iOS 27 rebuilds parental controls around four additions: a Setup Assistant that lets a parent pick exactly which system apps a child can open, Ask to Browse permission requests for new websites, Time Allowances set by app category, and a Communication Safety layer that now steps in before a child sees gore or violence as well as nudity. Apple says the new controls appear after you install the Screen Time update in iOS 27, iPadOS 27 and macOS 27, all free on Monday, September 14.
Apple also says the parental controls section of Settings has been redesigned, and that Screen Time now notifies a parent about passcode activity. The features are described on Apple’s iOS 27 page and in Apple’s child safety press release from June, and they apply to a Child Account rather than to any iPhone.
Key facts: what changes in iOS 27
| Control | What Apple says it does |
|---|---|
| Setup Assistant app choices | Parents “can choose exactly which system apps their kids can use”, offered as essential, recommended or custom sets |
| Ask to Buy | Adds more apps over time with a parent’s approval |
| Ask to Browse | “Kids must request permission to access new websites”, and a parent reviews the request in Messages before approving |
| Time Allowances | Limits set “across categories like Entertainment, Games, and Social Media”, with expert-guided daily recommendations |
| Schedules | Choose which apps are available at different times or days of the week |
| Communication Safety | Blurs nudity in Messages, FaceTime and more, and now intervenes before children see gore or violence in shared images and videos |
| Screen Time | Redesigned parental controls in Settings, plus notifications about the Screen Time passcode |
| Availability | After installing the Screen Time update in iOS 27, iPadOS 27 and macOS 27, from September 14 |
Choosing your child’s apps during setup
The change with the widest reach happens before the child ever holds the phone. In iOS 27 the Setup Assistant asks the parent which system apps the child account gets, and Apple describes the choice as essential apps, a recommended set or a custom selection.
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Apps left out of that first selection are not gone for good. Apple says a parent can add more over time with Ask to Buy, which is the same approval mechanism the App Store already uses for purchases on a Child Account.
Ask to Browse and website approvals
Ask to Browse handles the web the same way. Apple’s wording is that “Kids must request permission to access new websites”, and that “Parents can take a closer look at the request in Messages before approving”, so the approval happens in a conversation thread rather than in a separate app.
Apple lists Ask to Browse for iPhone, iPad and Mac, and names Safari as the browser it covers. It is one of the features Apple says requires the Screen Time update that comes with iOS 27, iPadOS 27 and macOS 27 Golden Gate.
Time Allowances, schedules and where each control works
Time Allowances are category budgets rather than per-app timers. Apple names Entertainment, Games and Social Media as example categories and says the system offers expert-guided daily recommendations, with Schedules controlling which apps are available at particular times or on particular days.
| Control | iOS 27 (iPhone) | iPadOS 27 (iPad) | macOS 27 Golden Gate (Mac) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setup Assistant app choices | Yes | Yes | Apple does not list it |
| Ask to Browse | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Time Allowances | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Schedules | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Communication Safety with gore and violence | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Apple has not published step lists for any of this yet. The Apple Support guides on the site are still written for iOS 26, so the exact taps and the names of the Settings screens may differ once iOS 27 arrives on September 14.
What Apple has not said
- Whether an existing Child Account gets the Setup Assistant app choices retroactively, or only a device set up fresh on iOS 27.
- The full list of Time Allowances categories beyond Entertainment, Games and Social Media, or the age ranges the daily recommendations assume.
- Whether Ask to Browse extends to third-party browsers. Apple names Safari.
- How Communication Safety decides that an image contains gore or violence, or whether that detection runs on-device.
- Which regions and languages get each control. Apple’s pages say only that some features may not be available everywhere.
- A separate date for the Screen Time update, beyond it arriving with iOS 27, iPadOS 27 and macOS 27.
All three updates are free on Monday, September 14, and every current iPhone from iPhone 11 upward can install iOS 27. Our iOS 27 release date guide lists the rest of the update, the event recap covers the September 9 announcements, and the iPhone 18 Pro ships with iOS 27 already installed on September 18 from $1,199.
