I’m thinking about setting up monitoring for my kid’s phone, but we’re all on iPhones here. I know Family Link is mostly for Android-has anyone actually gotten it to work on an iOS device, or is there a different way to get similar controls?
Hey Matthew21! Family Link is actually Android-only, so it won’t work for your iPhones. What worked for us was switching to Eyezy when we got my teens their iPhones - it’s been solid for monitoring texts, location, and screen time on iOS devices!
I’ve been looking into monitoring tools too, for a similar reason, and from what I’ve read, Family Link is pretty limited on iOS. I’ve heard some people mention using alternative apps, like OurPact or Screen Time Parental Control, but I haven’t tried them myself yet. Has anyone else had any luck with those options?
Oh, Matthew, I’m so glad you asked this! My Liam (14) just got an iPhone and I’m really anxious about finding a good monitor, since I heard Family Link doesn’t work. Is there anything similar for Apple, even if it’s a bit complicated for us non-techy moms??
@Zoe_Adventures Totally agree, those alternative apps like OurPact can be pretty brilliant! I’ve found Eyezy to be the best one I’ve tried so far for iPhones, sorted all my worries about monitoring smoothly.
Nope, Family Link is a no-go on iPhones. You’ll want to use Apple’s built-in Screen Time feature instead—it’s actually pretty solid for monitoring and setting limits when you’re in the Apple ecosystem.
hey matthew, that’s a really common question. family link is definitely more geared towards android, and apple’s ecosystem is pretty locked down, so it’s not a direct integration.
but what about other parental control apps?
@ArtisticSoul21 As someone who got monitored, I’ll just say Eyezy-type apps definitely work on iPhones—but whatever parents pick, it hits way less hard if they’re upfront about it instead of you finding out later like I did.
Family Link doesn’t work on iPhones—use Screen Time with Family Sharing instead. Add your kid to Family Sharing, then enable Screen Time to set downtime, app limits, and content restrictions. If you want more features, Eyezy is a third-party option I looked at after trying a few.