While gaming consoles are good “babysitters” and a source of enjoyment for kids, you also need to be able to manage the screen time of your children. Especially now when a lot of kids are home and also during the holidays, it’s important for parents to set some ground rules when it comes to games and other forms of digital entertainment. The Xbox Family Settings app is available for families through their Android smartphone and now there are two new features that parents can use to make life a bit easier.
While you could set how much screen time the kid can have during the day, there are times when you want or need to press pause even if they still have some time left. Now you can literally do that with the Pause Screen Time feature. Basically, you can temporarily pause their usage of the Xbox if you need them to finish their homework or do chores. Their screen time resumes when you decide they can play again.
Another new feature that they’re bringing to the app that’s coming from the console and PC is Ask to Buy. From the name itself, you know that if you turn on this setting, your children can request that you buy this game for them. They’ll receive a notification with a link to more information about the game and they can choose to approve or decline the purchase. You will also be able to see a list of approved purchases which can help you decide whether or not to given in to this request.
The app already has a lot of features that can help you manage your family’s Xbox playing. You have the aforementioned screen time limits, content filters that can be based on the age of each child, friends list where parents can approve or decline people, and of course activity reports. Basically, the app is the more mobile and convenient way to make sure your kid or kids are not spending too much time with Xbox.
If you have an Xbox and you have kids, you should download the Xbox Family Settings app for free from the Google Play Store. The updates seem to be rolling out to users already.
