Keeping your child safe on their smartphone starts with the right combination of built-in parental controls and trusted third-party apps. These tools let you filter content, manage screen time, track location, and supervise communication, so your kid can explore technology with guardrails in place. Below, we walk through the essential features every parent should know, plus a comparison of the top apps that make it all possible.
In today's digital age, smartphones have become woven into nearly every part of our lives, from socializing and entertainment to schoolwork and after-school clubs. For kids, that connection comes with real benefits, but it also comes with real responsibility. That's where parental controls and apps step in, giving you a helping hand to keep your children safe while they learn to navigate the digital world.
Life360
Life360 is best known for its location sharing and tracking, but it offers much more than a dot on a map. Plans (including a free version) include location sharing and monitoring, roadside assistance and crash detection, internet monitoring for data breaches and identity theft, credit monitoring, and other emergency assistance features.
Norton Family
With Norton Family, parents can view their child's search history and viewed videos, monitor for age-appropriate content, and set screen time limits. The School Time feature also helps keep your child's school day free of distractions, which is especially useful for home schooling and remote learning. Norton Family offers a one-size-fits-all plan with unlimited devices.
Google Family Link
Google Family Link is completely free. It lets parents see how their child spends time on their phone, share and monitor locations, manage privacy settings, set screen limits, and guide kids toward appropriate, approved content. You'll need to create a Google Account for your child to use it, and Google provides guidance for setting one up.
FAQs
What Are Content Filters and How Do They Keep Kids Safe?
Content filters act as digital gatekeepers, letting you control what your child can access online. Whether it's blocking inappropriate websites or filtering out explicit material, these controls help create a safe digital environment for young users, no matter where their curiosity takes them.
How Do App Restrictions Protect Children on Their Phones?
App restrictions let parents manage which apps their kids can download and use, keeping access limited to age-appropriate content. With millions of apps available at any given moment, this feature ensures your child explores only the apps suited to their age and interests, rather than stumbling into something that isn't.
How Can Parents Manage Screen Time Effectively?
Screen time management tools let parents set daily or weekly limits on device usage, helping kids strike a healthy balance between their digital lives and everything else going on, including school and clubs. You can even set limits for specific apps, so your kid won't sink hours into one game or platform without you knowing.
How Do You Prevent Unauthorized In-App Purchases?
You can require authentication before any transaction takes place on your child's phone, preventing unauthorized or accidental spending on apps and games. Unintentional in-app purchases happen more often than you'd think, and this simple setting can save you from a surprise bill.
Can Parents Track Their Child's Location?
Yes. Location tracking features use GPS to let parents keep tabs on their kid's whereabouts, offering peace of mind whether your child is at school, practice, or a friend's house. These tools help confirm your kids are safe and where they're supposed to be.
How Can Parents Manage Their Child's Communication?
As kids start using smartphones to connect with friends and family, parental controls can help manage contact lists, restrict unknown callers, and even monitor text messages or chats to help prevent potential dangers before they escalate.
How Do You Keep Kids Safe on Social Media?
Many apps and phones offer ways to supervise social media usage, limit access to certain platforms, and enable privacy settings for added protection. Social media is a significant part of how kids communicate today, so supervising it thoughtfully matters just as much as managing screen time.
What Is Safe Search and Why Does It Matter?
Safe search is a feature that filters out explicit content from search engine results, helping ensure your child's online searches stay age-appropriate. Search engines can sometimes lead kids to inappropriate or unsafe content unintentionally, and safe search closes that gap.
How Do You Set Up Parental Controls on a Child's Phone?
Most smartphones include built-in parental control options. Open your child's phone settings and search "Parental Controls" to find them. From there, you can also explore dedicated apps that offer deeper monitoring and more robust features than the built-in tools alone.
Cellcom Next Step: Support for Every Stage of Your Child's Digital Journey
Choosing the right phone and the right safeguards for your child is a big decision, and you don't have to make it alone. Cellcom's Next Step program is built specifically to help families navigate a child's first phone experience, offering guidance on device choice, plans, and the parental control features that matter most to your family. Whether you're setting up your kid's very first phone or looking to tighten up safety settings on an existing one, Next Step gives you a trusted, local resource to lean on.
