Google Family Link, the UK setup walkthrough

Short answer. Google Family Link is the free Android equivalent of Apple Screen Time. It lets you approve apps, set screen-time limits, see location, and lock the device, from your phone. We’ve read Google’s published Help pages so you don’t have to. Here’s the short version, in five steps. This matters if your child has a smartphone. If they’re on a basic phone like the Nokia 3210, there’s nothing to configure: it can’t run apps, can’t reach social media, can’t browse the web in any practical sense, so there’s nothing for Family Link to manage.

Before you start

Three things you need.

• Your own Android phone or iPhone with the Google Family Link app installed (free, from the Play Store or App Store).
• A Google account for your child. For under-13s you create the account through Family Link, which sets the parental-supervision protections on automatically. For 13 and up, your child can use their own existing Google account and accept supervision.
• Your child’s Android phone or tablet in hand, charged, with the SIM in and signed-in to wi-fi.

Half an hour, kitchen-table job. Do it together with your child, not behind their back: the device is theirs, the rules are yours, and the conversation about that is the bit that makes it stick.

Step 1, install Family Link on your phone

Open the App Store (iPhone) or Play Store (Android), search for “Google Family Link”, install. Open it, sign in with your own Google account, and follow the prompts to set yourself up as the parent of a family group. If you and a partner share parenting, add the second parent as a family member here, because Family Link supports two parent accounts on a single child profile.

Step 2, link to your child’s Google account

On your child’s phone, sign in (or create the new child account through Family Link). The app walks you through the supervision pairing: you’ll approve the link from your phone, your child confirms on theirs, and the device shows a green “Supervised by [your name]” banner in Settings.

If your child is under 13 and doesn’t yet have a Google account, the Family Link flow creates one for them with the child-account protections baked in. The minimum age for a standalone (non-supervised) Google account in the UK is 13, but a parent-created supervised account is allowed from any age.

Step 3, set the basics

Inside Family Link on your phone, open your child’s profile. Four things to set on day one.

App approval. Turn on “Ask in order to install” so any new app download or in-app purchase pings you for sign-off. This is the single biggest day-to-day lever.

Screen-time daily limit. Set a sensible total (most UK parents land somewhere between 1 hour and 3 hours on weekdays; weekends often higher).

Location sharing. Turn it on. Family Link uses Google’s location service, so you’ll see the device on a map in real time, battery permitting.

Device lock. Set a “bedtime” lock that turns the device off-limits between, say, 8pm and 7am. This is the single most useful setting for sleep.

Step 4, set up daily limits

Beyond the total daily limit, Family Link lets you set per-app limits. The published Google Help pages walk through the menu: tap an app inside your child’s profile, set “Daily limit”, and choose the cap. The apps to think about first, where the published evidence on UK adolescent harm is most consistent, are the social and short-video ones. The wider read on which apps to push hard on is at /social-media-age-limits-uk.

You can also block individual apps outright, which is what you’d do if, for example, your child has somehow installed TikTok and you want it gone with no negotiation.

Step 5, what happens when they turn 13

This is the bit Google’s Help pages cover well, and it’s worth reading them before the birthday lands.

At 13, your child becomes eligible for a standalone Google account. Google will prompt them on their device with the choice: keep parental supervision on, or take the account independent. If they choose independent, your Family Link controls fall away, although you’ll be notified.

There is no version where, at 13, you can force supervision to stay on against the child’s choice. That’s by design, and it’s why the first-phone contract template matters: the rules of the device need to be a shared family agreement, not a technical lockdown that expires the moment the child knows it will.

At 18 the account becomes fully adult regardless.

The honest limits of Family Link

Family Link is genuinely good, but it doesn’t do everything.

• It doesn’t see inside encrypted apps. If your child uses WhatsApp or Signal, Family Link can block the app, set time limits on it or allow it, but it can’t read the messages.
• It doesn’t filter web content perfectly. Safe Search helps. A determined browser, particularly via Chrome Incognito, finds ways past.
• A factory reset removes Family Link. A tech-savvy older child who knows their device password can wipe the phone and start fresh. This isn’t a sign Family Link is broken, it’s a sign that the agreement matters more than the lock.
• It needs a data connection to update. If the phone has no signal and no wi-fi, time limits and remote locks won’t reach it.

This is why the Knock position on the smartphone question is the one it is. On a basic phone (Nokia 3210, Nokia 235, Nokia 2660 Flip) there’s no apps, no browser, no social media, and so nothing to lock down. The locked-down smartphone is a sensible answer if a smartphone is genuinely required. It’s not the simplest answer if it isn’t.

The wider take on the smartphone-vs-basic-phone question is at /the-risks and /best-simple-phones. The Apple equivalent of Family Link is covered in Apple Screen Time, the UK setup walkthrough.

Common questions

Is Google Family Link free? Yes. The service is free. Both you and your child need a Google account.

What does Google Family Link actually do? It links your Google account to your child’s, lets you approve or block app installs, set daily screen time limits, set app-specific time limits, see your child’s location, lock the device remotely, and require your sign-off on Google-account purchases.

Does Family Link work after my child turns 13? Yes, but at 13 the child gets the choice to keep parental supervision on or take their account independent. The Google Help pages walk through what changes at 13 and at 18.

Is monitoring my child’s phone the right thing to do? It depends. The Knock position is that on a basic phone (Nokia 3210 etc.) you don’t need to. On a smartphone, age-appropriate Family Link controls plus an upfront agreement (see the /switching-kit/phone-contract template) is the honest middle ground.

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Sources: Google Family Link Help (families.google.com) and Google Android safety setup guides (support.google.com).