![]() ![]() Netflix offers good parental controls in the form of a PIN, which can restrict content via four maturity levels: Little Kids, Older Kids, Teens, and Adults. Now let’s take a look at some of the parental controls offered by the major streaming video providers. I just wonder that if your child is old enough to know how to use a computer with Chromecast, then perhaps they’re old enough to know how to get around these controls though. Mac OS X Yosemite has similar parental controls.Ĭhrome, Firefox, and IE also have parental controls, as described in this article. Windows 10 will let you set up a child account where browsing is limited, for example. When it comes to parental controls on Chromecast, things get more difficult since you are relying on a computer to provide the content.īoth Windows and Mac operating systems have built-in parental controls. This is so simple that I wonder why the other set-top box makers couldn’t do it as well! Chromecast You can still rely on the service’s parental controls (for example, protect adult content on Netflix with a PIN). See Apple’s article on Use Restrictions on your Apple TV. You set up a four-digit PIN (they call it a “passcode”), which can be used to limit access to purchases, rentals, specific apps, or content with certain age ratings, where available. Apple TVĪpple TV has the most complete parental controls. Exiting to regular mode requires entering a PIN, so they won’t be able to get to your apps. You decide what content your child can access. If you pay a subscription fee, more content is available. This is a completely “walled garden” that can only access children’s content. If you want to limit content on an app that is not on this list, and that app does not have its own parent controls like Netflix does, then you’re kind of out of luck (unless you create two accounts, which, again, is a royal pain).īut, if you have kids 8 or younger, you can set up a completely separate user experience for them using a built-in Amazon service called FreeTime. Currently, the apps that support this are Crackle, Encore, Food Network, HGTV, HULU, HBO NOW, HBO GO, Showtime, Showtime Anytime, and Travel Channel (there’s adult content on Travel Channel?) More details on Amazon’s article on this. Basically, you can set up a PIN to authorize purchases or to block content on some apps based on rating category. I reckon most people will forget to do this pretty often.Īmazon Fire TV offers a bit more in the way of parental controls, but it’s still not comprehensive. While this works, it makes using the device cumbersome because you have to log in and log out every time you use it. The workaround that some channels recommend for Roku is to create two separate accounts: one for yourself and one for your kids. Other services though, like Hulu, do not offer parent controls at the account level. ![]() Some services, like Netflix, Amazon Video, and YouTube offer some built-in parental controls to a given user’s account (more on this below). It’s somewhat baffling why Roku doesn’t implement this relatively simple feature. So if you have adult-only content on your Roku, you can’t password-protect those channels. The Roku software does not let you restrict access to currently-installed channels via the PIN. You can set up a four-digit Roku Channel Store PIN that will be required to add new channels. Roku has the largest installed base and the most apps, but it is curiously behind the competition when it comes to parental controls. ![]()
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