iPad

Same Screen Time controls as iPhone. Worth setting separately, since iPads are more often shared and more often used for video.

Menu names shift between software versions and between phone makers. If a name here does not match what you see, look for something close by rather than assuming the setting is gone.

1. 1

   Add them to Family Sharing

   Lets you manage the iPad from your own phone and enables Ask to Buy.

   Settings → [your name] → Family Sharing

   1. On your device, open Settings and tap your name.
   2. Tap Family Sharing and add your child.
   3. Make sure the iPad is signed in to their Apple Account, not yours.

   Who holds this: You set this from your own account, and your child cannot change it back.

   Already done this?

   If you already gave them an adult Apple Account, you probably do not need a new one. The old advice that an adult Apple ID can never be converted is out of date. Edit the birth date at Settings, your name, Personal Information, or at account.apple.com. Apple's rule: to change a birthday to any age below 13, the account must be a member of a Family Sharing group, and the Family Sharing organizer must approve the change. It is the same account throughout, so purchases, photos and Messages all survive.

2. 2

   Set a Screen Time passcode

   Otherwise every setting below can be switched off from the iPad itself.

   Settings → Screen Time → [your child] → Change Screen Time Passcode

   1. Open Settings, then Screen Time.
   2. Set a Screen Time passcode that differs from the unlock code.

   Who holds this: You set this from your own account, and your child cannot change it back.

   Already done this?

   If your child already knows the passcode, or you never set one, you can reset it without losing your settings. Do it from your device, not theirs: Settings, Screen Time, your child's name, Manage Screen Time, Change Screen Time Passcode. When this fails it is almost always because you are signed in to the wrong Apple Account. Apple's article covers iPhone and iPad only, so we cannot confirm the steps on a Mac.

3. 3

   Turn on Content & Privacy Restrictions

   The master switch for content ratings, web filtering and purchases.

   Settings → Screen Time → [your child] → Content & Privacy Restrictions

   1. Open Content & Privacy Restrictions and enter your passcode.
   2. Toggle it on.

   Who holds this: You set this from your own account, and your child cannot change it back.

4. 4

   Require approval for downloads and purchases

   iPads are where 'free' games with aggressive in-app purchases tend to land.

   Content & Privacy Restrictions → iTunes & App Store Purchases

   1. Set iTunes & App Store Purchases according to the ages below. This is the one that also covers redownloads.
   2. Set In-app Purchases to Don't Allow.
   3. Then turn on Ask to Buy in Family Sharing, so new downloads come to your phone as a request.

   Recommended by age

   Under 7	Installing apps: Don’t Allow. In-app purchases: Don’t Allow.
   7–11	Installing apps: Don’t Allow. In-app purchases: Don’t Allow.
   11–12	Installing apps: Ask to Buy. In-app purchases: Don’t Allow.
   13–15	Installing apps: Ask to Buy. In-app purchases: Don’t Allow.
   16–17	Installing apps: Allow. In-app purchases: Ask to Buy.

   The hole worth knowing about, in Apple's own words: if a child redownloads their own purchase, installs an update, or uses a redemption code, you will not get a request. So an app approved once, or installed before you turned Ask to Buy on, can be deleted and pulled back from their purchase history any time, silently. The setting that closes it is this one, iTunes & App Store Purchases, which Apple describes as covering purchases and redownloads. Ask to Buy alone does not.

   Who holds this: You set this from your own account, and your child cannot change it back.

5. 5

   Set content ratings and web filtering

   Safari is the widest open door on the device. Automatic filtering will also block the odd school or research page, so plan on adding a few addresses by hand. That is the filter working, not failing.

   Content & Privacy Restrictions → App Store, Media, Web & Games

   1. Set age ratings for apps, films, TV and music.
   2. Open Web Content and pick the level below.
   3. For younger children, Only Approved Websites is much stronger than the adult filter.

   Recommended by age

   Under 7	Only Approved Websites, apps rated 9+
   7–11	Only Approved Websites, apps rated 9+
   11–12	Limit Adult Websites, apps rated 12+
   13–15	Limit Adult Websites, apps rated 12+
   16–17	Limit Adult Websites

   Apple renamed this one. If you are following older guidance that says Allowed Websites Only, Only Approved Websites is the same setting.

   Who holds this: You set this from your own account, and your child cannot change it back.

6. 6

   Set Downtime and App Limits

   iPads get used for hours without anyone noticing, and limits create a natural stop. During downtime only phone calls and the apps you put on the Always Allowed list stay available, so set that list first. On an iPad it usually wants to include whatever they use for homework.

   Settings → Screen Time → [your child] → Downtime / App Limits

   1. Set Downtime to cover the evening and overnight.
   2. Add App Limits for video and games.
   3. Use Always Allowed for anything that should still work, like messages to you.

   Recommended by age

   Under 7	Downtime from 7pm, 45 min on games and video
   7–11	Downtime from 7pm, 45 min on games and video
   11–12	Downtime from 8:30pm
   13–15	Downtime from 9:30pm on school nights
   16–17	Agree a window together

   Who holds this: You set this from your own account, and your child cannot change it back.

Menus move. If something on screen does not match these steps, check the official link above.