Add Movieguide® as preferred on Google
By India McCarty
Looking for a way to give your child a smartphone, without giving them access to the web? This journalist has an answer.
“I discovered how to turn an iPhone into the perfect dumb phone for kids, and the best part is, it doesn’t involve any paid-for, third-party apps — just a tool Apple launched back in 2023,” Jeremy White, a WIRED reporter, shared in an Instagram video.
White explained that this discovery came about while he was trying to figure out what his son’s first phone should be. He didn’t want his son to have access to the internet, but an old-school Nokia “dumbphone” wouldn’t have GPS, which was important to White, in case his son got lost.
While the reporter acknowledged that there are third-party apps that can restrict internet access on phones, “it’s galling to have to pay for the privilege of removing access to apps on your phone.”
Related: Looking for Smart Phone Alternatives? Expert Suggests These Options
“However, it turns out that a feature has been hiding on iPhones this whole time, and bizarrely, it’s one Apple barely talks about,” he said, introducing viewers to Apple’s Assistive Access, which Apple’s website describes as a program with “more focused features and a simplified user interface.”
This feature, designed for those with cognitive disabilities, is “a distinctive iOS experience: fewer options, focused features, bigger icons.”
Setting it up is easy; just go to Settings, then Accessibility, scroll down to the General section and hit Set Up Assistive Access.
Parents can then “select the allowed apps” they want their children to have access to. The feature also doesn’t allow for any of the loopholes that other apps and safety features might; for example, “Assistive Access firmly bans unexpected web browsing, even if someone tries to text you a link.”
In an accompanying article about Assistive Access, White did acknowledge that there are some downsides, pointing to the fact that “it does not recognize Screen Time limits and will completely override them,” as well as the program’s “sluggish” pace.
However, White concluded, “It’s nearly all upside and no downside. A customizable, completely safe dumb phone with no monthly fee but with the added benefit of FaceTime, navigation, and Find My tracking, made from a device I had lying in a drawer that slots straight into our family’s Apple ecosystem.”
With Apple’s Assistive Access feature, parents can rest easy knowing their child’s smartphone is a safe device for young people.
Read Next: What Parents Really Need to Know About Giving Their Young Child a Smartphone
Questions or comments? Please write to us here.
Add Movieguide® as preferred on GoogleShare:
- Content: +1
- Content: +1