Microsoft’s new Xbox Family Settings App for Android and iOS can help parents manage their children’s gaming activities.

“Today, just in time for the new school year, we are launching the Xbox Family Settings app, which is available for free to download for iOS and Android,” Microsoft corporate vice president Dave McCarthy writes. “Right from their phone, parents[,] and caregivers can easily create child accounts, update screen time limits, respond to notifications, and much more. It’s an easy and simple way to set guardrails on children’s gaming on Xbox One and, come November 10, on Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S.”

Why Microsoft would create this new app separately from its Family Safety mobile app is unclear, but the Xbox Family Settings app does, of course, look useful. After setting it up for your family, you can customize the following for your children:

Screen time limits. Determine when the kids can play games throughout the week and proactively grant additional screen time as a reward.

Content filters. You can set filters based on the age of each child and keep youngsters away from mature content.

Play and communication settings. You can block all access to play and communication with other players, limit access to “friends only,” or grant permission for older children to play and chat with “everyone.” Your call.

Friends list. You can approve or decline friend requests your child has made and view your kids’ friends lists.

Activity reports. Here, you can view daily and weekly activity reports for each child to understand how they are spending their time.

For more information about the Xbox Family Settings app, you can visit the Xbox website.

Download the Xbox Family Settings app for Android

Download the Xbox Family Settings app for iOS

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