Described by many as a handheld computer, the iPhone has a range of features beyond taking photographs, making phone calls and sending text messages. Through Apple’s iOS mobile operating system (the software that powers an iPhone), users can also use the App Store, which gives them access to millions of apps – from TikTok to Minecraft to Apple Music. The iPhone includes a digital assistant, Siri, which can respond to written or spoken commands.
Recent iPhone models include artificial intelligence technology to make communication with Siri more natural and relevant. It also aims to assist users in daily tasks such as managing their calendar, as well as writing emails or creating images and videos.
iOS does have parental controls available to help parents block or limit specific apps on their child’s iPhone as well as restricting features such as location sharing.
Parental controls can be accessed through the ‘Content & Privacy Restrictions’ section of the ‘Screen Time’ setting on their child’s iPhone. Parents can prevent in-app purchases, control access to age-inappropriate apps and content, manage gaming settings (such as playing multiplayer games), and disable the use of certain Siri and artificial intelligence features.
Parents can set a passcode to prevent these settings being changed. Family Sharing can be used to share Apple subscriptions like Apple Music, but also allows parents to set up an Apple ID for children in their family under 13 and set parental controls remotely (on their own devices). Family Sharing includes the ‘Communication Safety’ setting which can detect if a child receives or tries to send a nude photo or video in several Apple apps including Messages, Facetime and Airdrop. This feature will blur the image, warn the child and encourage them to get help. In recent updates (version iOS 18 onwards), children under 13 will only be able to view the blurred image by entering the parent’s Screen Time passcode, and parents can ensure they are notified when the passcode is entered successfully on their child’s device.
