Parents, listen up! Microsoft is now letting parents take control of their kids' game time with the new Xbox Family Settings.
Achievement unlocked: Peace of mind Now you can easily manage your children's console gaming activities from your phone. Preview the new Xbox Family Settings app: https://t.co/MHNe8l0pN0 pic.twitter.com/M1iTT11glU — Xbox (@Xbox) May 27, 2020
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Microsoft getting some serious parenting done
Microsoft is now able to give parents more parental control in terms of their children's gaming habits to manage better the time spent or even the games played by their offspring. The company has recently released a preview version of an Xbox Family Settings app that can be used for Android and 10,000 iOS users.
The app can set limits on a day-to-day basis, has an option to set content filters for each child, restrict unwanted communications with other players, and even view past activity on the console. This might seem too controlling for some, but Microsoft has chosen to side with the parents to manage their kids' time management better.
Minecraft has special treatment
For this massively popular game, Minecraft has a very handy toggle to quickly unlock access for online play in the company's vast world-shaping game without going through all the usual menus of the app. There are might also be similar features added to other games if the feedback is strong enough, Microsoft said.
The app will most likely be available a few months from now and will have more features added on top of what was previously mentioned, like managing your child's friends list. Or to be more precise in regards to the time frame, just in time for the Xbox Series X to be released to make sure that the kids will not be spending too much time on the premium console.
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Sony's Playstation did it first
The long-standing business rival already had the feature that pretty much does the same Microsoft has just recently implemented. Parents can also set it so that kids can't play online games at all, and can only play games offline.
There is also an important option for parents to set in terms of protecting unwanted purchases, which are to set the amount of money a child can be able to spend in the Playstation Store for each month. On top of that, also a restriction on what they can and can't buy inside the Playstation store.
Parents are also given the option to block specific games, applications, as well as disable the Playstation's web browser. In addition to the web browser, there is a filter that you can download from the Playstation Store called "Trend Micro," a web security browser, and has the Trend Micro Kids Safety feature that blocks malicious sites that may be accessed by your kids.
Despite the restrictions, parental control for minors is the responsible way to go, and both companies acknowledge that as well. Hence parental controls are in place to deter computer addiction for kids at an early age.
