Not ready to switch? You can try AT&T WirelessSM FREE for 30 days!
Keep your current service and number while you test drive our network from your phone. Learn more

Guide to parental controls for your kid’s phone or tablet

Learn how to activate and manage parental controls to monitor your kid’s online activities and keep them safe online.
Parental controls are an integral part of your kid’s online safety. We know it’s challenging to figure out how to set them up and avoid feeling guilty about monitoring your kid’s activities when they’re alone. Read on to discover the best parental control apps for different devices. We also discuss where to access step-by-step guides on activating and managing the controls and how to control all your devices from one place. In addition, you’ll find useful tips to acquire more knowledge to help keep your kid safe online.

What are parental controls? Why do you need them on your kid’s devices?

Parental controls, together with device privacy settings, work as a safety net, ensuring your kid's online safety across networks, devices, apps, and sites. They ensure your kid is exposed to age-appropriate content, allow customizing their digital experiences, prevent them from making unauthorized purchases, and control screen time.

What are the best parental monitoring apps for smartphones and wireless devices?

Before reviewing our recommendations, you should know that the free built-in device privacy settings provide only a partial solution for online monitoring and protecting your children. These settings might be a good starting point, but often additional functionality is needed. Investing in a paid parental control app could be worthwhile if you are looking for a more comprehensive and customizable solution with advanced tools to control and gain insight into your child's digital life.

 

Third-party apps 

Let’s review some third-party apps for all wireless devices—free and for an additional fee: 

There are several excellent third-party parental monitoring apps used to track your kid’s device use and online activity. Many require a monthly fee; some offer free trials, and some are free when purchasing a compatible device.  

 

AT&T Secure Family®:  

AT&T Secure Family is AT&T’s family safety app, designed for location monitoring and parental controls. Its easy-to-use tools help family members stay connected safely—online and physically. 

With the AT&T parental controls on the app, you can:​

  

  • Block inappropriate apps and websites with age range filters or customize your own settings 
  • Set time limits for access to your child’s favorite apps 
  • Instantly block internet access when needed

 

Secure Family also has family tracking features that help your kid feel involved with other family members' whereabouts, increasing their sense of security. Your child will be able to see and access: 

 

  • Track family member’s devices in real-time on an interactive map​ 
  • Get arrival or departure alerts for your child at selected locations like home, school, or even a friend’s house 
  • Send a SOS Alert with the press of a button to all family members

 

Read more about AT&T Secure Family® app and read frequently asked questions about what Secure Family monitors in this downloadable PDF. We also recommend checking out Apple’s app preview and Google Play app review to learn how Secure Family works with their respective devices.

Can I monitor all my kids’ devices in one place?  

 

Managing online safety can seem more challenging than ever in a household with kids of different ages and several devices of various makes and models. Ensuring age-appropriate content across networks, devices, apps, and sites requires awareness, careful consideration, and action.  

AT&T Secure Family® is designed as a portal where you can access and monitor all your children’s devices in one place. The app is compatible with any device—smartphones and tablets—that supports 5G.  

Many 4G phones, Wi-Fi tablets, and iPads also support the app; however, you’ll need to verify that Android devices are operating on Android 11 or above, whereas iOS devices are running on iOS 15 or higher. 

AT&T Secure Family is free for the first 30 days, after which it’s $7.99 a month. The subscription auto-renews each month unless canceled.* 

Ready to add the AT&T Secure Family app subscription to your AT&T Wireless account? Great! In the next section, we give detailed instructions on how to set up the parental controls on the app.

*Excludes taxes and additional fees. 

How do I set up parental control on AT&T Secure Family?
 

  1. Download the Secure Family app from the App Store or Google Play Store. Only the primary account holder can sign up.
  2. Open the app and tap Get Started. Then select Sign up / Create new account. Download the Secure Family app to the child’s devices and pair them with your device.
     

For all details, review the Secure Family downloadable User Guide PDF

Learn how to set up parental control on iOS and Android devices 

 

  • Android: 

 

  1. Family Link: Set up parental controls for Android devices through Family Link. 
  2. Google Play: You can also restrict what content your child can download or purchase from Google Play on their Android device.  

 

  • Apple iOS: Manage your child's iPhone or iPad's content, apps, and settings with Screen Time. 

 

 Learn how to set up parental controls for streaming on TV services 

 

  • DIRECTV STREAM: Set up content controls for streaming content from DIRECTV STREAM.
  • U-verse TV: Set up parental controls on U-verse TV to block specific stations, On Demand purchases, and limit access. 

 

Setting up parental controls for AT&T home Wi-Fi internet 

 

The AT&T Smart Home Manager is an app that helps you set up and manage access to your home internet. It has built-in content controls that work with select Wi-Fi® gateways and All-Fi™ Hubs. 

 

Learn how to set up parental controls for gaming on game consoles and other devices

 

Set up and manage your child’s video game use.

 

*Download the Secure Family app to your device for free. After the first 30 days, it’s $7.99/mo. (includes support for up to 10 family members and up to 30 devices). Renews monthly; auto billed to your AT&T account. Cancel anytime.

Are parental controls enough to keep my kid safe online?

Parental controls are a vital aspect of your kid’s online safety. However, they can’t work alone or replace parental guidance and additional actions you can take to help keep your kid safe while using online devices.  

 

Here are some things to consider in addition to using setting parental controls: 

 

  • As potential online threats continually evolve and change, it’s important for you—as a parent—to acquire cyber-awareness and keep up-to-date regularly to understand common online and device safety threats. Cyber Aware is AT&T’s portal dedicated to promoting cybersecurity awareness and education.  

  • It’s important as a parent to also educate yourself on the newest online trends. AT&T ScreenReady® provides parents with information and useful tips and resources to help expand your knowledge about what your child is likely watching and playing. 

  • Creating a personalized family media plan with house and family rules and expectations is a great tool to manage your kid's exposure to media. Setting media priorities and explaining the outcomes if they don't follow the rules can help you and your children control media exposure in a way that best suits your family.  

 

Regular, casual conversations with your kid about their online experiences can effectively help raise their awareness of online safety. This way, you can teach them about common threats, what to avoid, how to be watchful and handle harmful content and activity (such as cyberbullying), and more. And don’t forget to encourage them to come to you and talk about anything they find disturbing online. For tips and information about having ongoing conversations with your child to keep them safe and healthy—online and off— visit AT&T ScreenReady® and HealthyChildren.org.

Schedule screen downtime 

You can set a schedule for screen downtime or Wi-Fi suspension using parental controls to enforce screen time limitations on your child's device.  

Here’s how: 

 

 

Remotely block or suspend the device temporarily 

For more drastic measures, usually reserved for when your child loses their phone or it gets stolen, you can temporarily block or suspend the device remotely.

Here’s how: 

 

  • Via your myAT&T account:  

 

  1. Sign in to myAT&T account overview. 

  2. Scroll to My devices and choose Manage device or Manage plan & device. 

  3. Go to Options & settings and select Suspend wireless service. 

  4. Choose a reason and select Suspend

  5. Follow the prompts to suspend your service.  

 

Learn more about how to block or suspend the device remotely via myAT&T 

 

  • Via the device settings:  

    • Apple devices: If you have an Apple device, you can completely lock your child’s device with Lost Mode in the Find My app or iCloud. Keep in mind that if your child knows their device’s numeric passcode or the password for their Apple ID, they’ll be able to unlock it. Check out Apple’s guide on how to do it. 

    • Android devices: Androids’ solution for remotely locking your child’s device is through Digital Wellbeing and installing the Google Family Link app. To enable remote management, you’ll be asked to connect your child's device to your own. But be aware that locking your child’s device works only with Android 10 and up. 

 

Note that when blocking the device, your child won’t be able to use cellular service except for calling 911 (Emergency Services) and 611 (AT&T customer care). Yet, a disabled device still has data access when connected to a Wi-Fi® network.  

 

Remotely turn cellular data off and on for eligible devices 

 

You can also opt to remotely turn the cellular data off and on for your child’s device. Although less strict than blocking or suspending a device, this action is usually helpful when you or your child is close to your data plan limit. Turning off data means it’ll stay off until the end of the current billing and reactivate at the start of the next billing period. Also, you should note that your child can still connect to Wi-Fi. 

Here’s how to via myAT&T: 

 

  1. Log in to myAT&T account. 

  2. Go to your wireless data usage. 

  3. Scroll to Usage options and select Manage data. 

  4. Turn data Off or On for the devices you want to manage. 

  5. Select Save. 

 

Learn more about remotely turning data on and off a device 

 

Aside from managing media time by setting up physical limitations on the device or cellular or Wi-Fi networks, it's also recommended to establish family rules and expectations on the matter. We explore this in more detail further in the article.

 

Can kids know they’re being monitored? Can they change settings or delete the app? 

 

If you wish to monitor your child's online activity undetectably or prevent them from changing the privacy settings on the device, it is possible. Of course, it’s not foolproof, and some kids are resourceful enough to learn about their parents’ monitoring activity and even find solutions against it.  

 

Some common ways kids try to avoid parental controls can include: 

 

  • Deleting unrecognized apps suspected of tracking 

  • Turning off their device geolocation 

  • Using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) 

  • Using an anti-spyware app 

  • Using a private browser  

  • Borrowing devices of other kids for unauthorized media consumption 

 

AT&T Secure Family app provides the opportunity to restrict the Secure Family app from being deleted but their experience will differ depending on their device type: 

 

  • iOS: The child will need to enter a passcode (determined by you during app setup). If your child still manages to uninstall the app, you’ll see tamper alerts in your Secure Family app notifying you of an issue with the child’s permissions.  

 

Knowing kids may try to change the device’s privacy settings, Apple has enabled parents to set a four-digit passcode to prevent the child’s access to these settings. Unfortunately, Android does not yet have a similar solution via Google's Family Link. 

 

Monitoring your child’s online activity—a moral dilemma  

Monitoring your child’s media usage raises a moral dilemma for many parents. On the one hand, it’s important to keep tabs on kids’ entertainment consumption to detect potential threats and set healthy behavioral boundaries. On the flip side, many parents value their kid’s privacy. As such, they don’t want to break the trust between them and their child by monitoring them covertly—or even openly, as the child may see it as a sign of mistrust.  

For this reason, parental controls include settings tiers adapted to your child’s age range. This way, you can gradually evolve your monitoring activity and set different levels of restrictions as the child matures, helping them develop their individualism with time. Doing so in tandem with openly discussing this with your child and setting ground rules will likely increase their trust in you. Yet you’ll still be able to control certain aspects if they step out of boundaries.  

While some third-party app companies use parents' fears to promote covert monitoring with their app, Secure Family isn’t intended to be hidden from your child. In fact, like other parental control companies that encourage open dialogue, it allows the kids to be involved in their screen time management. This teaches them good online habits and how to regulate their media usage independently. Your child will even have their own dashboard screen, which shows, amongst other things: 

 

  • Content filter status for their profile (High, Medium, or Low) 

  • Current internet access status 

  • Number of devices being managed 

  • List of rewards (if granted) 

  • List of time limits (if configured) 

  • Countdown to bedtime (if configured) 

  • Countdown to off time (if configured) 

  • The top three app and website usage totals 

  • History of their devices’ locations 

  • Current location(s) of their device(s) on a map 

 
However, keep in mind that with Secure Family, you won't be able to view the contents of your child's text messages or control who they call or text. You’ll also be unable to block calling or text messages from the AT&T wireless service, including Android text messages and iPhone iMessages. On the other hand, it has an option to block third-party messaging apps like WhatsApp and FaceTime. If you wish to block specific numbers from calling or texting your child, you can install AT&T ActiveArmorSM mobile security app on your child’s phone.

Secure Family also has family tracking features that help your kid feel involved with other family members' whereabouts, increasing their sense of security. Your child will be able to see and access: 

 

  • Check In button 

  • SOS Family Alert button 

  • Minimized Family Map showing all family members’ locations and a link to maximize the map view 

 
Read more about the CDC’s recommendations about parental monitoring.