You may have heard rumours about the Apple updates that are on their way.
Two of the 12 new features are about to revolutionise family life.
In fact, it seems as if the corporate giant has listened to our feeble cries as we attempt to establish some sort of control over our children's use of technology.
Starting with the widely talked about feature, Screen Time, you're about to have much more power over what your child does on their devices.
Screen Time
We always hear about the consequences of extended screen time but we never hear about the impacts of what our children are consuming online.
This new feature will give you the power to see exactly what your child is doing and looking at on their device, on and offline.
The technology will also provide you with daily and weekly Activity Reports, which details each person's time on each app they use, what apps they frequent and how many notifications they receive.
Furthermore, it even keeps track of how many times your child picks up their iPhone or iPad.
We are all guilty of getting caught up in something and forgetting that our kids are still glued to their iPad.
Thankfully, this will be a thing of the past, as the App Limits feature will allow you to set a specific amount of time your child has on an app, website or category of apps.
As the clock rolls down, a notification will display as time is just about to expire.
The child can request more allowance by pressing 'ask for more', which sends you a message to approve or deny it.
The control and knowledge of your child's moves on the devices from your own iOS device will allow you to understand and tweak your child's usage.
It's bound to start to a conversation about their time and relationship with their screens, and you and your child will be able to establish a meaningful structure for their time online.
Downtime
The second feature you'll adore is downtime. Done are the days of wrestling the device out of their hands as they go to bed.
This feature will give you the ability to block their device so they can't use it, which is ideal at bedtime.
During Downtime, notifications from apps won’t be displayed, and a badge will appear on apps to indicate they are not allowed to be used.
You can choose specific apps like Phone or Books that will always be available, even during downtime or after a limit is spent.
App Limits will allow you to set out the amount of time they can be used for each day.
Additionally, you can establish age limits within the Content and Privacy settings for movies and websites.
Apple has also removed the hassle if there is an app your child needs access to. You can specify that in the 'Always Allowed' setting. Which could come in handy for homework and keeping in touch with them when they're out and about.
The features are account-based and work across all of a child’s iOS devices, so settings, reports and allowances are based on their total usage.
It's quick and easy to set up and who knows, it might even change our relationship with our phones and technology as it's difficult to deny the hard facts of how much time we spend on our devices, when they're in front of you.
The new settings could really change your household and open-up a conversation in your family about screen time.
The update is expected to be available from today.
The update will be available on the following devices: iPhone, iPhone X, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone SE, iPhone 5s, 12.9-inch iPad Pro 2nd generation, 12.9-inch iPad Pro 1st generation, 10.5-inch iPad Pro, 9.7-inch iPad Pro, iPad 6th generation, iPad 5th generation, iPad Air 2, iPad Air, iPad mini 4, iPad mini 3, iPad mini 2 and the iPod touch 6th generation.
