How to Set up Google Home Parental Controls?

Nowadays, the information related to any particular subject is available so abundantly that you do not even have to struggle anymore to get it. All of you have to do is to open any web browser of your choice, type in your query and simply hit the search button. Doing this will display a plethora of information regarding your desired subject. In this way, you can always stay well-informed literally about anything in this world. However, the question that arises here is that is this much information equally necessary or good for all age groups at the same time?

Well, the answer to this question is surely a NO. The reason behind this negation is that every age group has a certain ability to grasp the concepts and understand them well. If you will stuff someone with information beyond his capabilities, then that information will definitely not prove to be fruitful for the said person. Similarly, there is a certain type of content that is highly not recommended for children under a certain age. Therefore, you must closely monitor and find out if your kids are having access to any such undesirable content or not.

What are Parental Controls?

Parental Controls refer to all those precautionary measures that you take to ensure that your child does not have access to any of the restricted content i.e. the content which is simply not meant for him or her.

Parental Controls

How to Set up Google Home Parental Controls?

In order to set up Google Home Parental Controls, you can make use of any of the following two methods.

Method # 1- Making use of the General Settings:

In order to set up Google Home Parental Controls by tweaking the settings of your Google Home application, you will need to perform the following steps:

  1. Sign in to your Google Account that is associated with your Google Home device.
  2. Launch your Google Home application by tapping on its icon.
  3. Now tap on the hamburger menu in order to launch it and then select the More Settings option from it.
    Tap on More Settings option.
  4. As soon as you will select it, you will be displayed with a large number of different settings. Just scroll down and then tap on Adjust Settings for this Google Home Device.
    Select the device whose settings you want to adjust.
  5. Now click on the YouTube Restricted Mode option.
  6. Turn on the toggle button corresponding to the field saying, Restricted Mode. This will prevent everyone from watching any such content that YouTube has classified as restricted.
    Enable YouTube Restricted Mode by turning on the toggle button corresponding to it.
  7. Now open the Google Play Music website.
  8. Tap on the hamburger menu in order to launch it and then go to the General section.
  9. Check the checkbox corresponding to the field saying, Block Explicit Songs in Radio. Doing this will prevent Google Play Music to play any unauthorized content.
    Now Block Explicit Songs in Radio by checking the checkbox in Google Play Music website.

By making use of this method, you will be able to control your children from watching or listening to any unwanted content while using Google Home. But these restrictions are so generalized that even you yourself will have to abide by them unless you change these settings otherwise. However, if you want to save yourself from applying and removing parental controls, again and again, depending upon who is using Google Home at what time, then you will be more delighted to make use of the method listed below. Because the following method will allow you to set up parental controls individually for your child’s account. In this way, you can freely use Google Home without any restrictions, however, your child will only be able to enjoy the content that is explicitly meant for him or her.

Method # 2- Individually Setting up Parental Controls for each Child’s Google Account:

In order to set up Google Home Parental Controls individually for each child’s Google Account, you will need to perform the following steps:

  1. Download and install the Family Link application both on your smartphone as well as on your child’s smartphone.
    Download and Install the Family Link application.
  2. Once you manage to install it successfully on both devices, you will be guided to the setup and pairing processes. Just follow all the steps in order to pair both devices together.
  3. As soon as the pairing process completes, on your Child’s Google Account, tap on the three dots located at the top right corner of the account window and then select Sign in to Google Home option. This is done to connect your child’s account with your Google Home device.
    Connecting your Child’s Account with your Google Home device.
  4. Now you will be guided towards the setup process of connecting with Google Home. You will also be asked to train your Google Home with your child’s voice so that it can easily recognize him or her.
  5. After doing all this, launch the Family Link application on your own smartphone and select your Child’s Account from there.
  6. Now tap on the Adjust Settings option and then select Google Assistant.
  7. Finally, turn off the toggle button corresponding to the field saying, Third-Party Apps.

Doing this will prevent your children from accessing any of the third-party applications other than Google’s own applications. And as we have already stated in Method # 1 that you can easily modify the access rights of Google’s own applications simply by modifying a few settings, therefore, you can easily ensure that your child is in a completely safe zone while using Google Home smart speakers.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ayesha Sajid


Ayesha is a software developer by profession and is currently working as a lead developer with Code5. Programming Skills: Asp.net, C#, C/C++, Java, Golang, Android, UML, SQL and Html.