Apple's child safety suite is now available, arriving as part of the iOS 27, iPadOS 27 and macOS 27 updates. The features were first shown off in June, and the company has now shipped them to users. The tools cover web browsing, shared media, video calls and app access, aimed at giving parents more control over what younger users can do on Apple devices.
The headline addition is Ask to Browse, which lets parents require their approval before a child opens a new site in Safari. When the feature was previewed earlier this year, it was set to be on by default for children under 13 and to work across iPhone, iPad and Mac. At that preview, Apple said it would work alongside Ask to Buy, the existing approval step for downloading apps and making in-app purchases, with both enabled by default on under-13 accounts and extendable to teens.
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Communication Safety has been widened. It now blocks gore and violent material as well as nudity in media that children share, and the protections reach into live FaceTime calls. Previously, the feature blurred nudity in Messages and FaceTime.
Screen Time has been rebuilt around age-tailored Time Allowances, which set guidance for categories such as Social Media, Entertainment and Games rather than one blanket limit. The redesigned dashboard shows usage at a glance, and one-tap controls let parents adjust access in the moment. Setting up a new child account is also simpler, with recommended essential apps offered during setup. The Family Media Plan is being adapted into a parent guide, and Apple has launched a dedicated child safety website.
There is a catch for households that share devices through Family Sharing: every device has to be updated before the Screen Time changes work. The required updates are iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, watchOS 27 and visionOS 27. Apple says some features may not be offered in every region, language or model, and points users to its website for availability details.
The rollout follows the broader software platform updates that also brought Siri AI and Apple Intelligence, and comes after App Store submissions opened for the latest operating systems.
The child safety push has been building since the June preview, when Apple also introduced a Declared Age Range API for developers and outlined child accounts for under-13s that can be used up to age 18, with existing devices convertible to child accounts. Sumbul Desai, Apple's vice president of Health and Fitness, said the aim is to help families "establish those healthy digital habits using our child safety features."
