Parents looking for more convenient access to the PlayStation 4 and 5’s parental control settings (you did know those were there, right?) can now download PlayStation Family, Sony’s new app for helping “parents set up and manage their children’s gaming experience on PlayStation – straight from their supported mobile device.”
Many of the controls Sony’s new app offers are already present on the company’s consoles, like playtime and age restrictions. Moving these to a paired mobile device like a tablet or smartphone makes sense. Kids do like to play games when the ‘rentals aren’t at home, and PlayStation Family provides for better monitoring and access control.
Joining the PlayStation Family
That this is possible without logging out of the kiddy profile and into the grown-up one is one benefit. Mom or dad can approve (or deny) requests for more playtime from the comfort of wherever they’re hiding from their offspring. Similarly, they’ll also receive notifications when a game is started up by one of the kiddoes and can even approve ‘forbidden’ games remotely.
Detailed weekly activity reports are also fed through to Sony’s app, giving parents an overview of just how permissive they were when they were distracted by other things. Playtime restrictions can be customised by day — so if Saturdays are worthy of an extra hour of screen time, that can be set up. Wallet balances and monthly spending limits are also under adult control. That should prevent those R10,000 Fortnite purchases, unless little Jimmy somehow gets into the app itself.
A series of age-appropriate presets is included, but parents can tweak and customise each of these to better suit their own situations. Social media interactions are subject to a similarly watchful parental gaze.
“This is just the beginning with our new mobile app – we’ll plan to continue adding enhancements to PlayStation Family app to evolve the experience over time. We hope you’ll enjoy it and we look forward to your feedback,” said Sony’s Cory Gasaway.
Sony’s new parental control app is now available for download on Android and iOS devices.
