Parental controls setup checklist for a new iPhone or iPad

Step 1: Update your own iPhone

Start with your phone, not the gift. Apple says its newest parental controls need every device in your Family Sharing group to be updated.

1. Plug in your iPhone and connect to Wi-Fi.
2. Open Settings > General > Software Update and install any update.

Source: Apple’s Set up parental controls.

Step 2: Set up Family Sharing

Family Sharing links your Apple Account to your child’s. It’s how you manage their device from your phone.

1. Open Settings and tap your name, then tap Family. (On newer versions, Family may be at the top of Settings.)
2. Tap Continue and follow the steps.
3. Invite the other parent too. They can be set as a parent or guardian.

Source: How to set up Family Sharing.

Step 3: Create your child’s Apple Account

Your child needs their own Apple Account. Don’t sign the new device in with yours.

1. Open Settings and tap Family.
2. Tap the Add Member button, then Create Child Account, then Continue.
3. Enter your child’s name and birthday. Check the birthday. Apple uses it to set age-based content limits.
4. Follow the steps on screen.

For children under 13, a parent or guardian creates the account (the age varies by country or region). Sources: Create an Apple Account for your child and Set up Screen Time for a child.

Step 4: Set up the new iPhone or iPad

Do this before the gift is wrapped, so it’s ready when it’s opened.

1. Turn on Bluetooth on your iPhone.
2. Turn on the new device by holding the side or top button until the Apple logo appears.
3. Bring your iPhone next to it. Choose your child’s age range, tap Connect Now, and follow the steps.

No iPhone nearby? On the new device, tap Set Up Without Another Device. Source: Set up a device for a child with Family Sharing.

Step 5: Check Apple’s basic protections

On your iPhone, open Settings, tap Family, then tap your child’s name. Check these:

• Ask to Buy: tap Apps & Websites, then Restrictions, then Ask to Buy, and turn on Require Purchase Approval.
• Websites: under Websites, tap Filtering and choose Limit Adult Websites.
• Communication Safety: tap Communication Safety and turn it on. It warns your child if a photo or video they send or receive may contain nudity.
• Content limits: tap Content & Privacy Restrictions to check the age ratings for content.
• Screen Time passcode: set one your child doesn’t know. Apple says the parent sets it on their own device.

On iOS 26, most of these are in Settings > Screen Time, under your child’s name. Sources: Set up parental controls and Use Screen Time to manage your child’s iPhone or iPad.

Step 6: Add SteadyBounds for daily time and bedtime

SteadyBounds is a parental control app for iPhone and iPad where kids earn extra screen time through learning lessons and chores their parents approve. It works on iPhone and iPad with iOS or iPadOS 17.4 or later. No computer, profile or VPN is needed.

1. Install SteadyBounds on your iPhone and tap Set Up My Family. Sign up with your email. We send a code to confirm it.
2. Add your child and choose their daily screen time and bedtime. You give consent on the consent card before you add a child.
3. When a six-digit code appears, install SteadyBounds on the new device, choose Join Family and enter the code within 10 minutes.
4. Confirm the connection on your phone. Then approve Apple’s Screen Time permission on your child’s device.
5. To keep apps like Phone or school apps open when time is up: on your child’s device, open SteadyBounds, tap the gear, enter your parent PIN and tap Unlock. Then tap Apps that stay open.

You set daily limits in SteadyBounds, so you don’t need to set the same limits again in Apple’s Screen Time. Every Screen Time control is free.

Get SteadyBounds free on the App Store before the big day.

Step 7: Talk about the rules on day one

• Agree on the rules together. The AAP’s free Family Media Plan is a good way to write them down.
• Show how to ask for more time. In SteadyBounds, your child taps Ask or earn time on a locked app, and you answer from your phone.
• Keep your parent PIN and Screen Time passcode private.
• Don’t turn Screen Time off and on later to fix a problem. It can remove your child’s limits. See fixes to avoid.

Common questions

More parent guides

• How to set screen time limits on your child’s iPhone and iPad
• Bedtime screen rules for kids that actually hold
• SteadyBounds help and troubleshooting