Collaboration for Family Digital Health

Apple has announced a partnership with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) to release a new guide aimed at helping families create healthy digital habits. The resource is designed to help balance screen time with sleep, exercise, schoolwork, and time spent with family and friends. The expert guidance from the AAP has been specifically tailored to work alongside Apple's parental controls in a publication titled “Building Healthy Digital Habits: A Guide for Families.”.

“Every family approaches technology in their own way,” stated Sumbul Desai, M.D., Apple’s vice president of Health and Fitness. Desai emphasized that combining trusted guidance from the AAP with built-in product tools gives parents a useful starting point to adapt to each child's stage of development and decide what works best for their household.

Six Core Steps Outlined in the Guide

The newly released guide walks families through six distinct steps. First, it advises parents to start a conversation about screen time by establishing expectations in a way that helps kids feel included in the plan. Second, it guides parents to create a Child Account, enabling age-based safeguards and giving access to parental controls to manage the child’s experience.

The third step focuses on setting safety settings for websites and apps, which includes features like Ask to Buy and Ask to Browse so that families can review new applications and websites together. Fourth, the guide suggests making a schedule for device use by utilizing Time Allowances and Schedules to balance online time with sleep, schoolwork, physical activity, and family time.

The final steps involve managing communications, where parents can decide who their child can communicate with, and leveraging Communication Safety—which is on by default for users under 18 to protect them from viewing or sharing sensitive content. Finally, the guide emphasizes continuing the conversation as kids grow, offering advice on adjusting the family plan over time.

Insights Across Age Groups and Leadership Statements

In addition to the six-step framework, the guide contains detailed information on the AAP’s screen time guidance categorized by age groups, ranging from infants to teens. This information is intended to help families carefully consider their choices regarding media use at every developmental milestone.

“At AAP, our focus is equipping pediatricians and families with trusted science-based guidance to support informed decisions at every stage of a child’s life, including building healthy digital habits,” said Mark Del Monte, the AAP’s chief executive officer. Del Monte noted that the organization is proud to partner with Apple to expand access to the Family Media Plan, helping parents foster routines that promote balance, safety, and healthy development.

Software Availability and System Requirements

The new features supporting these parental controls are available now with the Screen Time update across iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27. Apple notes that all products within a Family Sharing group must be updated to iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, watchOS 27, and visionOS 27 to fully utilize the Screen Time update. Furthermore, certain features may not be accessible in all regions, languages, or device models. Users can visit apple.com for more detailed information about regional availability and specific product requirements.

For users interested in learning more about broader platform protections, additional details can be found regarding Apple Newsroom announcements and child safety initiatives.

Sources

• Apple NewsroomApple releases new guide to help families build healthy digital habits