Best Parental Control Options for iPhone

Tech Lockdown Team

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Updated June 25, 2025

If you're a parent trying to set up parental controls for your child's iPhone, it's important to choose an approach that allows you to properly monitor your child's activity. In some cases, though, you might need to collect information from many different sources, especially on iPhone, where Apple has made privacy a priority.

In this guide, we'll look at several options that parents can consider that report information about:

1. Your child's screen time with apps or even websites
2. Website browsing activity
3. Text messages and call history
4. YouTube viewing history
5. Location

Some of this information requires the use of a third-party app, which basically means that Apple doesn't directly support a way to report this kind of activity. However, before paying for a parental control app that is too expensive, we'll take a look at some free options first:

• Apple Family Sharing (Free)
• Google Family Link (Free)

Also, many parental control options include proactive blocking features, meaning that instead of waiting for parents to view activity, the app can proactively block explicit content. This is very important for parents to be aware of, since each app or parental control option works differently.

Apple Family Sharing (Free)

Apple Family Sharing is a basic, Apple-supported solution that provides a good overview for parents. Neither you nor your child will need to download an app and worry about whether it can be uninstalled later. 

Apple Family is a great option that blocks most of the common types of explicit content available in the Safari browser and the App Store, but it doesn't provide detailed logging activity.

What kind of Activity is available to parents with Apple Family?

Apple Family does record some useful information that usually requires a premium upgrade if you're using a parental control app, such as:

1. Location sharing using the Find My app
2. Push notifications when your child's iPhone leaves or arrives at a destination
3. Purchase History on the App Store and other Apple apps using the Ask to Buy feature
4. Screen Time, including app usage and websites visited using the Safari app

What kind of proactive-blocking features does Apple Family include?

Apple Family includes a few powerful features that are built into the Apple Ecosystem, especially when it comes to Screen Time restrictions.

1. Parents have extensive control over websites accessed through Safari, and this includes the ability to block adult websites specifically or even block all but a limited number of websites
2. Parents can also individually add websites to their child's blocklist, if a fully restricted Safari browser is too intense
3. Parents can set age ratings for Apple-supported Apps, TV shows, Music, Podcasts, etc.
4. Parents have the option to set Downtimes for notifications and apps
5. Parents can also individually set App Limits for their child
6. Parents can set Communication Limits and Communication Safety features

What kind of gaps should parents be aware of while using Apple Family?

The first, and biggest, gap with Apple Family has to do with how integrated the feature is with the Apple Ecosystem. If you or your child mainly use the Chrome web browser, for example, a parent can't see browsing activity. As a result, most kinds of activity within apps, like specific videos watched or search activity, isn't collected.

For example, setting an age rating for Movies will only work if your child uses the Apple TV, but won't work on an app like Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime. In that case, it may be necessary for parents to avoid using those streaming platforms or set up parental controls on each platform individually.

Some parental control apps can also monitor text, call, or photo activity, but this is not supported by Apple Family. We still strongly encourage enabling Communication Safety features if possible, but parents are strangely not notified if their child is potentially exposed to explicit material .

Is Apple Family a good option for parents?

Apple Family is a good option for parents and works particularly well with Apple apps and products. Apple generally has a walled garden approach when it comes to its software, so it's usually not possible for many parental control apps to have the same type of control.

However, if you're goal is to collect as much activity as possible, Apple does promote privacy and does not share all of your child's activity with you. Even if you decide to use another parental control app, Apple Family is free and usually works well with other apps.

Parents can also go further by combining Apple Family with Supervised Mode . This approach relies less on reporting activity to you (the parent) and locks many features that could be used to block adult content instead.

Plus, parents can also lock down common loopholes using the Gertrude App for iOS , which is also free.

Google Family Link (Free)

Google Family Link is one of the best free options parents can consider if you (as the parent) want to:

1. View your child's YouTube viewing activity
2. Keep track of Google search and web activity

If you and your child primarily use the Chrome or Google app to browse the internet, then Google Family Link can be combined with Apple Family Sharing to collect more activity.

What kind of Activity is available to parents with Google Family Link?

Parents can expect to view this kind of activity if their child is using an iPhone:

1. Google Search and Web activity
2. YouTube view history
3. Limited App usage statistics (this is better monitored using Apple Family Sharing instead)
4. Location activity

What kind of proactive-blocking features does Google Family Link include?

Google has several features parents might find useful to block explicit content. Many of these features are exclusive to Google Suite products and apps.

Parents might also notice that more features are available with Google Family Link if their child uses an Android smartphone; otherwise, they can combine Apple Family Sharing features to include additional activity.

If set up on iOS, parents can:

1. Enforce SafeSearch for their child when searching Google (there are other ways to force SafeSearch on iPhone as well)
2. Enforce YouTube Restricted mode for their child while using the YouTube app (there are other ways to filter content on YouTube for iPhones, including restricted mode)
3. Manage allowed websites, including whether mature sites are blocked
4. Individually block websites accessed through the Chrome or Google app
5. Remove their child's ability to delete Web or YouTube activity

What kind of gaps should parents be aware of while using Google Family Link?

Similar to Apple Family Sharing, Google Family Link only works with Google Suite products. That also means that there are fewer features available to parents if their child uses an iOS device (like an iPhone or iPad) as opposed to using an Android-based smartphone or tablet.

It's possible to get around many of these restrictions by combining both, but with both of their names sounding alike, it can be quite a hassle to manage restrictions between both options with your child.

To help simplify things a bit, here are some alternatives to consider if you want to use Apple Family Sharing instead:

1. If possible, consider requiring your child to use the Safari browser exclusively as opposed to the Chrome app at all. All of the same kinds of activity and restrictions are available using Apple Family Sharing instead. Parents can consider blocking apps on their child's devices to prevent downloading alternative browsers.
2. Block the YouTube app on your child's iPhone, and require that your child use the Safari app to watch YouTube videos. You will be able to view YouTube activity as Screen Time activity instead.

Is Google Link a good option for parents?

Google Family Link is a much better option for children using an Android-based smartphone or tablet. We strongly recommend using Apple Family Sharing instead if you and your child both use iPhone or iPad devices.

However, it's completely understandable that you have a mix of devices in your family, including Android and iPhone devices. In that case, here are a few additional options we recommend:

1. Consider using one type (iPhone or Android smartphone) for all of your children if you have multiple kids
2. Consider using a shared family computer that has limited access to content
3. Actively block adult content and monitor website activity using a DNS Content Policy . A Content Policy can be set up individually on each device (it's compatible on both iPhone and Android smartphone) or across all devices connected to your home's WiFi network

We strongly recommend using a DNS Content Policy if your goal is to proactively block access to adult websites on your child's device and your own.

Supervised Mode (Free, but complicated to set up)

Supervised Mode pairs very well with many other parental control apps, but it doesn't report any kind of activity to parents. It instead unlocks the ability to install Config Files, which restrict specific settings on a setup iPhone and can be used to reliably enforce another parental control app so it can't be easily disabled by your child.

An example of a supervised iPhone

Config Files are very reliable, and don't rely on an app downloaded from the App Store. As a result, it doesn't have most of the same limitations as other apps, for example, Config Files:

• Can be completely locked to the iPhone, removing the possibility of being uninstalled without outside help
• Protect iPhone settings that a child might use to bypass parental controls
• Block apps using Supervised App Blocking

How can Supervised Mode help Parents monitor their child's activity on iPhone?

Supervised Mode (combined with Apple Config Files) can only be used to lock features on your child's iPhone, so it can't be used directly to record activity. However, that doesn't mean parents can't include it as a part of a full blocking system for their child, or even themselves.

When combined with Config Files, Supervised Mode can help enforce parental control apps that collect the activity you're looking for, for example:

1. Some parental control apps can be easily deleted by your child without proper setup, and Config Files can remove your child's iPhone's ability to delete apps
2. Many parental control apps can be removed by performing a factory reset of your child's iPhone, and Config Files can completely remove this feature.

There are many more features that Config Files can restrict that help parents ensure activity is recorded for their child, so if you're interested, I'd strongly recommend checking out our Apple Config Generator page for more information.

Prerequisites for Supervised Mode

Supervised Mode does require some additional setup on your child's iPhone, but the features you can unlock are well worth the effort.

1. Your child's iPhone will need to be completely reset, and this will remove all apps, photos, and data. Your child's personal files will need to be backed up safely before proceeding.
2. You (the parent) will need access to a computer that your child's iPhone can plug into. It's even better if this computer is a Mac.

Tech Lockdown members have access to our premium guides, which include a full walkthrough of how to enable supervised mode from start to finish.

Qustodio (Paid)

Qustodio is a paid parental control app that has extensive activity recording features. It's fairly easy to set up, and it combines very well with Supervised Config Files created with an Apple Config Generator .

Qustodio has a lot of features and functionality based on the activity it collects from your child's iPhone, so it may be the right option for parents who want a comprehensive approach.

What kind of Activity is available to parents using Qustodio?

Parents can see detailed activity from their child's devices:

1. Monitor Calls and Messages
2. Internet-connected app activity and usage
3. YouTube searches and video views from both the YouTube website and the YouTube app
4. Search Engine searches, included those from Google
5. Website activity
6. Push notifications when new apps are being used

What kind of proactive-blocking features does Qustodio include?

Qustodio relies on internet traffic to determine what apps and websites your child visits and how they use them. As a result, it has fewer proactive features, but parents can quickly respond to concerning activity. For example, parents can:

1. Receive push notifications for certain search terms or website visits
2. View app activity and directly block the app as they choose
3. Block adult and explicit websites, or other websites based on their category
4. Individually block websites that a parent has manually reviewed as not appropriate for their child

What kind of gaps should parents be aware of while using Qustodio?

Since Qustodio is technically a third-party app (meaning, Apple themselves don't maintain the app), certain limitations are difficult to avoid. 

However, Qustodio has a clever way of getting around this. Instead of relying on an app that could be uninstalled, it enables Managed Mode on your child's iPhone to directly control features, similar to Supervised Mode .

That being said, it is still technically possible for Qustodio to be disabled or removed without proper setup. And, even with proper setup, Qustodio could still technically be removed by your child if they are very (and I mean very) tech savvy; however, it's difficult enough that the vast majority of children won't be able to remove it. Parents will receive a push notification should this happen.

Is Qustodio a good option for parents?

Qustodio is a very good option for parents. It is relatively easy to set up (when I tested it, it only took around 15 minutes) and has many useful activity monitoring features enabled by default.

It's also one of the few options that includes text message and call monitoring without requiring you to set up another app (that probably has a separate subscription, too). 

If you're a parent with a child who needs a lot of support and oversight, Qustodio is a solid option for you.