Kid/family content filtering, iPad
Discussion
Our boys have their own iPads and are about that age now when they start to get curious about lots of things and start Googling everything. Their devices use their own Apple IDs with their correct DOB's which are in our family group of which my wife is the manager. As far as I'm aware their accounts are set to only allow access to age-appropriate content but I've no real idea how effective that is. I know they can both access Safari but not sure if the age-appropriate filtering extends in there or how effective it is in reality.
We understand it's natural for them to be curious and are not looking to stifle that but we are keen that we want to try and keep them from stumbling on content that's really not appropriate for them. Is the Apple filtering good enough with some additional configuration or is there something else we should consider installing on their devices or our network?
We understand it's natural for them to be curious and are not looking to stifle that but we are keen that we want to try and keep them from stumbling on content that's really not appropriate for them. Is the Apple filtering good enough with some additional configuration or is there something else we should consider installing on their devices or our network?
A Raspberry Pi running pihole is probably your best bet....
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=18...
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=18...
I usually recommend Qustodio. I use this for our kids devices. The only warning for Apple users is that you need to turn screentime restrictions off, or ScreenTime & Qustodio will clash.
You can also use it to apply identical policies to multiple devices for each child - so if they have an iPad and a phone, they get the same controls on every device.
You can also use it to apply identical policies to multiple devices for each child - so if they have an iPad and a phone, they get the same controls on every device.
A simple way would be to change the dns on your router to a family friendly one. This will make all devices that connect to it family friendly.
The downside is it will do the same to your device too.
You can, if that doesn't suit, also change the dns for each device, but this has to be done on the device and is easy to change back.
There are many other ways depending on how tech savy you are.
All of them, though, are easy enough to circumvent if someone has a mind to it.
The downside is it will do the same to your device too.
You can, if that doesn't suit, also change the dns for each device, but this has to be done on the device and is easy to change back.
There are many other ways depending on how tech savy you are.
All of them, though, are easy enough to circumvent if someone has a mind to it.
Question to the OP: do the kids only ever use their devices at home, or do they take them out & use other WiFi / 5G connections?
If they go out, you need a control system on the device, not on your home network. PiHole is great for content blocking on a network that you control, but will obviously do nothing when they’re connected to something else. So if they have access to other networks, a parental control app, like the one mentioned earlier, is the way to go because it applies controls at device level, not network level. (This also leaves the parents able to surf NSFW content when they want to)
If they go out, you need a control system on the device, not on your home network. PiHole is great for content blocking on a network that you control, but will obviously do nothing when they’re connected to something else. So if they have access to other networks, a parental control app, like the one mentioned earlier, is the way to go because it applies controls at device level, not network level. (This also leaves the parents able to surf NSFW content when they want to)
Thanks for all the responses. Yes, the iPads do sometimes go out and operate on other networks, hence it needs to be a local solution. I quite like the idea of using a family friendly DNS like 1.1.1.3 from Cloudflare. I need to have a look and see if there's a way we can set that on the device but ensure that only a parent can change that.
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