In today’s day and age, where each and every child has access to the internet through smartphones, tablets, and laptops, it is very important to control access to inappropriate content that seems to be readily available at the click of a button. There are countless ways to control what your children are watching, one way to do it is to set up parental controls on your devices. Here is how you can set up parental controls on your MacOS in 3 simple steps.
What Does Setting Up Parental Controls Even Mean?
When you set up parental controls, you are essentially limiting the type of content that can be accessed through an account. Most people set up various accounts on their apple devices according to the person who will use them. Setting up parental controls is a very simple yet effective process to protect young children from content they should not access and also improve your Mac’s performance.
How To Set Up Parental Controls On Your MacOS
Access Parental Controls On Your Mac
The first thing you need to do to set up parental controls on your apple device is to click on the apple logo and click on system preferences. Once you have opened system preferences you can click on the logo ( the one is yellow with the two figures on it). Once you have opened the tab with the parental controls, if you have a password on your account, your device will prompt you to enter your password to make further changes.
Selecting The Account
Parental controls can be set up on any account and once you have accessed the parental control tab on your device, the next thing to do is to choose the account you want to apply the parental controls to. Parental controls can be set up in six different categories, namely, applications, websites, stores, set up a time limit, privacy, and so on. These tabs fall under the heading of parental controls and each subheading has further details that can be customized according to your needs.
Setting Up An Account
To set up parental controls, you need to have a separate account for your child/children. If you have only one administrator account on your device, you cannot set up parental controls on that account, you will need a new one. To set up an account you will be prompted by your device to create a new account on which you can set up the parental controls. This account can be controlled by the main/administrator account.
Benefits Of Parental Controls
Protect Your Mac
Aside from limiting access to inappropriate content for children, parental controls also make using your Mac devices safer. By limiting the type of websites that can be accessed on your device, you are automatically controlling the kind of traffic that is directed towards your device. As an added protection at softwarelab.org/best-antivirus-mac, you can also find a list of antivirus to protect your computer from further harm. The antivirus can be downloaded on your device and helps keep your device free from malware and other harmful bugs are viruses.
Track Location
Certain types of parental controls also help you track the location of your children, especially if your devices are connected. Although most Apple devices already come equipped with the feature of Find My iPhone, many GPS apps help you track your family’s location to keep them safe, and in case of emergencies, you will know exactly where they are. On the flip side, parental controls set up using the privacy tab can help limit geotagging in posts on social media and might limit apps using location from knowing the exact location of the device in use.
Keep An Eye On Your Activity
Parental controls can help you keep a track of websites and applications your children are visiting and accessing. You can essentially look up everything on search engines which is a dangerous thing if you are an unsuspecting kid who is genuinely curious. Aside from providing a record for the parents of what their kids are looking up, with parental controls such as Google’s SafeSearch, you can also limit the search results to restrict inappropriate and adult content. Such controls give you peace of mind when your kids are using the internet and help fuel your children’s curiosity without the fear of your children stumbling across content not suitable for their age.
Setting up parental controls on your MacOS is a simple yet effective way to ensure that your children and your data are secured. By using parental controls, you can also stop apps from accessing your financial information for in-app purchases that you might not be aware of.
