The handover that does not end in a purchase
Handing a phone to a child usually goes wrong in one of three ways: an advertisement leads somewhere unpleasant, a purchase happens, or the child leaves the app and finds messages. All three are preventable with settings that already exist on the phone, and none of them require a paid parental control service.
Ten minutes of setup
- Turn on screen pinning Pins the phone to one app until you enter the code. This single setting prevents the child leaving the app, which prevents most of the rest.
- Require authentication for every purchase In the store settings, set purchase verification to every time. The default on many phones is a thirty minute window, which is how accidental purchases happen.
- Create a restricted profile if the tablet supports it Tablets support multiple users, phones usually do not. On a tablet this is the cleanest answer by far.
- Put the phone in aeroplane mode with WiFi off Offline games cannot show advertisements. This is the crudest and most effective control available.
- Check what the app looks like with no connection Some apps become unusable, some become better. Find out before you hand it over.
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Apps and games that behave
Not perfect, but the algorithm is restrained and the timer works. Set the content level by age rather than leaving it on the default.
On a Samsung device, a genuinely good sandboxed environment with its own launcher and time limits.
Open ended play with no scores, no advertising and no chat. The benchmark other children apps should be measured against.
Free lessons across subjects, with no advertising and nothing to buy.
Language practice that holds attention. Watch the notification settings, which are relentless by default.
For an older child stuck on homework, showing the working rather than the answer.
Revision decks for school subjects, useful from about eleven upwards.
Kart racing with no chat, no reading and a short race length, which makes it easy to end a session without an argument.
Included with a caveat: enormous with this age group, and it has chat and purchases. Only with an account configured for a child and payments removed.
Endless runner, works offline, no reading required, easy to stop at the end of a run.
The other endless runner, slightly simpler, very forgiving of small hands.
Old, tiny, offline, and still immediately understood by a four year old.
Popular and undemanding. Advertising heavy, so this is one to run in aeroplane mode.
Familiar character, straightforward running game, plays offline.
Included because it will be asked for. Lives and purchases make it the one to watch most closely.
A drawing canvas with no account, no advertising and no saving to anyone cloud.
Worth mentioning because the photographs a child takes are the best part of handing over a phone.
What to actually watch for
| Warning sign | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| A browser opens from inside a game | An advertisement escaped the app frame | Aeroplane mode, or remove the game |
| A currency balance appears | In app purchases are part of the loop | Require authentication for every purchase |
| A chat or friends button | There is a route to strangers | Not suitable for unsupervised handover |
| A watch this video for a reward prompt | Advertising is the core mechanic | Fine offline, poor online |
| A request to rate the app | Harmless, but endless | Expect to dismiss it repeatedly |
Pin the screen, require a password for purchases, switch on aeroplane mode. The app list matters far less than those three.
Frequently asked questions
Is a parental control app worth installing?
For a child with their own phone, yes. For a phone handed over for twenty minutes, screen pinning and aeroplane mode do the same job with none of the setup.
How do I stop purchases entirely?
Remove the payment method from the account used on that phone. Authentication prompts can be learned; a missing card cannot be worked around.
Are free children games safe?
The game usually is. The advertising network inside it is the part nobody has vetted, and it changes weekly. Offline removes that entire category of risk.
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