Doesn't it seem that children gravitate toward the most expensive and valuable items we own, just so they can play with them, break them, or lose them? Although you do need to protect your iPad from excessive handling from over-eager children, you also need to protect your children from your iPad—or at least the adult-oriented content they could access on it.
Since banning your children from touching your iPad is probably not a practical solution, you can turn on parental controls to limit what a child can see on your iPad.
Making an iPad child-friendly involves restricting access to certain features, including playing videos with explicit content, browsing the Internet, watching YouTube videos, playing iTunes, and installing new iPad applications.
To restrict access to certain iPad features, you use a four-digit passcode. The only way someone (including you) can access these blocked features is by typing the correct four-digit passcode.
Note
The passcode needed to modify parental controls can (and should) be completely different from the passcode used to access your iPad, as explained in Chapter 9.
Some of the features that you can block include:
Note
Your iPad can block only those video and audio files tagged as Explicit that you bought through iTunes. If you load an R-rated movie or adult-content audio file onto your iPad that you received from another source, your iPad may not recognize the file as explicit.
By blocking access to different parts of your iPad, you can prevent your kids (or anyone else) from peeking at adult-oriented content, goofing off when they should be doing something more productive, running up charges by installing apps, or burning up time connecting to the Internet through your iPad's cellular telephone network plan.
Finally, you may want to turn off Location Services, which can prevent your iPad from identifying its current location. Turning Location Services on can be handy for using the Maps app, but it can also pinpoint the location of your child (carrying your iPad) as well, which you may not feel comfortable allowing.
To block access to one or more of these features, follow these steps:
From the Home screen, tap Settings. The Settings screen appears.
Tap General. The General settings screen appears.
Tap Restrictions. The Restrictions settings screen appears. Notice that all the on/off buttons appear dimmed since you cannot restrict access until you first tap the Enable Restrictions button.
Tap Enable Restrictions. A Set Passcode screen appears, as shown in Figure 8-1.
Type a four-digit number on the numeric keypad that appears on the screen. A second Set Passcode screen appears, asking you to reenter your four-digit passcode.
Type your four-digit number again. The Restrictions settings screen appears again, allowing you to tap the on/off switches of different features, as shown in Figure 8-2.
(Optional) Tap the on/off switch for the Safari, YouTube, Camera, FaceTime, iTunes, Ping, Installing Apps, Deleting Apps, Dictation, or Explicit Language features. To turn a feature off, tap the switch until OFF appears.
(Optional) Scroll down until you see the Allow Changes category. Then tap the on/off switch for Location or Accounts.
(Optional) Scroll down until you see the Game Center category. Then tap the on/off switch for Multiplayer Games or Adding Friends.
Press the Home button.
Another way the parental controls feature can protect your children is by letting you choose what type of content (music, podcasts, movies, TV shows, and apps) you'll allow on your iPad. For example, you may not want your children to view any movies rated R or higher or listen to any music or podcasts rated Explicit. The following are some of the content you can filter:
In-App Purchases Blocks or allows installed apps to purchase additional content, such as a magazine app that charges a fee for new content.
Ratings For Defines which nation's ratings system to use, such as United States or Germany.
Music & Podcasts Blocks or allows music or podcasts labeled Explicit.
Movies Blocks all movies or just those above a certain rating such as R or NC-17.
TV Shows Blocks or allows TV shows depending on their ratings such as TV-14 or TV-MA.
Apps Blocks or allows apps depending on their ratings such as 9+ or 17+.
To define what's allowable on your iPad, follow these steps:
From the Home screen, tap Settings. The Settings screen appears.
Tap General. The General settings screen appears.
Tap Restrictions. An Enter Passcode screen appears.
Type your four-digit passcode. The Restrictions settings screen appears.
Under the Allowed Content category, tap a button to define what to block, such as tapping the on/off switch to block or allow in-app purchases or to define the movie ratings allowed on your iPad such as PG-13 or R.
Press the Home button.
By tapping the on/off buttons, you can selectively disable certain iPad features. However, if you want to remove restrictions altogether, follow these steps:
From the Home screen, tap Settings. The Settings screen appears.
Tap General. The General settings screen appears.
Tap Restrictions. A Turn Off Passcode screen appears.
Type your four-digit passcode on the numeric keypad that appears on the screen. A Restrictions settings screen appears.
Tap Disable Restrictions. A Turn Off Passcode screen appears.
Type your four-digit number on the numeric keypad that appears on the screen.
The Restrictions settings screen appears again.
Press the Home button.
The main reason to restrict access to different iPad features is to keep your kids from certain content. However, you may also want to restrict your own access to certain features to avoid the temptation to waste time.
For example, suppose you're addicted to the Internet and keep paying way too much for Internet access through your cellular network provider. Simply restrict access to Safari and/or YouTube and remove the temptation from your Home screen.
To make this even more effective, have someone else type in a passcode to restrict your access to certain features. Now you won't be tempted to turn off these features since even you won't have the proper four-digit passcode. (Just make sure that you trust the person restricting your access to your own iPad, or else you may never gain access to those features without completely resetting your iPad.)