Apple has already sold so many iPhones to adults that it’s now going after kids. Convincing their parents first, of course.
Apple is celebrating with its WWDC 2026. It is the big software presentation event and those at Apple have not wasted any time, presenting iOS 27 and all your news at the beginning of the appointment. However, they have not started with the long-awaited new Siri (Siri AI, from now on), but by delving into the privacy of your system. And not in general terms, but delving into something very specific: child safety and more parental control. It’s a strange way to open a software presentation where everyone is waiting for details about Apple Intelligence, macOS and the rest of the software for the Apple family, but it is something that makes a lot, a lot of sense with that obsession about which Apple has been building a discourse for years. That of security and privacy as a strong selling argument. iOS 27 with strong parental controls. Maybe too strong I don’t have children, but I am too involved in the day-to-day life of video game controversies like ‘Roblox‘ and social networks so that, if I have children, I would be concerned about their privacy. Every now and then a new hotbed of online predators is uncovered with information that makes you want to leave the Internet forever. It’s not an idea that I dislike, but for whatever reason I have to stay online. The fact is that I’m older and quite skeptical of everything I receive on my mobile. Be Natalie on Telegram who doesn’t know me at all, but already loves me madly, or someone who sends me the opportunity of a lifetime by email. But children and adolescents can be much more exposed. That’s where those predators come into play. many times they roam freely by social apps and games and, as I say, Apple has spoken very early in its presentation about privacy and parental control of the iPhone and other devices in the ecosystem. Does a stranger call you? Notify your parents so they can do the appropriate thing. What they have announced is a package of new tools so that parents can not only better control how much time their children spend on their cell phones, but also to better manage who their children communicate with. That is, I am one of those who thinks that education plays a crucial role so that the minor does not spend the day glued to the phone, but if someone wants to send inappropriate content through networks or messages, then education takes a backseat because it is the minor who suffers a direct attack. And that’s where the new protection package comes into play. The ‘Communication Safety’ layer will continue to warn and blurring images and videos that may be considered inappropriate (nudity, for example), but now it also better identifies content that may contain violence. Do you want to enter a new site that is not authorized? Ask permission and a notification will appear on your parent’s device. This adds a layer of security that is very interesting to limit the content to which minors may be exposed. Craig Federighi, head of software engineering at Apple, said the goal is to give parents “powerful, easy-to-use tools to help manage what kids can see, who they can talk to, and when they have access.” The company has assured that they are following a series of guidelines and recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics, which directly states that children under 13 years of age should not have access to social media apps. Notice to know at a glance the approved apps. Although the tools they have presented sound very interesting and can be helpful, I think the best thing they have shown is that everything seems easier to use than before or that in other operating systems whose options may be more hidden or more cumbersome. Allowing easy access to these tools is important for parents to use them actively, controlling both their children’s time with the device and, above all, with certain apps. The censored message. And, obviously, it is one more way to reach a new audience. If years ago they already showed up showing the benefits of the Apple Watch SE like the devices so that the little ones in the family were located, these new security functions are one more argument for parents buy your children an iPhone as that first smartphone. They do not hide, stating that there are many advantages in children having their own device to be connected and available in the Search app, but they know that there may be people sending inappropriate content and that minors themselves have an infinite range of apps that perhaps they should not access. In addition to the options most designed to directly protect the minor, there is also the list of apps that they can or cannot use, as well as screen time. Again, nothing new because there are other companies with parental controls, but Apple has something unique. Because other companies have not been present at an event with global reach to sell the benefits of their parental control system, but Apple gets tired of selling iPhones to adults every year and knows that there is a juicy piece of the cake if it enters the pockets of children. And by convincing parents that their device is the safest, they have gained much of the ground. In Xataka | iOS 27 update: which iPhones it comes to, how to prepare and how to update
