Lack of parental controls on Apple Arcade

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Level 1

74 points

Lack of parental controls on Apple Arcade

I've just discovered today that despite having purchases turned off in the AppleTV settings, the kids have been able to go to the Arcade and download any games they want. Since the kids are younger, they can't play all the games effectively and therefore get frustrated...causing meltdowns.

No problem, I thought. I'll just delete the Arcade app. Can't do that. No problem, I thought. I'll just adjust the maturity controls to limit access to certain game types. Hahahaha. Nope. Doesn't exist. No problem, I thought, I'll just remove the subscription. But since I have the One Apple subscription package, removing the Apple Arcade subscription ADDS $20/month to the previously $30/month package. Fine I say, I'll treat this as a "cost of adding quasi-parental controls". Now I can't use the Apple Arcade on any device I own, but so be it. At least no more meltdowns, right?

Hopefully. Who knows... the subscription has to run its course through the rest of the month (another 25 days) before it expire and (hopefully) becomes non-accessible.

I'm furious. I can't honestly understand why in 2021, at least a DECADE after the whole "kids are accidently buying $1000 worth of cookies through Alexa" debacle we're still dealing with nonsense. Who in their right mind agreed to launch a GAMING platform without the slightest bit of parental controls? Seriously... that's like launching a new model of car and forgetting to put in a passenger seat. Car still works, and a passenger can still ride, but they sure as anything aren't going enjoy the experience, no matter how peppy the car is.

Ridiculous.

Posted on Dec 5, 2021 7:24 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

brbo

Level 8

35,110 points

Dec 5, 2021 9:23 PM in response to sink

Hi sink,

Thank you for posting in the Apple Community, and for explaining so well.

We are all Apple Users here, like yourself, with some of us doing our best to help troubleshoot.

Apple do want people to be happy with their products.

Apple support have various articles online that may (or may not) help:

Parental controls for Apple TV+ on the web

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201060

Restrict access to content on Apple TV

https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/tv/atvbbaf126df/tvos

Restrict access to content in the Apple TV app

https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/tvapp/atvb5408f9ae/web

________________________________________________________

Use parental controls on your child's iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201304

_______________________________________________________

What is Family Sharing?

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201060

Family Sharing on Apple TV

https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/tv/atvb26e8f089/15.0/tvos/15.0

__________________________________________________________

Set up Family Sharing on Mac

https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/mac-help/mh3d6eb198/mac

Turn on "Ask to Buy" for Family Sharing purchases on Mac

https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/mac-help/mh4fbc04939b/12.0/mac/12.0

Manage a Family Sharing group on Mac

https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/mac-help/mh5a9bb78c90/12.0/mac/12.0

All the best :-)

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Answer 2

brbo

Level 8

35,110 points

Dec 6, 2021 6:16 PM in response to sink

Thank you for your detailed info.

I guess everyone sets things up in their own way, customising their choices.

For anyone interested, it may be useful to browse and get-to-know all the options.

Here's a link to the:

Apple TV User Guide:

NB: To view a list of topics. leading to detailed articles,

click on "Table of Contents" at the top of the page that opens from the link.

You can choose your tv OS version at the top of an article, for the most accurate info.

https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/tv/welcome/tvos

__________________________________________________________

Eg:

The article: "Set up multiple users on Apple TV"

Says:

"You can share your Apple TV with multiple family members so that each person can access their own customised content preferences and accounts for the Apple TV app, Apple Music and App Store. After adding family members to your Apple TV, you and your family can switch between account profiles to create personal viewing experiences."

Then, lower down, one of the choices shows how to change the "default user" in Settings > Users and Accounts.

https://support.apple.com/en-au/guide/tv/atvb59ec8e2e/tvos

and for more, or troubleshooting:

The Official Apple TV support website:

https://support.apple.com/en-au/apple-tv

All the best :-)

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Answer 3

sink Author

Level 1

74 points

Dec 6, 2021 5:43 AM in response to brbo

Thanks for the content and attention. Just in case anyone else finds this thread in the future, let me clarify why this family sharing option is non-functional for my use case:

Profiles.

Well, the lack thereof. When you log into Netflix, for instance, the first screen you see is a simple choice of which profile you want to use. Easy breezy. But since the AppleTV is "on" at all times, so to speak, and turning it on goes straight to the dashboard, to change profiles, here's what you have to do:

Launch Settings from your Home screen.
Click on Accounts.
Click on iTunes and App Store.
Click on the account you want to use.

These steps, for my son with autism is way too complex. And beyond that... why? Why would THIS be the way to develop parental controls on a TV. For a decade? Two decades, the TVs that AppleTV plugs into have parental controls built in by design. Netflix, Hulu, etc all have parental controls.

On the iPhone, I can now remove just about any app I want, including the default Apple apps. This was a change after years of having to be stuck with apps like Stocks I never once have used. Even when I couldn't remove them, it was a minor, annoying inconvenience, considering that the phone is an inherently personal experience... I can just hide the apps.

But the AppleTV? The place where it's an inherently, by design, default shared experience. The family grabs the remote, flips it on and watches TV. Who knows what family member will grab it at any one time. Who knows if they are a child or adult.

As so many people have said, AppleTV feels like a hobby for Apple. And now it feels like it's developed without any actual ethnographic research by developers without kids or families.

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Lack of parental controls on Apple Arcade

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