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iPad User Guide

Customize iPad for your child

You can set up your child’s iPad with parental controls and kid-friendly features. Set downtime and app limits, guard your child’s vision health, protect them from explicit photos, review and approve purchases, and more. You can even keep your child focused on a single app with Guided Access.

👁 The Age Range setup screen. Three age ranges are listed: Child (12 or younger), Teen (13 to 17), and Adult (18 or older).

Set up an iPad for your child

With Family Sharing, you can set up a new iPad for your child and customize parental controls and safety features appropriate for their age.

During setup, select the age range of the child who will be using the iPad, connect to your Family, then follow the onscreen instructions. If your child doesn’t have their own Apple Account yet, you can create one.

👁 A Settings screens with a popover showing Screen Time set up.

Set some boundaries with Screen Time

With Screen Time, you can set downtime and app limits on your child’s iPad. Go to Settings 👁 Image
, tap Family, tap your child’s name, then tap Screen Time.

👁 A screen with a warning that iPad is too close and a suggestion to keep iPad at arm’s length. When iPad moves farther away, the Continue button at the bottom appears so you can return to the previous screen.

Help protect your child’s vision health

To help reduce eye strain and the risk of myopia, Screen Distance reminds your child when iPad is held too close for an extended period of time (available on iPad Pro models with Face ID). Go to Settings 👁 Image
, tap Family, tap your child’s name, tap Screen Time, then tap Screen Distance.

👁 Settings screen showing the Communication Safety Setting turned on.

Protect your child from explicit photos and videos

iPad can detect nudity in photos and videos before they’re sent or viewed in Messages 👁 Image
, AirDrop, and other apps. Your child can get guidance and age-appropriate resources to help them make a safe choice. Go to Settings 👁 Image
, tap Family, tap your child’s name, tap Screen Time, then tap Communication Safety.

👁 The Settings screen, with the Apple Cash Family setup dialog in the middle of the screen.

Set up Apple Cash (U.S. only)

You can set up Apple Cash for the kids in your Family Sharing group, so they can make purchases and send and receive money in Messages 👁 Image
. You can even limit who your child can send money to, get notified when they make transactions, or lock their account. Go to Settings 👁 Image
, tap Family, tap your child’s name, tap Apple Cash, then follow the onscreen instructions.

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