From your own iPad, once your child has their own Apple Account. In iPadOS 27, Apple’s current version, the controls sit under Settings, then Family, then your child’s name, and you can change most of them without touching their iPad.
Start with their own account. The controls attach to a child’s account, not to the device. If your child uses your Apple Account, the iPad thinks it’s you, and it’ll let you do anything. Set up Family Sharing, create a Child Account, and add yourself to their contacts so their requests reach you. If their iPad is on an older version, update it first, because the menus below are for iPadOS 27.
When, and for how long. Screen Time Schedule sets which apps are available at different times of day, with separate weekday and weekend routines. Time Allowances sets a daily budget across categories such as games, entertainment and social media, which you can then adjust one at a time. When your child hits a limit, they can ask for more from their iPad, and you approve or decline from yours.
What they can see and download. Content & Privacy Restrictions sets age ratings for films, music and apps. Under Apps & Websites, Ask to Buy sends every download to you first, and Ask to Browse makes them ask before opening a new website in Safari. For under-13s, both are already on.
Who they can talk to. Allowed Contacts limits who can call, message or FaceTime them, and messages from someone new stay hidden until you approve them. Communication Safety blocks photos and videos with detected nudity, gore or violence in Messages and FaceTime.
What it doesn’t reach. All of this covers Apple’s own apps. Chat inside Roblox, YouTube comments and Snapchat messages follow each app’s own settings, so the iPad decides whether an app opens, not who your child meets inside it. It’s a bit like checking who comes in the front door and leaving the back gate open. Blocking an app outright is the only iPad setting that reaches inside it.
Apple moves these menus around most years. Subscribers hear when it does.
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What this means for you right now
If your child has an iPad, this is what I’d do.
Check whose account it’s signed into. Open Settings and look at the name at the top. If it’s yours, set them up with their own.
Set the schedule before the allowance. Bedtime and school hours first, then the daily total.
Turn on Communication Safety, then open each chat app your child uses and check its own settings.
Keep the Screen Time passcode to yourself, and don’t use the code that unlocks your phone.
Send this to another parent on WhatsApp
How safe the apps on that iPad are, age by age, is in the scorecard.
Checked 4 November 2026.
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