Managing a child’s screen time can be a daunting challenge, but Microsoft has launched a new product to make a parent’s life a little easier. The Xbox Family Settings app will offer new ways for parents to control when and how a child can use their Xbox, all from the convenience of their phone.
The Xbox Family Settings was announced in May 2020 when it went into public testing. It officially launched on September 24th, 2020, and is available for free on both iOS and Android. The app currently works with the Xbox One and will also integrate with the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S.
Details from Xbox Wire show how the new Xbox Family Settings app provides parents easy ways to manage and monitor their child’s gaming life. Once a child account has been set up on the Xbox, parents can set up specific windows of time a child is allowed to play games and for how long. They also have the option to add more hours to certain days for special occasions, and can respond to a child’s request for a little extra time. The Xbox Family Settings app also allows parents to establish the maximum rating on the Xbox games a child is allowed to play, and can approve or deny friend requests. The app also provides an easy-to-read graphic of the amount of time a child has spent gaming that week.
Xbox Family Settings App Allows Parental Control on the Go
The fact that all of this functionality is available in a phone app is great news for parents, particularly ones who might be less familiar with gaming systems. A parent doesn’t have to fumble through the Xbox menus anymore, but can set up most of the parameters from a simple app. It also allows a parent to manage a child’s account from another part of the house or from work; if they’re in the middle of making dinner, they don’t have to drop everything to go to the Xbox to handle a request for more game time.
With coronavirus making it more difficult for children to hang with friends or even leave the house, gaming is a natural solution for boredom. The arrival of the Xbox Family Settings app will help a parent monitor how long a child is actually gaming and adjust settings on the fly. Microsoft has promised to continue developing more ways for parents to customize what their children have access to. They’ve already added a specific button to allow parents to unlock the E10+ Minecraft for children who are restricted to E-only games. But for Xbox owners, the Xbox Family Settings app is off to a great start.
The Xbox Family Settings app is available on iOS and Android.
