How to use parental controls on your Fire tablet

Whether you lend your 5-year-old child your Amazon Fire tablet to watch Bluish on long car journeys or you’ve just bought your independent 13-year-old their own device, then setting up parental controls is a must. Depending on how old your child is, there are different ways to block certain features on the tablet.

Setting up a kids profile or parental controls can help you feel less worried when your kids are using the Fire tablets unsupervised, prevent your teens from accessing age-inappropriate content like R-rated movies on Prime Video, and keep your toddlers from snapping a thousand pictures of the ceiling while you chase them down the hall so they can go to bed.

We’ll show you how to create a child profile and set up parental controls on your child’s Fire tablet for peace of mind. And if you’re still undecided about which tablet to buy, Yahoo’s Rick Broida says the Amazon Fire HD 8 is a fantastic budget tablet, and the Fire 8 HD Plus is even better.

Which functions can I control with a child profile?

If your child is under 13, you should set up a child profile. For younger children, setting up a child profile is more beneficial because it gives you more control over what your child does on the tablet – for example, limiting screen time and viewing their browsing history. Here’s what Amazon lets you do after you create the profile.

• You can limit screen time and set age filters to prevent children from accessing age-inappropriate content.

• (If you enable Amazon Kids) you may be sent activity reports so you know what your child has been up to.

• You can add or remove content – ​​for example, you can add child-friendly books.

• Disable in-app purchases so your kids can’t buy everything a game suggests.

• Manage access to specific web content to keep them away from inappropriate websites.

• You can see which websites your child has spent time on.

• You can control access to the camera and photo gallery so that your children do not, for example, share pictures with strangers or take up all the storage space by taking too many photos.

• Set a screen lock password so your child can only access their personal profile.

How to create a child profile on your Fire tablet

If you want to give your child access to your tablet (or their own), start by setting up a child profile. This will make the tablet more kid-friendly, prevent children from accessing age-inappropriate content, and may prevent a typing-happy child from spending $600 on random in-app purchases (you’re welcome).

To create a child profile for your little one, according to Amazon, open your tablet and go to the Settings menu. From here, select “Profiles & Family Library” to add a child profile. If you have multiple children, you can create a profile for each one with names and other information. Note that you are limited to four child profiles.

Once the profile is set up, Amazon says you can manage parental controls either through the “Kids Settings” on the tablet or from the Parent Dashboard. To manage the kids profile, tap the adult icon in the top right of the screen, select “Settings,” and enter your passcode.

You can also set up a child profile in the Amazon Kids app instead and continue to choose what your child has access to. If you do this, you can access the child settings by simply tapping the options icon next to your child’s name.

What can I restrict with parental controls?

Enabling parental controls on your Fire tablet for your child ages 13 and up will allow you to restrict access to a number of features. However, keep in mind that even if you set up these controls, adult content will not be removed from the tablet. This content will still be found in apps and games, music, books, and in search results in the Amazon store.

Once Amazon is enabled, you can restrict access to web browsing to avoid sites that are not appropriate for children. You can also disable access to apps like email, contacts, and calendar. If your teen is a shopaholic, you can prevent them from shopping in the Amazon store and the Shop apps.

If you don’t agree with any movies or shows on Prime Video, you can restrict your teen’s access. But remember, you can set up a Prime Video profile for kids so they can still watch family-friendly shows. Just make sure you lock any adult profiles you set up.

Other things you may want to disable for security reasons include the camera and location-based services.

How to set up parental controls on your Fire tablet

To restrict access to the above features on your child’s tablet, Amazon says you need to open the quick settings by swiping down twice from the top of the tablet’s screen. From here, you should see the Settings icon, which you need to tap to go to the profile and parental controls.

You should now see a button that says “Restrict access to current profile,” which you toggle to enable parental controls, then you’ll be asked to enter your password (so your child can’t just go back into settings to turn parental controls off) and you’ll tap “Done” to confirm.

When parental controls are enabled, a lock icon will appear at the top of the screen. So if you glance at the tablet while your child is using it and the icon has magically disappeared, you know it’s time to change your password and start over.

Can you lock the screen of an Amazon Fire tablet for kids?

If you have a toddler who can’t keep their hands off the touchscreen while watching shows and constantly leaves the app, there is a solution. It’s called app pinning (compliments to this TikTok user) and it allows you to disable the touchscreen while your child is using your tablet.

To enable the feature, go to your settings, find “app pinning,” and toggle it on. Next, open the app you want your toddler to use — for example, Disney+ — and click the dropdown icon on the screen to pin the app. A pop-up will open, and once you tap “Got it,” a countdown timer will appear. Before the timer runs out, be sure to tap “Play” on the video because once the timer runs out, tapping the screen will no longer work.

To unlock the screen, you need to swipe up from the bottom of the screen and tap the triangle and square buttons at the same time.

Please note that this option may not be available on all Fire tablets.

How do I prevent my child from making purchases on the Fire tablet?

Once you set up a child profile or parental controls, you can manage what your child has and doesn’t have access to, including shopping and in-app purchases.

To disable purchases, select the parent menu in the top right of your tablet. Selecting Settings from the menu will take you to the Amazon Kids parent dashboard where you can manage access.

How do I turn on Kids Mode on my Fire tablet?

To switch between your profile and your child’s profile, go to the parent menu on the right (the icon looks like two people). From here, you have the option to switch to a different profile – in this case, it’s your child’s profile. Note that you’ll always have to enter your password to switch between profiles, so your child can’t just leave the profile they’re currently on.