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  • The article has been updated to exist in line with Google's latest rules when it comes to Family unit Link and child accounts.

Children under the historic period of 13 can't create an unsupervised Google business relationship for themselves. Instead, parents have to fix the accounts for them using Family unit Link, which is supposed to give them a lot of command over what apps and games kids tin can go, how much screentime they're allowed, and which websites they tin visit. Parents tin even become a streamlined overview of their kids' app usage à la Digital Wellbeing. Only what does it experience similar to sit on the receiving end of the organization? 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 boilerplate rating of one.iv stars on the Play Store.

I wanted to see what exactly is up with Family Link and if it really deserves the hate information technology's getting, then I locked myself into a child account. Meet Junior Vonau, my fictitious half-dozen-year-sometime, who used a kid-prophylactic Pixel 3 for a week.

Getting started

Setting up a child business relationship is pretty straightforward. Y'all can do it on a make-new device or create a second contour on a phone already in utilise with another account. I opted to manufacturing plant reset my old Pixel 3 and started anew. Google leads y'all through the mandatory parental consent and explains how the Family unit Link service works: Parents can see stats, enforce age restrictions, set app limits and filters, control which apps tin can be installed, and so on.

There are essentially two tiers of Family unit Link controls: Children nether thirteen have much stricter limits by default and can't use many Google services, while accounts for kids older than 13 don't need to be gear up via Family unit Link. If parents desire to, they can notwithstanding connect older children's accounts and supervise them via the service, though teenagers can plough that off from their finish. (These are the conditions in the US and in many parts of Europe, merely the verbal ages and options may vary past country.) I wanted to see what things are similar for kids under 13, which is why I made Junior six years old.

Since I had to get through my usual workday despite using a kid account, I lifted as many restrictions as I could: I allowed my 6-yr-sometime self to install apps without permission, including those that are 18+ (like Twitter and Telegram, you lot dirty minds!), and enabled sideloading support. I could've lifted the mature sites filter, besides, but I wanted to run into if it would interfere with my regular phone usage in any way.

YouTube

YouTube used to be the biggest pain indicate for any child under 13. Earlier February 2021, YouTube was but completely off-limits for kids. Google initially decided to do this in oder to show regulators and advertisers that it was serious near protecting children from inappropriate content, but YouTube Kids, the extra app the company created that was supposed to condom-baby-sit children, just proved to be besides limited. The limitations were condign even more problematic when the pandemic struck, equally teachers weren't able to share educational videos with kids using supervised Android and Chrome Bone devices.

Luckily, that's in the past. When setting up a kids account now, y'all can select to give them access to "supervised experiences" on the regular YouTube app. There are three tiers of protective layers, and Google is using a mixture of user input, machine learning, and man review to determine which videos to include in each level. Features like livestreams, comments, live chats, and any create options are unavailable for kids, and parents have full admission to view and search history. You can read more about limits and features in our defended article here.

Unfortunately, YouTube Music nevertheless isn't accessible for child accounts. That ways that people who have previously relied on Google Play Music to provide their whole family unit with music were essentially forced to switch to another service similar Spotify, which is available for kids. At to the lowest degree Google has promised to bring YouTube Music to kids in the future, though the company hasn't shared when that will happen. The subscribers it has lost probable won't return, though.

During my initial test earlier this year, losing the YouTube app was ane of the biggest pain points, but dorsum then, I merely installed Firefox to access the mobile site instead.

3rd-party apps

Now, keep in mind that an app like Firefox may piece of work fine for me, merely the 3rd-party browser doesn't respect the website restrictions yous might want to impose on your child — that'due south the case for whatever third-party app non made by Google, so be certain to screen which apps you lot allow on your kid'due south phone. If you only desire your child to visit a specific subset of websites, you'll have to stick with Chrome and won't be able to utilise the browser workaround for YouTube and other blocked websites. If you were thinking, "Why non just use Chrome's incognito mode," I'thousand distressing to inform you that it'southward not available on children'south accounts. There's a reason why sites like VideoLink still accept to exist.

If you admittedly practise need or desire your kid to use an app that might not be 100% child-friendly similar a third-political party browser, you might want to look into a service like NextDNS. It'south a private D omain N ame lookup S ervice that acts like a customizable firewall for your home network or private devices, and you can use information technology to block content yous don't want your kid to exist able to view. The problem is that DNS settings can exist inverse on Android without parental blessing, then it'south not a foolproof technique. If you desire to make sure that your kid can't intermission out of the protected surroundings, adding a secondary router with NextDNS enabled and its own Wi-Fi network might be your best bet, though that introduces new problems for your kids with things like Chromecast and network-based press.

You could utilise Cloudflare's family DNS instead, which automatically blocks adult content, if y'all prefer a less restrictive arroyo for your whole abode network.

In-app purchases

In-app purchases are the bane of any family director's existence. While most purchased apps are automatically shared with all Google Family members, that doesn't apply for in-app purchases. That makes sense for some IAP items like in-game currency, only when apps rely on Google's payment arrangement to unlock features or full variants, y'all'll come across bug. I couldn't use my preferred Reddit client Sync without ads because I had opted for the in-app purchase instead of the standalone Pro version. That's no biggie for a $3 app, merely it's significantly worse once you get to more expensive IAPs or if you have several kids.

Android Police founder Artem Russakovskii ran into that issue when he wanted to fix new tablets for his kids. He got a couple of learning apps from Originator Inc., a company specialized in didactics 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 means these aren't available for his kids.

The developers were kind enough to offer promotion codes worth nigh $66 per account to go around the IAP sharing block, so it would seem like they successfully managed to pull a fast one on the arbitrary limitation. But here's the kicker: When Artem tried to redeem the codes via his kids' accounts, he got an error, telling him that only family managers can redeem codes. That would exist him, the person who already purchased the IAPs in question. Other family managers have been reporting like bug, then it's not an edge case barely anyone runs into.

And as you can tell from the screenshot beneath, children also aren't allowed to redeem regular gift cards, so don't even recollect nearly gifting them some Play Store credit for games on Christmas.

Nosotros're going to have to point to Apple for an example of how it should exist done. In 2020, the visitor announced that information technology would let families to share in-app purchases, provided developers give their permission. It seems similar the best of both worlds: Developers decide which IAPs can be shared on a instance-by-case basis, making it possible to block sharing for in-game currencies and such. I can't retrieve of a reason why Google wouldn't adopt a similar policy.

Nosotros reached out to Google multiple times, request the company if it plans to introduce a similar IAP sharing choice and what it would currently propose in cases similar Artem'due south, but nosotros oasis't heard back before publishing.

Gaming

Kids being kids, they're probably going to desire to play a game or ii on their phone or tablet. Just Google won't make it like shooting fish in a barrel for you to sync progress to the cloud. The company'southward extensive tool for that, Play Games, isn't available for kids under 13. That means you'll have to hope that game developers have implemented their own mechanisms for syncing, and if they don't, yous might exist out of luck in one case it's fourth dimension to upgrade your kids to a new telephone or tablet.

The outcome barely affects me since I basically never play games on my phone, so I'll have to point to Artem's feel again. He reports that he had to sync game progress to his own Facebook business relationship as a workaround for one particular game. That'due south idiotic, merely at least it works in this case.

If you're keen on sharing your Stadia games with your kids, you'll be happy to hear that you just need to ready upwardly your child's account and activate Family Sharing in the Stadia settings. All of this can be done in the web interface on stadia.com.

Google logins in third-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-political party apps and services with their Google accounts, but that inverse in 2021. By default, children have to ask their parents for approval when they want to use their accounts to sign into apps and services, but at least information technology's now possible to use this sign-in method in the starting time place.

In the past, if you lot wanted to get your child a service like Pushbullet that merely relies on Google for hallmark, y'all'd be out of luck. Most services offer their own logins these days, simply people ofttimes run into one or 2 oddballs that don't.

Google apps and devices

While the YouTube woes might mostly be solved, in that location are yet a lot of limitations to run into with other Google apps. Past default, there's a child-condom filter that blocks certain websites in Chrome and Search, but that wasn't a trouble for me during my experiment. Kids additionally can't use incognito mode at all, neither in Chrome nor in the Google app (usually accessible by tapping your business relationship avatar -> utilize without an account). They also tin't access the Discover feed — there's only a blank page with the Google logo on the leftmost domicile screen. I wonder why the screen isn't disabled by default right after setup.

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

Kids also don't have access to a whole slew of apps in addition to the ones mentioned earlier: Google Pay, Opinion Rewards, Google News, and Google Fit. They also tin can't visit the Google Store website, and Google Duo has some restrictions where kids can merely be reached past contacts saved to their business relationship. There might be even more restrictions, simply these are the ones I've run into. With some of these apps, you could argue that Google wants to protect children from unsuitable content, but then I don't quite become why I was able to use Google Podcasts on my kid business relationship and could play content marked every bit explicit.

Well-nigh annoyingly, children aren't allowed to add secondary Google accounts to their phone other than Teaching accounts. That means I could neither access my personal nor my work email — though that might be a problem specific to someone who isn't actually a child. (If an adult needs to borrow a kid'south phone for a few days, they could just create a second user in organisation settings where they could sign in with their Google accounts.)

Article of clothing Os is another problem for locked down accounts — kids simply tin can't install the Wear Os app on their phones, which is necessary to set and connect a Wear OS watch. Limiting Article of clothing Os devices to proper Google accounts seems like an arbitrary decision that doesn't do much to protect children from anything. It's especially weird when you consider that Google and Nest Home devices work with kids accounts without issues. And these have the potential to expose kids to unwanted content, as 1 of our commenters below told united states whose three-year-old managed to overcome the YouTube restrictions past using Google Image Search on a Nest Hub (that kid is going places for sure!).

I could piece of work effectually some of these bug. My depository financial institution has an NFC payment organisation of its ain, and I turned to Firefox for the other forbidden apps and services once more. But call up that I was only able to install Firefox because I gave myself the permission — if you desire to have a fool-proof way to preclude kids from visiting certain websites, you can't let them install Firefox.

At least kids can sign upwardly 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'grand happy to report that that'due south possible on Android phones and tablets. You tin can too activate developer settings for your kids' phones if you want to tweak some settings. Both of these options can be found in the Family Link app under device settings. Go along in mind that activating developer settings could also let your kid to turn off Family unit Link supervision. And fifty-fifty if you allow apps from unknown sources, rest at ease — kids notwithstanding can't install the collection of forbidden Google apps from APK Mirror.

Chromebooks

If you get your kid a Chromebook, you lot'll run into like, if not worse, restrictions. Similar on Android, children aren't immune to use incognito way, and parents tin manage which websites kids tin can visit. Chrome volition besides block as many sexually explicit and violent sites equally possible.

Above: Firefox on a Chromebook own't exactly pretty. Below: Something like Vivaldi is the ameliorate choice here.

Chromebooks don't run whatsoever browser other than Chrome out of the box, just thanks to Android app support, I could install Firefox and utilize it to admission forbidden services and other Google accounts. I apace switched to Vivaldi because of better scaling and a proper tabbed interface, though. Again, parental website restrictions don't apply to third-party browsers, so if you desire to avert giving your child admission to all of the internet, use these with caution.

Family unit 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 stop supervision on a child's account in the Family Link app, which can only be done for or by teenagers. You also can't install Linux apps on a child's Chromebook.

Calculation browser extensions is possible, merely not actually comfy. In dissimilarity to Android app installations, which can exist approved remotely, kids have to bring their physical device to their parents who then accept to enter their ain Google business relationship passwords to allow an addition. That's notwithstanding a big comeback over the way things were — children used to be completely unable to install extensions.

At least Google recently improved the Family Link setup procedure, streamlining everything near it.

I didn't have much administration to do while supervising myself, but many parents who do take a few complaints. A Twitter user shared that time limits utilize to all of a child'south devices, so the five-hour allowance on a Chromebook bought for remote learning also extends to the phone. Another parent shares that bonus time is granted in the form of hard limit instead of one that only counts active usage time, then even when you want to grant more time for homework or something, you lot might be confronted with an unintuitive UX mostly aimed at postponing bedtime.

Google recently added the choice to always allow certain apps, which is an improvement. Only you still can't group apps to be "allowed at all times" when you impose daily limits, which would make granular controls much easier.

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

But despite my relatively svelte experience with Family Link, at that place are still some egregious issues with the service that absolutely need to exist addressed, regardless of how much you lot want to protect your children online. There's no reason why in-app purchases shouldn't be shareable with other family unit members, especially since bought apps are bachelor 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, and then the sudden shift is arbitrary and probably made many families switch to the contest.

(Past all means, restricting certain videos for children makes perfect sense, merely the current approach is leaning too far to the restrictive cease and feels like a band-aid solution for a too-long-ignored trouble — that topic is plenty material for another article, though.)

But that'southward not wherethe negative Play Store reviews come from. When you gyre through the Family unit Link for children & teens listing, you'll see many children who seem to suffer from overly controlling parents. Family Link can be used until kids are xviii, 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 can technically stop supervision at any time, simply they offset need to know that that's a possibility andthey still need to deal with their parents, who will be notified when they try to remove them as supervisors.

As someone who doesn't have kids (yet), I call back a tool like Family Link has to exist used advisedly and in cooperation with children. But the fact that parents even have the option to completely lock downwardly a 17-twelvemonth-old's telephone seems horrible to me — at that age, I wouldn't be comfortable at all having someone see everything I do on my telephone or estimator.

Google has done a lot to brand Family Link better over the terminal twelvemonth or two, but it's articulate that in that location's still room for updates that would make the service much less frustrating. The company absolutely needs to fix IAP sharing, and I wouldn't mind if it dialed back some of the all-encompassing control options over older teenagers.

UPDATE: 2021/09/05 7:56am PDT BY MANUEL VONAU

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

Thanks: Paddy O'Reilly, Manbearpig, Jeff

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Manuel Vonau (1637 Articles Published)

Manuel is a tech enthusiast and Android fan based in Berlin. When he's not writing articles for Android Police, he's probably out and about as a videographer.

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