Every kid wants their own smartphone or tablet, and they're now getting their first devices at increasingly younger ages. If this makes you nervous as a parent, don't worry. There are plenty of settings and tools that can ensure your child uses their phone safely. They also give you control even when you aren't able to supervise them directly.

Let's take a look at some of the best ways to set up your child's Android phone or tablet.

Children need to be of a certain age before they can have a Google account. In most countries, this age is at least 13 years old. They must be 14 or over in Spain and South Korea, or 16 and over in the Netherlands.

Parents often avoid this problem by creating an account for their children using a fake age. This works, but breaches Google's terms and conditions and can potentially lead to the company suspending or closing the account.

To address this problem, Google offers a service called Family Link, which is the equivalent to an Android kid's mode. It's one of the most effective surveillance tools to monitor your children.

android kids mode - family link

Parents can use it to remotely control what apps their kids use, what they can search for online, how many hours a day they can use their devices, and to lock the phone at night.

To get started, download the Family Link app for parents from the Play Store. Walk through the first few screens, then create a Google account for your child when prompted. You'll need to verify your payment method during this process. A $0.30 charge will be made to your credit card, which cancels as soon as it's confirmed.

Now log into the account on your child's phone and install the Family Link app for children on it. Follow the onscreen instructions to complete the setup.

Once you're done, you can use Family Link to:

  • Approve app downloads, meaning you'll be prompted to allow or deny every app your child wants to install.
  • Limit screen time by setting a daily usage allowance in 30 minute increments.
  • Set a bedtime, after which the phone will not work.
  • Monitor your child's app activity with weekly reports, and temporarily disable apps they're using too much.
  • Set up child-friendly filters to limit what apps, games, and movies they can download, and also apply safe searches in Chrome.
  • Track your child's phone to keep an eye on where they are.

Family Link only works for under-13s (or whatever the legal age is in your country). When your child turns 13, they'll be able to take control of their own account, so you might need to start using some of the other options below.

For more help, check out how to protect your child's Android phone with Google Family Link.

2. Play Store Parental Controls

If your children are 13 or over---or have accounts that say they are---or you don't want to use Family Link, then you'll need to use the built-in parental controls in the Play Store.

This lets you limit what apps, games, movies, and TV shows your child can download, based on an age rating. You can also restrict books and magazines through a safe search filter (which may not be 100 percent foolproof), and music labelled Explicit is also off-limits.

To set up parental controls, open the Play Store app and go to Settings > Parental Controls, then toggle the switch to On. You'll now be prompted to set up a new four-digit PIN.

Next, go through each type of content and set an age limit, or activate the explicit filter, and hit Save when you're done. Your child won't be able to buy or play anything that falls outside these settings.

Note that you apply parental controls to individual phones and tablets, rather than the account. If your children have more than one device, you'll need to set them up on each one.

3. Parental Controls in Chrome

To protect your child from some of the nasty corners of the web, you can apply the safe search filter to their web browsing. This works mostly in Chrome, since they're logged into that browser. If your child uses a third-party browser, then this setting won't necessarily apply.

Pair this with the restrictions on app downloads above to help prevent your child from using a different browser. To activate it, open the Google app. Go to More > Settings > General, and set the SafeSearch filter option to Active.

chrome parental controls

4. Share Content With Family Library

Family Library is a service that lets all the users in your household maintain their own Google accounts while sharing paid Play Store apps and content with each other. You can also share a single payment method.

This means that you don't have to buy the same apps or movies more than once. Thankfully, you can do this selectively, allowing you to keep some of your own purchased content away from your kids. Using this also allows your children to use your credit card to buy items through the Play Store, though you get to approve every purchase.

To get started:

  1. In the Play Store, go to Account > Family > Sign up now.
  2. Choose the payment method you want to share with your family.
  3. When prompted to share your content, select either Add all or One by one.
  4. Finally, invite family members to your group by adding their Gmail addresses when prompted. They'll each need to accept the invite.

By default, all family members under 18 (according to the age set in their Google account) will need approval when they try to buy anything. You'll get a notification on your phone to allow or decline the purchase. This applies to in-app purchases as well.

5. Replace YouTube With YouTube Kids

Many kids live spend a ton of time on YouTube these days, but there's a lot of content there that you probably don't want them stumbling upon. To make an Android tablet or phone kid-friendly, you can replace the YouTube app with YouTube Kids, an official, family-friendly alternative with curated content.

First, disable YouTube by going to Settings > Apps > YouTube and tapping Disable. This will hide the app's icon so that your child will not be able to access it.

Then install YouTube Kids in its place. Through the settings for this app, you can turn search on or off, place limits on the amount of time your kids can spend watching, and flag any inappropriate videos that have gotten through by accident.

youtube kids

If your kids are too old for that, you can set the standard YouTube app to Restricted Mode. This hides videos that other users flagged as containing adult or inappropriate content. YouTube filters some mature content algorithmically as well.

youtube restricted mode -android parental controls

To activate this, open YouTube and tap the Account icon in the top-right of the screen. Now go to Settings > General and toggle the Restricted Mode switch.

Android's Child Mode Options

Although there is no specific child mode on Android, a combination of the Family Link and Family Library services does help to make devices safer for kids. It's also worth checking if specific apps have options to reduce access to explicit content.

Keep in mind that no parental control tool is perfect. Be prepared for your children bypassing parental controls in ways you might not expect.