Google today announced a suite of new features for parents and kids, including a Family Link redesign.
Google is redesigning the Family Link (Android + iOS) experience for parents that “brings the most important tools and resources for managing screen time to the forefront.” This update is meant to make supervising multiple kids and devices easier.
The “Highlights” tab is becoming “Screen time” with large cards showing key stats and controls, like Lock, setting Time limits, and Schedules. The middle “Controls” tab is getting streamlined and will prominently highlight Google Play, YouTube, Chrome, and Search access. Finally, “Location” benefits from some visual (Material You) tweaks.
Meanwhile, Google in the next week will roll out School Time to Android phones and tablets so that parents can “automatically limit or adjust phone functionality and restrict app access during school hours.” Access it from the Screen time tab > Schedules card > School time. This first debuted on the Fitbit Ace LTE and Samsung Galaxy Watch for Kids.
Google is also rolling out sensitive content warnings in Google Messages. For users under 18 with parental controls for supervised accounts, this is opt-out. (It’s opt-in for all other users.)
Starting in March, “parents will be able to add contacts directly to their child’s device and choose to limit phone calls and text conversations to only these contacts.” This first debuted on the Galaxy Watch for Kids and this rollout will bring it to Android phones.
This spring, the previously announced Google Wallet for kids experience is launching. Parents can add a payment card to their child’s phone for in-store NFC tap-to-pay, as well as see transaction history and remove cards. The app will also support gift cards and event tickets.
Over the coming months, teen accounts will get access to NotebookLM and the Learn About gen AI lab. This follows Gemini, AI Overviews, and Circle to Search.
Finally, Google is testing a machine learning-powered age estimation model in the US and will bring it to more countries over time.
This model helps us estimate whether a user is over or under 18 so that we can apply protections to help provide more age-appropriate experiences.
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