Can parental controls make a smartphone safe for your child?
[.style-intro]Parental controls can make a smartphone safer, but they are not a magic fix. From Apple’s new iOS 27 controls to more restricted Android phones, we look at what parents can do – and why giving children less access matters more than watching everything they do. [.style-intro]
Parental controls can make a smartphone safer for a child, but they cannot make a fully connected smartphone completely safe. The strongest approach is to limit what children can access in the first place.
How safe can you make a smartphone ?
The honest answer? Not completely safe.
Smartphones were not designed with children in mind. They give children access to products designed to hold their attention, alongside harmful content, strangers, social pressures and an online world that can be very difficult for parents to control.
Parental controls can help. But they are not a magic fix, and no system is completely tamperproof.
The safest option is still to delay giving your child a smartphone for as long as possible.
There is plenty of middle ground between no phone and a fully connected smartphone.
Try our SFC Phone Finder to explore devices that allow your child to stay in touch without opening the door to everything else.
But we know that a lot of children already have smartphones, while others may need a particular phone or accessibility features that work for their families. So, if a smartphone is going to be part of the picture, what can parents do to make it safer?
There are now several ways to restrict a smartphone. Some provide much stronger protection - and are far harder to get around - than others.
How can I make an iPhone safer for my child?
Assistive Access
Apple’s free Assistive Access feature can turn an old iPhone into a much simpler, more limited device.
Parents choose the only apps that appear – perhaps Phone, Messages, Maps and Music – and then need to protect the ordinary iPhone interface with a very strong passcode. Safari, the App Store, games and social media can all be left out completely.
This is important because it removes access rather than relying on a child to resist temptation. Screen time schedules can still be used, although Assistive Access can be fiddly. Parents must exit it to change many settings and to turn off the phone.
Cost: Free.
Our view: A useful way to repurpose an existing iPhone, and enable access to only calls, messages and a few practical tools. It is safer than an ordinary iPhone with time limits because distracting apps can be removed from view altogether. But parents should not have to piece together accessibility features to create a child-safe phone. Apple still needs to go much further.
What are the new iOS 27 parental controls for children?
Apple’s iOS 27 parental controls give parents more ways to manage apps, websites, contacts and time. The new features become available after installing the Screen Time update in iOS 27.
Parents will be able to begin with a small set of approved apps, require permission before a child visits a new website in Safari, and approve new contacts. (Note that this is a Safari control; it should not be treated as approval for every website opened inside another app.) A redesigned, more comprehensive Screen Time dashboard should also make the controls easier to manage.
Communication Safety, which already intervenes when nudity is detected, is also set to cover graphic violence and gore. A word of caution here though, this only works in specific supported apps and does not currently scan inside most third party social media or chat applications.
These are meaningful improvements. But they do not change the nature of the apps themselves. When children are allowed to use products designed around endless feeds, notifications and autoplay, those products will still do exactly what they were built to do: keep children coming back.
How can I make an Android phone safer for my child?
Google Family Link
Google Family Link lets parents approve app downloads, set screen-time limits, restrict websites and Google Play content, and see the location of a child’s phone.
It is free, relatively straightforward and well integrated into Android.
Contrary to older advice, teenagers under 18 do need parental approval to stop supervision. However, Family Link is strongest inside Google’s own services. It cannot reliably control everything a child sees or receives inside third-party messaging, video and social-media apps.
Cost: Free.
Our view: The minimum starting point for any standard Android phone being used by a child. But it is not enough on its own if open browsers, social media and other high-risk apps remain available.
Balance OS
Balance OS can replace the standard software on a compatible Samsung phone with a more restricted environment.
It blocks categories including social media, games, gambling, pornography, dating and video-streaming services at operating-system level, while keeping practical tools such as calls, messaging, maps & music.
Because the restrictions sit within the phone environment, they are considerably harder to remove than an ordinary parental-control app. Installation requires a compatible Samsung phone and a factory reset.
Web browsing remains available through Chrome or Ecosia, with Balance applying its restrictions to websites. The company will disable browsers completely on request.
Some general websites and potentially distracting apps, including news services, may still be available, so parents need to check the particular apps and websites their child could access.
Cost: Around £79 a year for Balance OS, plus a compatible Samsung phone.
Our view: A strong option for families who want a useful smartphone without social media, gaming or streaming. With browsers disabled and permitted apps carefully chosen, it can offer strong protection.
SafetyMode
SafetyMode gives parents controls over apps, websites, screen time and location. Its main point of difference is its attempt to detect and obscure harmful material appearing inside permitted apps.
This could include adult images, explicit language, bullying or other inappropriate content appearing in a messaging app, social-media feed or website that a parent has otherwise allowed.
SafetyMode is relatively new, and there is not yet a large body of independent, evidence-based testing showing how reliably it works in real families and across different apps.
SafetyMode says its filtering models achieve more than 90% accuracy against industry benchmarks. That is encouraging, but it also means some harmful material may be missed.
Cost: Core filtering tools are free. SafetyMode Plus costs £5.99 a month and adds remote management, alerts and location tracking.
Our view: Promising technology, particularly for content appearing inside otherwise permitted apps. But it should not be treated as a substitute for removing risky apps in the first place. Blocking access is more reliable than trying to identify every harmful image or message after it appears.
What parental-control apps work across different devices?
Qustodio
Qustodio is one of the more established parental-control services. It works across Android phones, iPhones and computers, and includes web filtering, app blocking, screen-time limits, location tracking and activity reports.
Its controls are generally more extensive on Android than on iPhone, but it does require significant mental energy to keep on top of – for example approving safe websites or extending time limits.
Like other app-based controls, Qustodio is more exposed to technical problems and workarounds than restrictions built directly into the phone’s operating environment. User reviews are mixed, with some parents reporting unreliable blocking or children finding ways around restrictions.
Cost: Approximately £45 a year for Basic and £80 for Complete.
Our view: A flexible option for a household using several types of device. But it is less secure than a tightly restricted operating environment, and parents should not assume that installing it makes a standard smartphone safe, as there are widespread reports of workaround hacks.
Can I block the internet through my child’s SIM?
Some mobile networks offer controls that work through the SIM and mobile network rather than through an app on the phone.
These can block categories of websites before they reach the device, making them harder to get around while the phone is using mobile data.
EE’s Safer SIM plans, for example, offer different levels of filtering. Its strictest setting blocks adult material and attempts to prevent access to chat, dating and unmoderated social-networking sites while the phone is using the EE network.
ParentShield is a separate child-focused mobile network. Depending on the service chosen, it offers communication controls, call recording and AI-generated call summaries. These features involve a much greater level of monitoring, so families should think carefully about privacy and whether this is proportionate to their child’s age and circumstances.
For families who only need calls and texts, Ecotalk and Asda Mobile offer no-data plans. These remove access to mobile internet, but they do not prevent a smartphone connecting to Wi-Fi. The phone itself must still be restricted if parents want to prevent internet access completely.
Cost: Varies by provider and plan.
Our view: A useful additional layer of protection. Network filtering is harder to bypass than a browser setting while the device is using that network. But it cannot control content inside permitted apps, may not apply when the phone connects to Wi-Fi and cannot replace strong device-level restrictions.
What is DNS filtering and does it make a phone safer?
DNS-filtering services such as CleanBrowsing can prevent particular categories of websites from loading, regardless of which browser is being used.
They can be configured on an individual phone or on the family’s Wi-Fi router. CleanBrowsing offers free filters for adult and malicious content, with more detailed categories and controls available on paid plans.
Router-level filtering can protect every device using the home connection. However, a phone will still need separate protection when it uses mobile data or another Wi-Fi network.
DNS settings may also be changed or bypassed unless device settings, VPN installation and alternative DNS services are properly restricted.
Cost: Free, with optional paid upgrades.
Our view: A useful extra layer, particularly on home Wi-Fi. But it only controls which websites can be reached. It cannot assess content appearing inside an app and should not replace operating-system or device-level restrictions.
Can parental controls make a smartphone completely safe?
Choose restriction over surveillance
It can be tempting to respond to smartphone risks by trying to watch everything a child does.
But the goal should not be to build a surveillance system around childhood. It should be to give children devices that are less addictive and offer fewer opportunities for harm in the first place.
The closer a restriction sits to the operating system or network, the harder it will usually be to bypass. Ordinary parental-control apps are generally easier to disable, remove or work around.
And remember that no combination of filters, dashboards and passcodes can make a fully connected smartphone completely safe.
Delaying is still the simplest and most reliable form of protection.
Further reading
• Apple: Assistive Access user guide
