Android Parental Controls - Stay Safe Partnership

To set up Android parental controls, a Google account is required. You can use your own account, or create one for your child. This will enable a PIN on the handset, which will be used to set up and amend the parental controls. The following steps explain how to set a PIN to set restrictions and limit purchases and installations on Android devices.

Step 1: Launch the Google ‘Play Store’ application on the device.

Step 2: Press the menu button.

Step 3: Select ‘Settings’.

Step 4: Scroll down and select ‘Parental Controls’.

Step 5: Enable parental controls by selecting the toggle.

Step 6: When prompted, create a PIN number, which will be required to make future changes to the controls you set.

Step 7: You can then set restrictions for ‘Apps & games’, ‘Films’, ‘TV’, ‘Magazines’ and ‘Music’.

Step 8: You can then set the device to require the Google account password when making future purchases. Click on ‘Settings’ again in the ‘Play Store’ app to do this.

Step 9: Scroll down and click ‘Require authentication for purchases’. Select whether authentication (with Google account password) should be required for purchases.

Step 10: To block the device from being able to install applications from places other than Google ‘Play Store’, from the device home screen, swipe down from the top of the screen and select settings icon (cog).

Step 11: Scroll down and select ‘Lock screen and security’.

Step 12: Scroll down  and select ‘Unknown sources’, then ensure that this toggle is set to ‘off’ (to the left).

A video showing screenshots of how to do the above is available via this link: Android Phone parental controls step-by-step guide | Internet Matters .

Further information can be found via the following link: Android parental controls guide | Internet Matters and advice on how to set up parental controls on other devices, apps and games can be found here: Parental controls and privacy settings guides | Internet Matters