Apple expanded its toolkit for parents at WWDC, but pushed developers to step up.
Apple expanded its toolkit for parents at WWDC, but pushed developers to step up.
by Lauren Feiner Jun 8, 2026, 9:48 PM UTCImage: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images Part Of WWDC 2026: All the news from Apple’s developers conference see all updates Lauren Feiner is a senior policy reporter at The Verge, covering the intersection of Silicon Valley and Capitol Hill. She spent 5 years covering tech policy at CNBC, writing about antitrust, privacy, and content moderation reform.When Apple put child safety front and center at WWDC on Monday, its stated goal was helping parents fine-tune their kids’ online experiences and avoid excessive screen time. But amid a global debate over internet regulation, its latest updates also looked like a defensive move in a brewing fight against Meta and other app developers.
Apple announced an expanded toolkit for parents through its child accounts at WWDC, including a greater ability to customize kids’ allotted screen time and the ability to block gory or violent images in messages before kids see them. Raja Bose, Apple’s director of trust, safety, and values product marketing, touted some of the ways Apple believes it can be useful for kids to have access to devices. “On one hand, there’s so many benefits to your child having their own device,” Bose said. “You rest easier since you can stay in touch, know where they are, and provide them with great apps that can help them learn and grow.” But he then acknowledged the risks of unfettered access to the internet before kids are ready.
The company emphasized a few key principles in its presentation of the new child safety features: that parents should be the ones to decide what their kids have access to, that Apple’s recommendations will be shaped by expert research that balances risks and benefits of technology for kids, and that some harmful things on the internet are outside its own control. “While Apple’s powerful controls help parents manage which apps their child can access, and when, it’s developers who play an important role in ensuring kids are getting age-appropriate experiences within apps,” Ann Thai, Apple’s senior director of marketplace platforms and technologies, said during the presentations.
“It’s developers who play an important role in ensuring kids are getting age-appropriate experiences within apps”
