Google’s Family Link is Now Available for All Users

Six months after it was first unveiled by Google, Family Link is now graduating from its beta testing phase and is now made available to all users in the United States without requiring an invite. For those not familiar with the feature, it is basically a parental control software that allows parents to manage mobile apps, assign screen time restrictions, and even device bedtimes. When it was first announced by Google back in March early this year, it was offered as an invite only program.

Many will agree that it is sort of Google’s answer to Apple’s iCloud Family Sharing Ask feature, which similarly lets moms and dads block or approve whatever new app is downloaded. Moreover, parents are able to monitor which apps their kids are using regularly, by way of weekly and even monthly app usage reports generated by Family Link. The feature also can work through a web browser.

With regards to screen time restrictions, Family Link is a useful tool for parents in managing the number of hours their kids can use a mobile device. On top of that, the feature also allows parents to set device bedtimes, wherein the handset will lock out automatically at a specific time. Parents can even set device bedtimes differently depending on the day of the week, allowing for longer hours during weekends. Despite the fact that Family Link is capable of managing the filtering options of Google’s own apps like the main Google search app or the Chrome web browser, the software does not possess a broader content filtering setting found in other third party parental control apps. 

When the Family Link software was in its early stages, it required both parents and their kids to use an Android powered mobile device. But thankfully last April, Google started making the feature available on iOS powered mobile devices. The feature should work on any device running on Android 7.0 Nougat (or newer version), and iOS 9 (or newer version). For the full list of compatible devices, you might want to go visit this web page.

Basically what makes Family Link different from what Apple is offering is the expanded options. For instance, the Restrictions section on iOS focuses more on which apps kids are allowed to use or access. One can say that Google takes things a bit further by offering time limits, the ability to lock handsets remotely, and for good measure, monitor app activity through the weekly or monthly usage reports.