and then don't even call up about gifting them some Play Store credit for games on Christmas.

We're going to accept to point to Apple for an example of how it should be done. In 2020, the company announced that it would permit families to share in-app purchases, provided developers give their permission. It seems like the best of both worlds: Developers determine which IAPs can be shared on a case-by-example basis, making information technology possible to cake sharing for in-game currencies and such. I can't call up of a reason why Google wouldn't adopt a like policy.

We reached out to Google multiple times, asking the company if information technology plans to introduce a similar IAP sharing selection and what it would currently suggest in cases like Artem's, but we oasis't heard dorsum before publishing.

Gaming

Kids beingness kids, they're probably going to want to play a game or 2 on their phone or tablet. Merely Google won't brand it easy for yous to sync progress to the cloud. The company's all-encompassing tool for that, Play Games, isn't available for kids under xiii. That means you'll take to hope that game developers accept implemented their own mechanisms for syncing, and if they don't, you might be out of luck once it's fourth dimension to upgrade your kids to a new phone or tablet.

The issue barely affects me since I basically never play games on my telephone, so I'll accept to point to Artem's feel again. He reports that he had to sync game progress to his own Facebook account every bit a workaround for one detail game. That'south idiotic, but at least information technology works in this case.

If yous're dandy on sharing your Stadia games with your kids, you lot'll be happy to hear that you just need to gear up your kid's account and activate Family unit Sharing in the Stadia settings. All of this can be washed in the spider web interface on stadia.com.

Google logins in 3rd-political party apps

Two apps I usually sign into with my Google account.

A while ago, Google didn't let children to sign in to tertiary-party apps and services with their Google accounts, simply that changed in 2021. Past default, children have to ask their parents for approval when they desire to employ their accounts to sign into apps and services, but at least information technology's now possible to utilise this sign-in method in the first place.

In the past, if you lot wanted to get your kid a service like Pushbullet that only relies on Google for authentication, you'd be out of luck. Most services offering their own logins these days, but people often run into 1 or two oddballs that don't.

Google apps and devices

While the YouTube woes might mostly be solved, there are still a lot of limitations to run into with other Google apps. By default, there's a child-rubber filter that blocks certain websites in Chrome and Search, simply that wasn't a trouble for me during my experiment. Kids additionally can't utilise incognito style at all, neither in Chrome nor in the Google app (usually attainable past tapping your account avatar -> utilize without an account). They likewise can't access the Find feed — there's just a blank page with the Google logo on the leftmost habitation screen. I wonder why the screen isn't disabled past default right afterward setup.

Left: Where's the Discover feed?  Middle: You can striking Install, but it won't install. Correct: Playing podcasts marked equally explicit on a child account?

Kids too don't accept access to a whole slew of apps in addition to the ones mentioned before: Google Pay, Opinion Rewards, Google News, and Google Fit. They also tin't visit the Google Store website, and Google Duo has some restrictions where kids tin just be reached past contacts saved to their account. There might be even more restrictions, just these are the ones I've run into. With some of these apps, yous could argue that Google wants to protect children from unsuitable content, but and then I don't quite go why I was able to utilize Google Podcasts on my kid account and could play content marked as explicit.

Most annoyingly, children aren't immune to add secondary Google accounts to their phone other than Pedagogy accounts. That means I could neither access my personal nor my work electronic mail — though that might exist a problem specific to someone who isn't really a child. (If an adult needs to borrow a kid's phone for a few days, they could merely create a second user in system settings where they could sign in with their Google accounts.)

Article of clothing OS is another trouble for locked downwards accounts — kids only can't install the Wear OS app on their phones, which is necessary to fix and connect a Article of clothing OS sentinel. Limiting Wear OS devices to proper Google accounts seems like an arbitrary conclusion that doesn't exercise much to protect children from anything. It'due south particularly weird when you consider that Google and Nest Home devices piece of work with kids accounts without issues. And these have the potential to expose kids to unwanted content, as 1 of our commenters below told us whose iii-year-old managed to overcome the YouTube restrictions by using Google Image Search on a Nest Hub (that kid is going places for certain!).

I could piece of work around some of these issues. My banking concern has an NFC payment system of its own, and I turned to Firefox for the other forbidden apps and services again. Merely retrieve that I was just able to install Firefox considering I gave myself the permission — if you want to have a fool-proof style to foreclose kids from visiting certain websites, yous can't let them install Firefox.

At to the lowest degree kids can sign up for beta releases on the Play Store — no limitation at all there.

Development

Sometimes you might want to sideload apps on your kids' devices, and I'm happy to written report that that'due south possible on Android phones and tablets. You can also actuate developer settings for your kids' phones if you want to tweak some settings. Both of these options tin be constitute in the Family unit Link app under device settings. Keep in mind that activating developer settings could also allow your kid to turn off Family unit Link supervision. And even if you allow apps from unknown sources, balance at ease — kids still can't install the collection of forbidden Google apps from APK Mirror.

Chromebooks

If you lot get your child a Chromebook, you'll run into like, if not worse, restrictions. Similar on Android, children aren't immune to use incognito fashion, and parents can manage which websites kids tin visit. Chrome will also cake every bit many sexually explicit and trigger-happy sites every bit possible.

Above: Firefox on a Chromebook own't exactly pretty. Beneath: Something similar Vivaldi is the meliorate choice here.

Chromebooks don't run any browser other than Chrome out of the box, but thanks to Android app support, I could install Firefox and use it to access forbidden services and other Google accounts. I quickly switched to Vivaldi because of better scaling and a proper tabbed interface, though. Once more, parental website restrictions don't apply to third-party browsers, then if you desire to avoid giving your kid access to all of the internet, apply these with circumspection.

Family Link settings for Chromebooks (left) and Android phones or tablets (right).

If you need to sideload an app for a kid under thirteen on a Chromebook, you're out of luck, though. To sideload apps on Chromebooks, you need to temporarily end supervision on a kid'south account in the Family Link app, which tin only be done for or by teenagers. You also tin can't install Linux apps on a kid's Chromebook.

Adding browser extensions is possible, but not really comfy. In contrast to Android app installations, which can be approved remotely, kids have to bring their physical device to their parents who then have to enter their ain Google account passwords to allow an improver. That's still a large improvement over the way things were — children used to exist completely unable to install extensions.

At least Google recently improved the Family Link setup process, streamlining everything well-nigh it.

I didn't have much administration to do while supervising myself, but many parents who do have a few complaints. A Twitter user shared that fourth dimension limits apply to all of a child's devices, so the 5-60 minutes assart on a Chromebook bought for remote learning also extends to the telephone. Another parent shares that bonus fourth dimension is granted in the form of hard limit instead of one that but counts active usage time, and so even when yous want to grant more time for homework or something, you lot might be confronted with an unintuitive UX generally aimed at postponing bedtime.

Google recently added the option to ever let sure apps, which is an improvement. Only you however can't group apps to be "immune at all times" when you impose daily limits, which would make granular controls much easier.

I ran into quite a few limitations during my calendar week with a child account, but many of them tin can be mitigated with workarounds. I'd imagine that the story might be different for families who really desire to apply some of Family Link's restrictions to protect their children, but overall, many obstacles can be overcome if needed.

But despite my relatively graceful experience with Family Link, there are nevertheless some egregious problems with the service that absolutely need to exist addressed, regardless of how much yous want to protect your children online. There's no reason why in-app purchases shouldn't be shareable with other family members, especially since bought apps are available to everyone. Then there are the convoluted YouTube restrictions, particularly when information technology comes to YouTube Music. Its predecessor, Play Music, used to be available to all ages, so the sudden shift is arbitrary and probably fabricated many families switch to the competition.

(Past all means, restricting certain videos for children makes perfect sense, but the current arroyo is leaning also far to the restrictive end and feels similar a band-aid solution for a as well-long-ignored trouble — that topic is enough textile for another article, though.)

But that'south not wherethe negative Play Shop reviews come from. When y'all scroll through the Family unit Link for children & teens list, you'll see many children who seem to suffer from overly controlling parents. Family unit Link can be used until kids are 18, and many reviews appear to come from teenagers over 13. They complain about their parents imposing strict bedtime limits and app limits. Teenagers older than 13 tin technically stop supervision at any time, simply they first need to know that that's a possibility andthey still need to deal with their parents, who will be notified when they endeavor to remove them as supervisors.

As someone who doesn't have kids (yet), I think a tool like Family Link has to exist used carefully and in cooperation with children. Just the fact that parents even have the choice to completely lock down a 17-twelvemonth-one-time's phone seems horrible to me — at that age, I wouldn't exist comfortable at all having someone run across everything I do on my phone or figurer.

Google has done a lot to make Family Link meliorate over the last year or two, but it's articulate that there's however room for updates that would make the service much less frustrating. The company absolutely needs to gear up IAP sharing, and I wouldn't mind if it dialed back some of the extensive control options over older teenagers.

UPDATE: 2021/09/05 seven:56am PDT Past MANUEL VONAU

The article has been updated to be in line with Google'southward latest rules when information technology comes to Family Link and child accounts.

Thanks: Paddy O'Reilly, Manbearpig, Jeff

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About The Author

Manuel Vonau (1598 Articles Published)

Manuel is a tech enthusiast and Android fan based in Berlin. When he's non writing articles for Android Constabulary, he'due south probably out and almost equally a videographer.

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