Apple Music is one of the best ways to discover music and podcasts to help make your days a little happier.
But, when you have kids, you know that the most important thing is keeping them safe. This is especially true when it comes to using the internet.
So, how does Apple Music stand up when it comes to keeping your kids safe and making sure they are enjoying age-appropriate content?
Here is everything we learned so that you can continue enjoying your music worry-free.
Here’s How Apple Music Is Family-Friendly:
Apple has many really great features to help bring the family together while keeping little ones safe. This is all due to Apple Family Sharing, which works with Apple Music. This allows you to monitor and customize content for children. Parents also have the option to restrict explicit content.
Does Apple Music Have Explicit Content?
When it comes to the actual content that Apple Music offers, plenty of things can be considered explicit.
Most notably, the majority of the explicit content you will find on Apple Music is music that features suggestive lyrics that are inappropriate for young ages.
Along with music featuring a more adult subject matter, Apple Music does feature many podcasts and other content that can be considered explicit.
However, finding this explicit content on Apple Music is rather easy.
This is because all of the content on Apple Music features not only a rating but also a suggested age range for that content.
Music that features swears words and explicit lyrics will be labeled with an “MA” grading. This stands for mature and indicates that the music should not be listened to by a younger audience.
Along with a mature rating, you will also find that Apple Music also has a grading system meant for younger kids that are considered to be “clean”.
Searching specifically for clean music and entertainment is just one of the ways that you can protect your family from having unlimited access to things that are just not appropriate for everyone in your family.
What Parental Controls Do You Have On Apple Music?
When signing your family up for Apple Music, the first thing to note is that Apple Music currently does not offer a complete set of parental controls.
However, this doesn’t mean that as a parent you can’t customize your child’s music listening experience in order to keep them safe.
First, you have the option to turn off explicit content. By turning on this setting, your child will not be able to download or stream content that has an MA rating.
Changing these settings is rather easy through the Apple Music platform:
- All you need to do is open up your Apple Music app and click on account settings.
- If your family is connected through Apple Music Family, from there you can customize each person’s experience.
- To turn off explicit content, simply open up these settings and click the slider to turn this control on.
An important thing to note is that all of these controls are set through your Apple Music ID. In order to create an Apple account for your child, you will have to assign them their own ID.
Once you do this, you can specify your child’s age. This will make it easier to control the type of content that you want them exposed to as well as filter out the music you don’t want.
What Is The Best Way To Make Apple Music Kid-Friendly?
The first thing you want to do to ensure your child is only exposed to family-friendly content is to set them up with their own Apple ID. Just make sure to add this to your Apple Family so that you will be able to have complete control.
Also, through family sharing, you will be able to see what your child is listening to which is a great way to monitor content.
After your child is set up with their own account, you want to go into your family account settings and adjust anything that you desire.
A good place to start is to turn off explicit content. Next, you will want to restrict the amount of time that your child can use Apple Music.
Setting up time restrictions is a great way to help control how much screen time your child is allowed to enjoy.
It is also a great idea to turn off screen time during “off hours” like when your child is meant to be asleep.
This helps to give you some peace of mind in knowing that your child cannot access Apple Music when you don’t want them to.
How Old Should You Be To Use Apple Music?
It is important to note that there is no specific age limit for using Apple Music. However, as mentioned, you will need to connect or set up an Apple ID.
Apple Music policy states that anyone under the age of 13 will need either their parent to set up an account for them or give them permission to set up their own.
So, you are absolutely able to set up an Apple Music account for all of your kids no matter what their age is.
If your child is over the age of 13, they can sign up for their own Apple Music account without needing a parent or guardian to sign off on it.
Also, if your child is over the age of 13 and already uses Apple products – like an iPhone or an iPad, they may already have an existing Apple ID.
Just make sure to add their pre-existing Apple ID to your family plan in order to have some control over the settings.
Since there aren’t any specific guidelines for what age you have to be in order to use Apple Music, it is totally up to your personal discretion as a parent for when (and if) your child should have access to Apple Music.
Does Apple Music Do a Good Job Of Filtering Out Bad Language?
When looking to make Apple Music a safe bet for you and your little ones, the first thing to note is that Apple Music does not automatically filter out bad words and other suggestive content.
If you sign up for an Apple Music account for someone under the age of 13, these restrictions will be turned on. However, for older children, you will need to turn this setting on manually through your account settings.
Another thing to note is that when you turn off explicit content, it isn’t only bad language and swear words that will be filtered out.
Along with curse words, turning off explicit content will also block certain music that has adult subject matter as well as music that is classified as simply just too inappropriate for sensitive ears.
Can You Lock Family Accounts To Filter Out Explicit Content?
You can turn off your child’s access to Apple Music at any time through the Apple Music Family plan.
However, you won’t be able to block your child from searching for certain things, whether or not they will actually be able to play them.
But, this doesn’t mean that you as a parent are completely helpless.
There are plenty of third-party applications that are designed to help you not only control what your child searches for, but will also alert you to any searches that may not be appropriate.
Safe search applications can be applied to any application that you download onto your child’s device. From there, you can make sure that your child is only searching for things that they should be listening to.
So, while Apple Music won’t block certain family accounts or searches, you still have a little bit of control.
Can You Restrict Specific Content For Your Kids?
With Apple Music, you can absolutely restrict specific content that you don’t want your child to have access to.
Most specifically, you can filter out explicit content as well as adult-themed content.
If you are more hands-on and want a little bit more control over what content your child is listening to, you can block certain songs or artists from appearing on their playlists.
- All you need to do is search for the artist or content you want to block and click on the three little dots that indicate song settings.
- From there you can block that artist. This will not only help when it comes to keeping your child from downloading explicit music but will also make it so that certain artists or songs will never show up while your child is streaming music.
This is a great option for kids who like to listen to playlists and random new artists so that you don’t have to worry about something not age-appropriate popping up.
Final Thoughts
The digital age has completely changed the way that we live our lives. When it comes to streaming and discovering new music, Apple Music has made it so easy and enjoyable.
But, with the good can come the bad. This is especially true when it comes to needing to keep our kids safe when surfing the internet.
Luckily for you, Apple Music has some really great tools that you as a parent can use in order to ensure your child’s safety. So, enjoy music without all of the parental worry and guilt.
Sources
Here’s How Apple’s Family Sharing and Parental Controls Work
Explicit Content Slipping Through Apple’s iTunes Radio