When you’re a parent of a child using an Amazon Fire tablet, there are a few things you need to know in order to make sure your child is safe and happy. One of the most important things you can do is set up parental controls on the tablet. This will help you keep track of what your child is doing and who they are talking to on the device. You can also create a child profile for them so that you can easily find them when needed. Finally, be sure to keep track of your child’s screen time and use these controls in order to ensure that they are getting enough sleep.
Parental Controls vs. Child Profiles
RELATED: How to Turn an Android or Fire Tablet Into a Kid-Friendly Device with FreeTime
You can lock down your device in one of two ways. There are parental controls, and there are child profiles that use Kindle FreeTime. Both are intended for locking down your device and restricting what your kids can do, but they take different approaches.
This doesn’t require you to set up any other account. Effectively, it’s a restriction placed on the current account that can’t be removed unless you know the password. You can just activate parental controls, set a parental control password, and access to sensitive content can be restricted. You can then hand the tablet to a kid and let them use it as they wish.
Enable Parental Controls
To activate parental controls, open the “Settings” app — swipe down from the top of the screen and tap “Settings.” Tap the “Parental controls” option under Personal. Activate the “Parental Controls” slider and you’ll be prompted to create a parental control password. This password is necessary for enabling, disabling, or configuring parental controls. You can change it from this screen later — assuming you know the current password.
While parental controls are enabled, you’ll see a lock icon on the notification bar at the top of the screen. To disable them, pull down the notification shade at the top of the screen, tap the “Parental controls are enabled” option, and then enter your password.
You could leave parental controls enabled except when you want to use the tablet yourself, ensuring your kids can’t make purchases, mess with your email, watch age-inappropriate videos, or browse the web — depending on which options you choose.
Create Child Profiles
RELATED: Use Kindle Family Library to Share Purchased eBooks With Family Members
Open the Settings screen and tap “Profiles & Family Library” under Personal to create new profiles and manage existing ones. This uses your configured “Family” and works along with Kindle Family Sharing.
You’ll be able to choose which content you want to share, and you can tap the child’s name later to add more controls. For example, you could set up daily time limits, choosing when the child is allowed to use the tablet and for how long they can do different things on it.
From the lock screen, you or anyone else with the tablet can tap the profile picture at the top-right corner of the screen and select a new user to switch users. You can also pull down the quick settings menu while signed in, tap the profile picture, and select a new user account.
To view information about how your child has been using the tablet, you can open the “FreeTime” app.
