Although some child restrictions previously existed at Apple, the company is expanding its parental controls and working with the American Academy of Pediatrics to learn more about digital guidelines for children, the company announced at WWDC 2026.
Sumbul Desai, Apple's vice president of health, said during the company's WWDC keynote presentation on June 8 that the guide for parents will help "them establish those healthy digital habits using our child safety features." The company is working with researchers to "understand the impact of technology on children's well-being, and are committed to advancing the science in this area."
Child safety online is not a new discussion. In fact, some countries, such as Australia and Spain, have even implemented social media bans for teens in an effort to curb the negative side of having a digital presence.
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On June 8, the same day as WWDC 2026, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer also pushed for tech companies to find a way to prevent children from sending and receiving nude images.
Here are the changes Apple is implementing in iOS 27 to address the challenges.
Child accounts
Child account parental control features are expanding to block adult websites, only allow access to "age-appropriate media," and allow a slew of parental controls. If your child has an iPhone or iPad currently that isn't on a child account, you can still convert it to one.
Ask to Browse and Ask to Buy
Ask to Browse, a brand new feature, requires a child to ask for permission before visiting a new site. The feature will work with Safari across iPhone, iPad and Mac.
Ask to Buy requires the parent to grant permission before a child account downloads or buys an app. Both Ask to Browse and Ask to Buy are enabled by default for kids under 13, although parents can also turn them on for teenagers.
Parents can control who the child is able to contact on their device. Apple used an example of starting with immediate family, gradually adding in grandparents and then others as the child gets older.
Communication safety
According to Apple, Communication Safety blurs nudity in messages and FaceTime calls and will now "block gore or violent content when detected in shared images or videos."
Time allowances
A recommended digital time allowance will be added for each child account and each application on the device. Apple said the time allowance is based on the child's age and was created in collaboration with the American Academy of Pediatrics' research.