🛡️ Android Parental Controls

Smartphone Free Childhood for as long as you can. ChildSafe for when you can't.

Most parents wanted to wait. Then there's an older sibling, a school WhatsApp group, walking home alone — and suddenly the phone's in their pocket earlier than planned. ChildSafe is what comes after that. A way to give them the device without handing over everything on it.

🧪 Join the testing programme

When “wait until they’re 14” stops being realistic

A growing number of UK parents are agreeing not to give their children smartphones until secondary school. They’re right to. But by the time the phone actually arrives — at 10, 11, 12 — most parents are on their own, with no plan for what comes next.

ChildSafe is that plan. The technical layer that does the holding when conversations and house rules can’t. Apps you’ve approved. Screen time that matches your family. Content filtered by age. Less of all of it as your child shows you they’re ready.

A few things you should know

Your child knows it’s there.

ChildSafe sits visibly on the phone. We’re not pretending it isn’t.

Monitoring is off by default.

The features that read messages or check notifications are switches you turn on if you want them. You decide which ones to use, and when.

Photos never leave the phone.

When ChildSafe checks for harmful images, it does it on the device. Nothing is sent to us. Nothing is sent anywhere.

It’s meant to do less over time.

The rails come down as your child grows. That’s the point of it.

Different at five, different at fifteen.

A five-year-old with a phone needs a different thing to a fifteen-year-old with a phone. ChildSafe has three modes, and you move through them at your child’s pace.

Young Child

A small handful of apps. No Play Store. Most of the launcher hidden. The phone is for calling Mum and taking a picture of the dog, not the open internet.

Pre-teen

Apps you’ve approved. Time limits that match your family. Adult content blocked across every app, not just the browser. Enough freedom for them. Enough rails for you.

Teen

Most of the internet, with the rails still up. The blocks ease. The conversations get harder. By the time ChildSafe comes off, your child has had years of practice with the phone — not all of it landing at sixteen.

We don’t lock children indoors until they’re seventeen and then hand them a car key. We start with crossing the road. ChildSafe is the same idea, applied to the phone.

What ChildSafe actually does

The detail, if you want it. Each section opens up.

1 🔞

Exposure to Inappropriate Content

Pornography, violence, self-harm content, dangerous challenges

What’s happening

Ofcom research found that children first encounter violent online content while still at primary school and describe it as "an inevitable part of being online." The UK Safer Internet Centre identifies pornography, violent content, and self-harm material as primary priority harms under the Online Safety Act. Browser-based filters only work in one app and are easily bypassed.

What ChildSafe does about it

✓ Adult content blocked automatically across all apps and browsers
✓ SafeSearch enforced on Google, Bing, and other search engines
✓ YouTube restricted mode enforced automatically
✓ 25+ content categories available to block (gambling, dating, violence, etc.)
✓ Block entire platforms by name — TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, Discord, and more with a single toggle
✓ Parents can add custom blocked websites
✓ Domain check tool — test any website to see if it's blocked, allowed, and why
✓ One-tap internet pause for all or individual children
2 ⏰

Excessive Screen Time

Unmanaged device use, late-night usage, impact on sleep and wellbeing

What’s happening

The UK Safer Internet Centre identifies screen time as a key online issue for families. Almost a quarter of children aged 5–7 now own a smartphone, and three-quarters use tablets. Without enforceable limits, children's device use extends into late hours, disrupting sleep patterns, homework, and family time.

What ChildSafe does about it

ChildSafe locks the device when time is up — and your child cannot work around it. Set Bedtime, School, and Free Time blocks for each day of the week. Controls are built into the device itself, so your child cannot uninstall or disable them.

✓ Three schedule modes — Bedtime (full lockdown), School (educational apps only), and Free Time (all approved apps)
✓ Mark specific apps as "allowed during school time" — only those apps are available during School blocks, everything else stays locked
✓ Per-app usage tracking — see exactly which apps consume time
✓ During Bedtime or when quota is used up, the device enters lockdown — only phone calls and text messages remain available
3 😢

Online Bullying & Harmful Messaging

Cyberbullying, harassment, concerning messages about self-harm

What’s happening

Ofcom research reveals that cyberbullying happens anywhere children interact online, with wide-ranging negative impacts on emotional wellbeing and mental and physical health.

What ChildSafe does about it

✓ Keyword monitoring across messaging app notifications
✓ SMS/text message monitoring for concerning content
✓ 12 monitoring categories — with configurable alert levels for each
✓ Instant push notification to parents when critical keywords detected
✓ Context snippets so parents can understand the situation
✓ Curated keyword database informed by child safety research
✓ Add your own custom keywords — monitor for specific words or phrases that matter to your family
4 📱

Uncontrolled App Installation

Social media, gaming, and age-inappropriate apps installed without oversight

What’s happening

Ofcom data shows 30% of parents allow their child to create social media profiles before they reach the minimum age. Platforms like WhatsApp, TikTok, Instagram, and Discord show significant growth among 5–7 year-olds. Once apps are installed, children have unrestricted access to features that may not be age-appropriate.

What ChildSafe does about it

✓ Play Store blocked by default — children cannot install apps freely
✓ App request workflow — child requests, parent approves or rejects
✓ Hide apps from launcher — pre-installed apps hidden until approved
✓ Full installed apps inventory visible to parents
5 ⚠️

Unwanted Contact & Grooming

Contact from strangers, coerced behaviour, sextortion

What’s happening

The UK Safer Internet Centre identifies grooming, sextortion, and coerced online child sexual abuse as critical online issues. Children can be contacted through messaging apps, games, and social media by adults posing as peers. Half of children aged 5–7 now watch live-streamed content, increasing exposure to direct contact with strangers.

What ChildSafe does about it

Multiple layers of protection work together to limit unwanted contact and detect concerning interactions.

✓ Call log monitoring — see who contacts your child
✓ SMS monitoring — review text messages for concerning patterns
✓ App notification monitoring — review messaging app activity
✓ Keyword detection with grooming-specific categories
6 📍

Knowing where they are without ringing every five minutes

Walking to school, friends’ houses, the long way home

What’s happening

Older children walk to school, visit friends, take detours. You don’t want to phone them every fifteen minutes — they don’t want you to either. Most of the time you just want to know they’re roughly where they said they’d be.

What ChildSafe does about it

Quiet reassurance. No ping on their phone. No fuss.

✓ GPS location shown on Google Maps in the parent app
✓ Last known location available even when device is offline
7 🔧

When children try to find a way around it

Factory resets, time changes, safe mode, sideloading

What’s happening

Older children are clever, and sooner or later most will try a YouTube tutorial on getting round their parents’ phone restrictions. The UK Safer Internet Centre notes that many parental controls can be bypassed quickly — with a factory reset, a time change, safe mode, or a sideloaded app. The ones that hold are the ones built into the device itself.

What ChildSafe does about it

Built in at the device level, not bolted on top. Children can try the usual tricks; ChildSafe stays in place.

✓ ChildSafe app cannot be uninstalled by the child
✓ Factory reset protection — if a reset is detected, the device is locked and you are notified immediately. You can approve re-setup or block the device
✓ System time/timezone change detection with alerts
✓ Google Play Integrity verification on every sync
8 🔓

When the rules need to bend a bit

Homework over-running, a video call with grandparents, a school project

What’s happening

Real life doesn’t fit neatly inside Bedtime mode. Sometimes there’s a school project, a long video call with family abroad, or a conversation that needs to keep going past nine. Rigid controls create arguments. Flexible ones don’t.

What ChildSafe does about it

✓ Child requests unlock from the locked device with a reason
✓ You approve or deny from your phone — device unlocks within seconds
✓ You set how long the unlock lasts

AI Learning Buddy — a safe way for children to use AI

🎓 Socratic teaching method — guides children to discover answers
👶 Age-appropriate responses (5–8, 9–12, 13–17 age groups)
🔒 Content moderation on every message — inappropriate topics blocked
🚨 Flagged messages visible to parents with the reason they were flagged
📊 Daily AI message limits set by parents
🔛 Parent-controlled — enable or disable per child
🤖 ChildSafe AI — Learning Buddy
What is 5 × 7?
Great question! Let's figure this out together. If you have 5 groups of 7 apples, can you think of a way to count them? Try adding 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 + 7 and see what you get!
Is it 35?
You got it! 🎉 5 groups of 7 is 35. Well done for working it out yourself — that's how multiplication works.

Smartphone Free Childhood for as long as you can. ChildSafe for when you can’t.

Join the testing programme. We’re keeping numbers small, working with parents directly, and shipping changes weekly based on what families tell us.

Join the testing programme