Overview
- The iOS 27, iPadOS 27 and macOS 27 release, which arrived Monday, September 14, 2026, turned on a new Child Account workflow that centralizes parental controls across iPhone, iPad and Mac.
- Child Accounts, required for children under 13 and available up to 18, are the foundation for the protections and tie limits and approvals to Family Sharing groups.
- Ask to Browse sends a child's request to open a blocked website to a parent for approval and the Ask-style permission model also requires parental OK before adding new contacts.
- Communication Safety now blocks detected nudity, gore and violent content in shared media and extends checks to live FaceTime, with the system designed to run on-device to protect privacy.
- Time Allowances replace rigid per-app caps with a daily budget across categories like Social Media, Games and Entertainment, and Apple cites guidance from experts including the American Academy of Pediatrics while noting some features are region- or model-limited and require every Family Sharing device to run version 27.