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Tom’s Guide
Tom’s Guide
Technology
Tom Pritchard

How to set up parental controls on Android with Google Family Link

Dark-haired boy of about 5 using smarthphone while sitting on sofa.

Smartphones are incredible tools that offer so many different things to do, but that doesn’t mean you should let your kids have unfiltered access to it all. Fortunately, if you need something simple to control your kid’s screen time, you don’t need to go hunting for the best parental control apps. Google has built some of those basic features into the Android operating system.

Google Family Link allows you to supervise your child’s devices to ensure they aren’t doing anything they’re not supposed to. Features include setting screen time limits, approving app downloads or purchases, tracking their location, better securing their account, and more. But you will need to set it up first, and that can be a pretty lengthy process. Fortunately we can take you through it step-by-step.

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