Apple Responds to Call to Fight Mobile Addiction

During the weekend, a couple of Apple shareholders -- namely, Jana Partners LLC and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System -- had written an open letter urging the second biggest vendor of smartphone devices in the world to make a more pronounced effort to combat mobile addiction, especially among kids. 

Well, the iPhone maker has since responded to the call. According to a report recently published by Bloomberg, Apple is said to be working on introducing new parental controls into its smartphone products. These controls should better equip moms and dads everywhere in managing the mobile usage of their children more effectively. 

As explained by a spokesperson for Apple to Bloomberg, Apple has always prioritized the welfare of its customers, not only adults but also kids. The company says that it has been its habit to design its mobile devices to also serve as instruments not only for entertaining children everywhere, but also for educating and inspiring kids. Now, the tech giant is renewing its commitment to help protect kids from smartphone addiction by incorporating new features and tools that parents can take full advantage of in tracking their children’s mobile usage.

While it is true that iPhones, iPad tablets, and other iOS powered mobile devices made by Apple already come with parental controls, shareholders Jana Partners LLC and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System still believe that the company is still capable of becoming more proactive in combating mobile addiction among kids. 

Parents nowadays are becoming increasingly concerned about their kids spending too much time engaged in mobile devices. But the good news is that various tech companies are beginning to become more aware of their plight. In March of last year for instance, Google first unveiled Family Link, a software that parents can utilize in order to carefully set up their kid’s first ever Google account, and in the process, make use of parental controls in arranging daily mobile usage restrictions, bedtime limits, and choose which apps their children can enjoy access to. A month later, Google had expanded Family Link’s support in order to include Apple devices. By September of 2017, the feature was made available to all mobile users without having to acquire an invite from Google.

Of course, no tech company can solve mobile addiction on its own -- everybody, the consumers, the industry, have to play their part if we are to protect our kids. But global brands like Apple and Google are in a good position to become catalysts for change, or at least, serve as models for other mobile brands to follow.