Age groups, notifications and more: Apple fine-tunes parental control features
Apple has made some changes to its operating systems this year in order to better protect children. It's all about subtleties.
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Apple is expanding its functions and toolbox for the protection of children and young people. To this end, the iPhone manufacturer is fine-tuning the details to enable parents and developers to respond more precisely to the needs of different age groups in future. However, larger wishes such as an improvement in the available screen time or multi-user access on the iPhone and iPad remain on the wish list.
Developers should be able to use a new interface called "Declared Age Range" in the course of the year. Parents can choose to give app developers an approximate age range, such as 13 to 17, so that they can better tailor their apps and content to young users. Parents can also withdraw this information at a later date. In the interests of data minimization, the main aim is to avoid having to disclose children's exact date of birth or, alternatively, personal data from parents.
New age levels in the App Store
Apple is also planning to revise the age levels in the App Store after 15 years. Developers will have to classify their apps themselves. Instead of four, there will be five age limits to choose from in future. Previously, the levels were 4+, 9+, 12+ and 17+. The new classifications are 4+, 9+, 13+, 16+ and 18+. Parents will also find new standardized markings that indicate when an app works with user-generated content, contains advertising or parental functions or requires proof of age.
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There are detailed improvements when setting up children's accounts. This should be easier and quicker in future – if necessary, even without parents for the time being, but still with protection activated immediately. The age group (under 12, 13 to 17, under 18) to which a child belongs can also be selected when setting up the account. Requests for the parents' means of payment should be a thing of the past if one is already stored in the parents' account.
Still only one account per device
The changes, which Apple also explains in a white paper, supplement the existing parental control functions, above all Screen Time to regulate device use and Communication Safety, which is intended to prevent children from receiving harmful messages via iMessage, for example. However, further changes to these functions, which are repeatedly requested in user forums, remain on the wish list. Apple continues to insist that iPhones and iPads are personal devices and can therefore only be used with one Apple account – However, the reality in some families is that they share one iPad.
(mki)
