Google's Family Link Parental Control App Expands To Teen Users

Google has announced some new upgrades to its Family Link parental control app for Android smartphones. The new Family Link experience will soon have Chromebook support and the parental controls have now been expanded to teen users.

Google’s Family Link app launched last year as a way for parents to monitor and control when and how their children interact with their Android phones. This includes locking kids out of their devices and setting up bedtimes. With Google’s latest update, Family Link’s core features are now applicable to teenagers.

“Family Link originally launched for kids under-13, but we’ve heard overwhelmingly from parents that the app is still useful as their kids enter their teen years,” Google stated on its blog. “This week, parents around the world will be able to use Family Link to supervise their teen’s existing Google Account for the first time.”

There is one major difference with how Family Link works for teens. Teens are actually able to turn off parental supervision features whenever they want. When this happens, parents are notified immediately when one of their children turns off the Family Link feature. Another thing to point out here is that both the parent and the child must consent before any type of monitoring begins. This new feature should be available to all users worldwide and users will only need to have a Google account.

Google also announced that Family Link will now work on Chromebooks. Parents will be able to set website restrictions and account settings for their children, according to 9To5Google. Google said that Family Link support for Chromebooks will also allow parents to set screen time limits and manage apps that are installed. The latter isn’t available yet, but the company said it will arrive “soon.”

Family Link will soon have support for Google Assistant voice commands. Parents will be able to lock their children out of their devices by simply saying, “Hey Google, lock [child’s] phone.” Once that voice command is given, kids and teens will only have five minutes to finish whatever they’re doing before their phone locks them out, according to The Verge.

Google accounts linked to the Family Link app will also include family-friendly content. Google Assistant will also be able to recognize children’s voices. If it recognizes a kid’s voice, it will only provide a kid-friendly response. Google Assistant integration with Family Link will be available in the U.S. starting next week.