Apple announced a bigger effort for trust and safety to protect children on its platforms.
During the WWDC keynote on Apple’s campus, Apple leader Craig Federighi announced the company has revamped tools for both parents and game developers to help them protect kids and reduce their exposure to inappropriate content on Apple devices.
In the past year or so, this has become a huge issue as parents — and lawyers — push back against social media platforms and gaming platforms like Roblox. Countries around the world are considering or enforcing regulations for social media and online games in the name of child safety.
The company has teamed up with the American Academy of Pediatrics to come up with child safety guidelines. There are a number of software development kit (SDK) tools for developers of games and other apps to use to protect kids. (You can see the list in this image).
Parents can create child accounts that block adult websites and more, and they can convert existing accounts to bring them under more direct control.
The parent-controlled accounts govern what kids can see, who they can talk to, and what they have access to. It gives parents tools to control what their kids see over time. Start Focused is a tool that gives parents control, giving kids access only to what they need immediately, and the list of sites can be expanded over time.
Parents are in control of who kids can talk to, and parents need to give permission before anyone can connect. Parents can also screen the content that kids can see in live interactions, such as chat or live FaceTime calls. It can block sexual content, gore, or violence in real time.
Parents can also set screen time. They can set Time Allowances. Each category has its own time allowance recommendation to begin with, with guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Apple said it can also control social media access, as experts say children under 13 should not use it. Parents can set up a schedule to show what apps can be available to kids during the day. They can fully customize the schedules and give more leeway for time for games, entertainment and social media on the weekends.
Apple redesigned Screentime, a tool for parents, to see at a glance how kids are using devices. Parents can see how their kids are using their devices and then use a tap to adjust the time for any given activity.
Developers can use a declared age-range API to tailor the app experience for kids. Kids can use a feature “Ask to Browse” to ask their parents if they can see a web site. It is automatically enabled for kids under 13. Parents can enable it for kids too.