Google Family Link: Android Parental Controls

Last verified: August 2026. Platforms change their menus often — visit this page for the latest version.

For all ages, on Android devices

What Family Link is

Family Link lets you manage your child's Android device from your own phone: screen time, installed apps, location, web content, and more. It works on phones, tablets, and Chromebooks.

Initial setup

Download Google Family Link on YOUR phone.
Create a Google account for your child, or link their existing one as a supervised account.
On your child's device, sign in with their account.
Accept the supervision prompt when the system asks.
Configure the initial restrictions from your app.

Essential settings checklist

Screen time: daily limits and bedtime schedule
School Time: limits the phone during school hours
Apps: approve or block before they install
Location: turn on location sharing
Chrome: web content filters
Google Play: age-rating restrictions, and approval for all content, not just paid items
YouTube: supervised content level
Approved contacts: control who they can call and text
Gemini: decide whether they can use Google's AI

New in 2026: controls inside the phone itself

Since June 16, 2026, Android ships parental controls inside the phone's own Settings, with nothing to install. This used to be Pixel-only; now it reaches any phone updating to Android 17. You set them up with a PIN of at least four digits, and from there manage daily limits, downtime, per-app limits, app blocking, web filters, and Google Play filters.

The obvious question is whether this replaces Family Link. It does not. The phone's controls are local: they live on that device and are defended by a PIN. Family Link is account-level: you manage it remotely from your own phone, it covers multiple children and devices, and it is the only place with location, purchase and download approval, and School Time. The sensible path is to start with the phone's controls if your child is young and you only want schedules, and move to Family Link as soon as you need to know where they are or approve what they download.

Two warnings about the native controls: they cannot be turned on if the phone has multiple profiles (work or private space), and if you delete the PIN without having set up a recovery account first, the device has to be factory reset.

Gemini: it ships off, and it is your call

Under-13s on a supervised account can use Gemini apps, but only if you enable it first. The path is Family Link > Controls > Gemini > Gemini Apps. You get an email the first time your child opens the app.

Google applies extra filters to those accounts: it blocks violence, explicit sexual material, and harassment, and stops Gemini from claiming to be a person or to have emotions. Even so, it is worth knowing that Common Sense Media assessed this children's version as high risk, citing inconsistent filtering and unsafe answers on mental health topics. Its recommendation: no one under 5 should use a chatbot, and ages 6 to 13 only with an adult present.

Warning signs to watch for

They turn off location sharing frequently
New apps appear that never went through your approval
Time limits are being bypassed
You get the Gemini first-activation email without it having been discussed at home

Tip: use School Time to limit the phone to calls and essential apps during school hours, on a schedule that repeats itself. It is the setting that causes the least conflict, because it does not depend on either of you remembering.

Google Family Link official page →

← Back to all guides