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Devices & parental controls

What Is Google Family Link?

Written by Sebastian KinzlingerUpdated

Definition

Family Link is Google's free parental-control app and service. A parent uses Family Link to create or supervise a child's Google Account and to manage the child's Android device or Chromebook: approve apps, set daily screen limits and downtime, filter Google Play and Chrome, and see the device's location. Family Link cannot supervise an iPhone or iPad.

Key takeaways

  • Family Link supervises Android devices, Chromebooks and compatible Fitbit devices. Google says iPhones, iPads and computers other than Chromebooks cannot be supervised with it.[1]Google For Families Help. “Get started with Family Link”.
  • The parent side runs on an Android phone, an iPhone or iPad with iOS 16 or newer, or a Chromebook, and some settings work in a browser at familylink.google.com.[1]Google For Families Help. “Get started with Family Link”.
  • Daily limits count per device: Google's example is that a 2-hour limit gives your child 2 hours on each Android device or Chromebook they use.[3]Google For Families Help. “Manage your child's screen time”.
  • Family Link does not show you your child's screen, their Chrome browsing history, their YouTube watch history or their messages.[7]Google For Families Help. “Add & manage supervision on a current Google Account”.
  • A child cannot end supervision before 13, and until 18 they need a parent's approval to stop it. Both of you are notified when supervision ends.[7]Google For Families Help. “Add & manage supervision on a current Google Account”.[8]Google For Families Help. “How Google Accounts work when children turn 13 (or the applicable age in your country)”.

Family Link is built around an account, not a device. A parent uses the app to create a Google Account for a child under 13, or to add supervision to an account the child already has, and Google then treats that account as managed.[1]Google For Families Help. “Get started with Family Link”. Whatever the child signs in to with that account inherits the rules: the Play Store can ask the parent before an app installs, Chrome applies the website setting, and YouTube opens as a supervised account. For a child who already had an account, Google requires the child to agree to supervision while parent and child are in the same room.[7]Google For Families Help. “Add & manage supervision on a current Google Account”.

The device side is where most of the parental controls live. On a supervised Android device or Chromebook, a parent can decide which apps the child may download or buy, block or allow apps, change app permissions, set a bedtime or daily screen limits, see how long the child spends in each app, check the location of an Android device, and restrict mature content on Google Play.[1]Google For Families Help. “Get started with Family Link”. Google is explicit about the boundary: iPhones, iPads and computers other than Chromebooks cannot be supervised with Family Link.[1]Google For Families Help. “Get started with Family Link”. A child can sign in to Google websites on those devices, but most of the supervision tools do not work there.[2]Google For Families Help. “Learn which devices can be supervised”.

The parent side is lighter. You need your own Google Account, to be 18 or older, to live in the same country as your child, and a phone or tablet for the Family Link app, which runs on Android 6.0 or newer and on iPhones and iPads with iOS 16 or newer.[1]Google For Families Help. “Get started with Family Link”. Some settings also work in a browser at familylink.google.com, but Google says you need the app to find the device's location or to manage screen time and apps remotely.[1]Google For Families Help. “Get started with Family Link”.

Setting names on this page were checked against Google's help pages on 6 November 2026.

Each control works on the layer Google names for it, and no further.

AreaWhat a parent can doWhere it applies
AppsApprove or refuse new downloads, block an installed app, set a per-app time limit, mark an app as unlimited timeThe child's Android devices and Chromebooks; a blocked app is blocked on all of them.[5]Google For Families Help. “Manage your child's Google Play apps”.
Screen timeSet a daily limit per weekday, lock the device, add bonus time for the dayEach Android device or Chromebook separately; a 2-hour limit means 2 hours on each.[3]Google For Families Help. “Manage your child's screen time”.
Downtime and school timeSet a schedule during which only unlimited-time apps and calls are availableAndroid 7 and up.[4]Google For Families Help. “Set a schedule on your child's device”.
WebAllow all sites except blocked ones, try to block explicit sites, or only allow approved sitesChrome while the child is signed in; a signed-out profile or another browser is not covered.[6]Google For Families Help. “Chrome & your child's Google Account”.
Google PlayChoose the highest rating allowed for apps, games, films, TV and booksRestricted items can still appear in search results or through a direct link, and apps installed before the restriction stay visible.[10]Google Play Help. “How to set up content restrictions on Google Play”.
LocationSee where the child's Android or compatible Fitbit device isOne device at a time, the most actively used one; it must be on, online and recently used.[9]Google For Families Help. “Find & manage your child's location”.

The web filter deserves a second look. The middle option, Try to block explicit sites, comes with Google's own caveat that no filter is perfect, while Only allow approved sites is a true allowlist: your child reaches the sites you listed and nothing else.[6]Google For Families Help. “Chrome & your child's Google Account”. YouTube is a special case. Family Link creates the supervised account and holds its content setting, which starts at Older kids, generally aligned with viewers 9 and up, then Teens and Older teens.[11]YouTube Help. “Understand your choices as a family”. YouTube says content settings can only be adjusted by the linked parent accounts.[11]YouTube Help. “Understand your choices as a family”. The YouTube-specific switches, such as autoplay, the Shorts feed limit and blocked channels, sit in Family Center inside YouTube rather than in Family Link. How to set them up, including a YouTube Kids profile for a younger child, is in the YouTube parental controls guide.

A family with a 7-year-old and an Android tablet sets up Family Link on a Sunday. The daily limit is 1 hour on school days and 90 minutes at the weekend. Downtime runs from 7 pm to 7 am. New apps need a parent's approval, and the Play Store rating is set for young children. For video, the parents decide against main YouTube at this age. They install an allowlist player such as Pepelly, pick 8 channels on their own phone and pair the tablet; videos play in YouTube's own player, so the app does not remove YouTube ads. The regular YouTube app is blocked in Family Link, and Chrome is set to Only allow approved sites with 3 school sites on the list.

On a Wednesday at 5 pm the tablet unlocks. Family Link counts the hour, the video app shows only the 8 channels, and when your child taps a game advert in a free app, the Play Store asks the parents first. At 6 pm the tablet gives its warning and locks, and the parents add 15 minutes of bonus time. At 7 pm downtime takes over. What this setup does not cover is the family laptop and the grandparents' iPad: Family Link cannot supervise either, so each needs its own lock.

Advantages and disadvantages

Family Link is a choice in two directions: against no device controls at all, and against a paid parental-control app that covers several platforms. The FTC lists it as the tool for a Chromebook, an Android phone or tablet, and for customising parental controls on YouTube, next to Apple's Family Sharing for iPhone and iPad and Microsoft Family Safety for Windows and Xbox.[12]Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Advice. “How To Use Parental Controls To Keep Your Kid Safer Online”.

AdvantagesDisadvantages
Free, and built into the account rather than added on topSupervises only Android, Chromebook and compatible Fitbit devices.[1]Google For Families Help. “Get started with Family Link”.
One app approves downloads, limits time, filters Chrome and Play and shows the device's location.[1]Google For Families Help. “Get started with Family Link”.Daily limits do not pool across devices; each one gets the full allowance.[3]Google For Families Help. “Manage your child's screen time”.
Your child cannot end supervision before 13, and needs your approval until 18.[7]Google For Families Help. “Add & manage supervision on a current Google Account”.[8]Google For Families Help. “How Google Accounts work when children turn 13 (or the applicable age in your country)”.The Chrome filter stops at a signed-out profile or another browser.[6]Google For Families Help. “Chrome & your child's Google Account”.
The supervised account it creates is what YouTube needs for a child under 13.[11]YouTube Help. “Understand your choices as a family”.No view of the screen, searches, browsing or watch history, or messages.[7]Google For Families Help. “Add & manage supervision on a current Google Account”.
Purchase approvals for Google Play billingApprovals cover only purchases made through Google Play's billing system.[1]Google For Families Help. “Get started with Family Link”.

The thing people get wrong about Family Link. Parents treat it as a filter when it is mostly a lock. The content work it does is thin on purpose: a Play rating, a Chrome setting and a YouTube level. What it does well is the boring part, which is deciding when the tablet is a tablet at all and which apps may open. The families I see get the most out of it set a short daily limit and a firm downtime first, block the browser and the main YouTube app, and then choose the content inside the one or two apps that remain. Doing it the other way round, tuning filters while the device is open all evening, means arguing about a device that Family Link would happily have switched off for you at 7.

Apple's equivalent is Screen Time with Family Sharing, and the two do not overlap on devices. Apple says Screen Time comes with parental controls for the apps and websites a child can access, who they communicate with and when they use their devices, managed from a parent's own iPhone or iPad as the Family Sharing organiser or a parent in the group.[13]Apple Support. “Set up parental controls to manage your child's iPhone or iPad”.

Family LinkApple Screen Time with Family Sharing
Child's devicesAndroid, Chromebook, compatible Fitbit.[1]Google For Families Help. “Get started with Family Link”.iPhone, iPad and other Apple devices.[13]Apple Support. “Set up parental controls to manage your child's iPhone or iPad”.
Parent's deviceAndroid phone, iPhone or iPad with the app, or a browser for some settings.[1]Google For Families Help. “Get started with Family Link”.The parent's own iPhone or iPad.[13]Apple Support. “Set up parental controls to manage your child's iPhone or iPad”.
Time controlsDaily limit per device, downtime and school time, per-app limits.[3]Google For Families Help. “Manage your child's screen time”.[4]Google For Families Help. “Set a schedule on your child's device”.Screen Time Schedules for times of day and Time Allowances across app categories.[13]Apple Support. “Set up parental controls to manage your child's iPhone or iPad”.
PurchasesPurchase approvals through Google Play billing.[1]Google For Families Help. “Get started with Family Link”.Ask to Buy, on by default for children under 13.[13]Apple Support. “Set up parental controls to manage your child's iPhone or iPad”.
ContactsNot part of Family LinkCommunication choices for who the child can contact.[13]Apple Support. “Set up parental controls to manage your child's iPhone or iPad”.

A household with an Android tablet and an iPhone needs both, because neither reaches across. If the time side is your main concern, the guide on screen time rules for kids covers limits by age, with or without an app.

The bottom line

Family Link is the free supervision layer for a child's Google Account and the Android devices and Chromebooks they sign in to. It approves apps, caps and schedules screen time, filters Chrome and Google Play, shows a device's location and creates the account that YouTube's own controls build on. It stops at the edge of Google's platforms, so an iPad or a laptop in the same house needs Apple's or Microsoft's tools instead. Set the lock first, then decide what plays inside the apps you left open.

Questions

Is Google Family Link free?

Yes. The app, the child's Google Account and every control in it cost nothing. You need your own Google Account, to be 18 or older and to live in the same country as your child. Paid parental-control apps add cross-platform reports, but the Google layer itself has no price.

Does Family Link work on an iPhone or iPad?

Only on the parent's side. You can run the Family Link app on an iPhone with iOS 16 or newer to manage a child's Android device. A child's own iPhone or iPad cannot be supervised with Family Link; Apple's Screen Time and Family Sharing do that job.

Can my child turn Family Link off?

Not before 13. Google says a child cannot stop supervision until they reach the age to manage their own account, and from 13 to 17 they need a parent's approval. Both of you get a notification when supervision stops.

Does Family Link control YouTube?

Partly. For a child under 13 it creates the supervised account that YouTube needs, and you pick the content setting there, starting at Older kids for about 9 and up. Autoplay, the Shorts feed limit and blocked channels are then managed from Family Center in your own YouTube app.

Can I see what my child does on the device?

You see which apps they use and for how long, the apps they ask to install, the sites you allowed or blocked and the device's location. Google lists what you cannot see: the screen itself, past searches, Chrome history, YouTube watch history, emails and messages.

Article Sources

Pepelly uses primary sources: Google and Apple help pages, regulators, paediatric bodies and peer-reviewed studies. Read our editorial standards.

  1. Google For Families Help. “Get started with Family Link.” Accessed 6 November 2026. ↩
  2. Google For Families Help. “Learn which devices can be supervised.” Accessed 6 November 2026. ↩
  3. Google For Families Help. “Manage your child's screen time.” Accessed 6 November 2026. ↩
  4. Google For Families Help. “Set a schedule on your child's device.” Accessed 6 November 2026. ↩
  5. Google For Families Help. “Manage your child's Google Play apps.” Accessed 6 November 2026. ↩
  6. Google For Families Help. “Chrome & your child's Google Account.” Accessed 6 November 2026. ↩
  7. Google For Families Help. “Add & manage supervision on a current Google Account.” Accessed 6 November 2026. ↩
  8. Google For Families Help. “How Google Accounts work when children turn 13 (or the applicable age in your country).” Accessed 6 November 2026. ↩
  9. Google For Families Help. “Find & manage your child's location.” Accessed 6 November 2026. ↩
  10. Google Play Help. “How to set up content restrictions on Google Play.” Accessed 6 November 2026. ↩
  11. YouTube Help. “Understand your choices as a family.” Accessed 6 November 2026. ↩
  12. Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Advice. “How To Use Parental Controls To Keep Your Kid Safer Online.” Accessed 6 November 2026. ↩
  13. Apple Support. “Set up parental controls to manage your child's iPhone or iPad.” Accessed 6 November 2026. ↩

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