Google Family Link

Stay in the loop as your child explores on their compatible devices.

Google Family Link - Parental Control App

"Google Family Link" is a parental controls app designed to help families establish digital ground rules, manage children's accounts, and promote healthy tech habits. The app offers tools for setting screen time limits, guiding age-appropriate content, tracking device location, and managing privacy settings, all aimed at keeping children safer online. With customizable features, parents can oversee their child's device usage effectively while fostering a balanced relationship with technology.
Install from Google Play Store

App stats

Version: 2.44.0.V.720744201 (Last updated: 2025-02-06)
Version code: 811589
Creation date: 2017-03-15
Permissions:
  • android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE
  • android.permission.GET_ACCOUNTS
  • android.permission.GET_PACKAGE_SIZE
  • android.permission.INTERNET
  • android.permission.POST_NOTIFICATIONS
  • android.permission.READ_CONTACTS
  • android.permission.READ_MEDIA_IMAGES
  • android.permission.RECEIVE_BOOT_COMPLETED
  • android.permission.WAKE_LOCK
  • com.google.android.apps.kids.familylink.DYNAMIC_RECEIVER_NOT_EXPORTED_PERMISSION
  • See more
Size: 28.01M

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App summary

Google Family Link is a parental controls app that helps you keep your family safer online. We know that every family’s relationship with technology is unique, so we designed tools like Family Link that give you the flexibility to choose the right balance for your family, and help them create healthy digital habits. Family Link’s easy to use tools allow you to understand how your child is spending time on their device, see their device location, manage privacy settings, and more.


With Family Link, you can:

Establish Digital Ground Rules
• Set screen time limits — Family Link lets you set downtime for your child’s device and time limits for apps, so you can help them find a healthy balance.
• Guide them to age-appropriate content — Approve or block apps your child wants to download. Family Link also allows you to choose the right YouTube experience for your child: a supervised experience on YouTube, or YouTube Kids.

Manage and secure your child’s account
• Protect their privacy — Permissions management in Family Link allow you to make meaningful choices about your child’s data. View and manage permissions for websites and extensions accessed through Chrome as well as apps downloaded on your child’s device.
• Secure their account — Family Link gives you access to manage your child's account and data settings. As a parent, you can help change or reset your child’s password if they forget it, edit their personal information or even delete their account if you feel necessary.

Stay connected on the go
• See where they are — It’s helpful to be able to find your family when they’re on the go. With Family Link, you can locate your children on one map, as long as they’re carrying their device.
• Get notifications and alerts — Family Link delivers critical notifications including when your child arrives or leaves a certain location. You can also ring devices and view the device’s remaining battery life.


Important Information

• Family Link’s tools vary depending on your child’s device. See a list of compatible devices at https://families.google/familylink/device-compatibility/
• While Family Link helps you manage your child's purchases and downloads from Google Play, they will not need approval to install app updates (including updates that expand permissions), apps you have previously approved, or apps that have been shared in Family Library. In addition, purchase approvals will apply only when your child makes a purchase through Google Play’s billing system and will not apply to purchases made through alternate billing systems. Parents should regularly review their child’s installed apps and app permissions in Family Link.
• You should carefully review the apps on your child’s supervised device and disable those you don’t want them to use. Note that you may not be able to disable some pre-installed apps such as Play, Google, etc.
• To see the location of your child or teen’s device, the device must be powered on, recently active, and connected to the internet through data or wifi.
• Family Link parental controls are only available for supervised Google accounts. With supervised Google Accounts, children get access to Google products like Search, Chrome, and Gmail, and parents can set up basic digital ground rules to supervise them.
• While Family Link provides tools to manage your child’s online experience and keep them safer online, it does not make the internet safe. Family Link can not determine the content on the internet, but it can give parents the opportunity to make decisions about how their child spends time on their device, and determine what path to online safety looks best for your family.

User reviews

These summaries are automatically generated weekly using AI based on recent user reviews. Google Play Store does not verify user reviews, so some user reviews may be inaccurate, spammy, or outdated.
Pros
  • Easy to establish schedules and time limits
  • Convenient monitoring of children's devices from parent’s phone
  • App blocking and approval for safety
  • Ability to see location and set safe spaces
  • Good overall management for family tech usage
Cons
  • Frequent glitches and inaccurate data display
  • Lacks detailed tracking and control for specific actions (like messaging)
  • Difficulty in removing devices and poor integration with non-Android devices
  • Inability to schedule lock/unlock times effectively
  • Inaccurate screen time tracking and unable to restrict certain apps
Most mentioned
  • Inaccurate screen time tracking
  • Glitches and outdated data issues
  • Inability to restrict messaging and calling options
  • Difficulty in managing multiple devices
  • Lack of robust control features for parental oversight
User reviews
by Anonymous, Invalid Date

Update: this app keeps getting worse by the day. I unlocked my daughters computer and turned off downtime completely and what does it do? It STILL locked her computer! Hate this app! App was perfect until a few days ago and all of a sudden when I unlock a device the app won't reflect the change and it still shows as locked even after the device is unlocked. So frustrating!!! So changing the app!!! If this continues I'll be looking for another app because I'm losing trust in this app.
by Cash Simpson, 2025-01-15

I really like the app. My only problem with it is the screen time function. Locking down the whole device aside from calls after screen time is up is a pain and my kid can't even turn on the flashlight without me unlocking it. I think that it would be better if it at least had the option to just keep them from getting on certain apps after screen time is up.
by Dacee Gregg, 2025-01-12
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