3 things to configure on your child's new Android mobile

The first thing you have to do when you leave a new Android mobile in the hands of your son or daughter, especially if he inherits it from you or someone else, is to make the relevant settings on this device to ensure that it does not do anything that it should not.

Surely it has taken time for you to decide to take the step of giving your children a mobile, perhaps by your own decision or because they have asked you, or simply because it is more practical. One of the reasons why this decision is usually delayed is because of the fear of what the children can do for him or that they are victims of some danger of which they are not aware due to their age or ignorance. For this reason, it is so important for parents to make decisions before the long-awaited smartphone is delivered to maintain their privacy and security in the use of the phone while they have the possibility of checking that everything is going well.

3 things to configure on your child's new Android mobile

Therefore, we will tell you what are the main things you should do before giving your new mobile to your son, daughter, nephew, niece or any minor. Do you want to discover what they are?

Prepare the applications

Before giving the mobile to your son or daughter, it is best that you already have it prepared and configured so that everything is perfectly when you are going to use it. Download the necessary applications , block some if you don’t want them to be used (for example, WhatsApp with fingerprint) and delete the ones you don’t think are necessary on the phone. It’s best to get rid of anything you don’t need. You can do the latter in Phone Settings, Applications, Manage and select the one you are interested in to finally uninstall or by clicking Uninstall and choosing the apps you do not want to keep.

One of the main reasons why you should download the apps and games you need for your child is so that you can find what is designed for their age, install them safely, preventing them from installing what is not, and you can configure them to measure. You can frequently check that these applications are there and not others.

Don’t forget YouTube Kids , an application for the little ones in which they can enjoy the content they like in a safe way. There are many others that you can have to increase the fun and learning options for the little ones, so spend some time getting your phone ready. You can also use its security and parental control options to increase security.

youtube kids

Set up Google Play

The first thing you should do is make the appropriate settings in the Android application store so that you do not access content that you should not, so that you cannot download something that is not appropriate for your age and to avoid micropayments that can give you more than one pain. head This will allow you not to make unwanted actions or requests that you should not, with the consequent expense that this could entail.

Parental controls on Google Play

To do this, the first thing you have to do is go to the application store , where you will already have a Google account that you have created for the occasion or that you already had and are going to use on this smartphone. From there you will go to Settings, the Family section and Parental Controls. The first thing you have to do is activate it. It will ask you for a PIN through which you can change the configuration whenever you want. Once you enter and confirm again, parental control will be activated. From there you can set content restrictions on apps and games and movies.

control parental google play

In applications you will find the PEGI classification , from PEGI 12 as the most restrictive option to allow all content. There are also PEGI 7, PEGI 12, PEGI 16 and PEGI 18. Click on the desired option depending on the age of your child and hit save.

In movies you will do the same, but from the most restrictive option that is SUITABLE to allowing all content. The other options are 7, 12, 13, 16 and 18, as well as Movie X. Select the desired option and hit save.

control parental activado android

Restrict micro transactions

Once you have done it, you will have to go to the Settings to configure this section of the purchases. From Settings, you will go to Authentication and from there you will confirm the option Request authentication to make purchases. In this case, you will have to indicate the option For all purchases made through Google Play on this device.

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Although you can request that it never do it or every 30 minutes, it is better that it always check it. Thus, every time you want to make a purchase, you will be asked to identify yourself with your account, and if you do not do so, the purchase will not be made. In this way, you add a layer of security to application purchases, which can even be made from the same game or application.

Digital Wellbeing and Parental Controls with Family Link

Another thing you should do on your children’s new mobile is to download and install Family Link , Google’s parental control application with which you can remotely control their device. You can do it on mobiles with a version of Android 4.4 KitKat or later, while your child’s new mobile must have at least Android 7.0 Nougat or later. This tool works through your Google account . To do this, you are going to link the Google account that the mobile has configured so that the data or blocks that you configure are carried out where this account is used.

family link

With it, you will be able to monitor the time that your child spends on the mobile, in an application, what use is made of it and you can even set time limits. You’ll be able to find out where their device is, set SafeSearch to block searches , review app permissions, turn YouTube Kids Safe Search on and off, and more. You just have to manage and configure it to get the most out of it.

If you want more control over Digital Wellbeing and parental control, you can do so from your phone’s Settings where you’ll see parental control options, sleep mode and distraction mode, as well as options to reduce interruptions and Family Link parental control of Google.

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There are other parental control tools you can turn to, but the options provided by Google itself are easy to install, use, and configure.