Parental locks on iPad, for the iPad the children share

One iPad in the living room often belongs to three children at once. Parental locks on that iPad have to tell the children apart, and the bill has to make sense. Three costs hide behind most lock apps: a second device sold to the family, a count of devices or children, and an app with no price that pays its way another way. Each cost is below, then eight tests a parent can run on any lock app.

A tablet or phone sold with a plan

Some parental control companies sell their own child phone and attach a monthly plan to the device. Twelve months of the lowest calling plan, with the phone counted in, totals somewhere from $382.68 up to $948 for the family. With data on the line, or a richer calling plan, year one tops $1,000. A few sellers bill the phone in monthly installments and keep the phone tied to their own network. A family on one of those rented phones can't carry the phone to another carrier once the child outgrows the phone.

The family iPad already does the job. Any iPad on iOS 17 or later runs Apple's Screen Time framework and the App Store. A parent's older iPhone in a drawer counts too.

Counting the shared iPad

Lock apps price by the device, by the child, or by a tier of devices. A shared iPad with three children on it raises a question for each model. Is the iPad one device, or three children who each count?

Picture a house with two older children on iPhones, a third iPhone, and one shared iPad. Four Apple devices sit in that house. On most lock apps, a base family tier for those four devices runs $50 to $150 a year. A family's yearly total climbs through the add-ons. On one app, reading a child's iPhone calls for a $49-a-year add-on, and the app suggests one per child. Two children on iPhones add $98 to the base plan. Another app needs a Windows or Mac computer before it can show an iPhone's messages. A plan capped at three devices leaves the shared iPad uncovered. The next plan up covers ten devices and costs $150 yearly.

Paying by the month can cost up to twice as much. One app charges $168 by the month against $99 by the year. Another charges $119.88 by the month against $59.99 by the year. An intro price can also end at the first renewal.

Ask any lock app two questions before the trial ends. How many devices does the plan cover? Does each child on a shared iPad count as another seat?

When the lock app charges nothing

A parental lock app with no price still pays for servers and staff somehow. Open the App Store page and scroll to the privacy label before installing. Apple's label gives a separate line to browsing history, to location, and to tracking. A lock app that shares a child's data for advertising has to list that use on the label.

Ask what the filter does when the app is closed or the Wi-Fi drops. A filter that fails open hands the iPad the whole web at once.

Screen Time on an iPad carries a gap every parent should know. On a phone where nobody locked the date and time, a child moves the clock forward and Downtime ends early. An iPad works the same way. A child-safety site reports that Apple closed a time-zone loophole on iPhones in iOS 15, while the loophole still works on iPads.

What you are looking for

Before any Apple Account is charged, put a lock app through eight tests.

The app runs on the iPad and iPhones your family already owns, with nothing new to buy and no monthly line.
A single price covers the household, however many children share the iPad and however many devices you add.
The privacy label lists no browsing history and no location for your child.
Nobody can move the iPad's clock to shorten Downtime, so bedtime ends on your word.
A pause from your iPhone lands within seconds, and phone calls keep ringing through on the iPhones.
Homework and chores come first, and the iPad stays shut while any locked chore is open.
The charge shows up from Apple, the cancel lives in your Apple Account settings, and the company never holds your card.
A Texas family is the maker, with real people behind every rule.

Our team read 6,731 reviews on the App Store, spread across ten apps for parental control. Billing came up in 311 of those reviews, with an average of 1.20 stars. Test seven heads off most of those billing complaints.

An app that passes all eight is the one you are looking for.

How SimpleSentinel locks a shared iPad

Here is SimpleSentinel against the eight tests, one at a time, on a Tuesday night with the shared iPad.

The devices you own. The app works on iPads and iPhones running iOS 17 or newer, built on Apple's Screen Time framework. The family iPad gets its locks, and no new tablet comes into the house. The parent side runs from your own iPhone.

Every child, one plan. The subscription covers each child on the shared iPad and every other device in the house. Each child gets a private code on the shared iPad, and separate rules sit behind each code. The plan also carries a link for the sitter and a seat for a second guardian, and a fourth child adds nothing.

Nothing read. On the iPad, SimpleSentinel never reads texts or browsing, takes no screenshots and skips location. Only the household's rule list and chore list are stored on our server. Whatever a child types, watches or opens stays on the iPad.

The locked clock. On a phone linked to SimpleSentinel the clock is locked, whether or not anyone found that setting. Every Downtime rule is stored on our server, and the server sends the rule back whenever the iPad checks in. A child can push the time ahead, and bedtime still holds until the hour you picked. Bedtime can start at eight for the seven-year-old and at ten for the teenager.

The pause. At dinner, one tap on your iPhone pauses the iPad. Within a few seconds the iPad freezes, partway through a cartoon or a puzzle, and stays frozen until your next tap. Phone calls keep working on the children's iPhones during a pause.

Chores first. Put a lock on a chore, such as homework or feeding the dog. The iPad stays shut until every locked chore on the child's list is checked off.

Billed by Apple. Apple charges the subscription, and the cancel button waits under your name in the iPhone's Settings app. We never see a card number or a billing password. Apple's Ask to Buy and Find My keep doing their jobs on the iPad.

The family behind the app. Our family builds the app in Montgomery, Texas.

Deleting an app on the linked iPad waits on the parent. Send a No Ignore message, and the iPad screen stays covered until the child taps Acknowledge. Your phone shows the tap.

Questions parents type

Can two children share one iPad with different rules?

Yes. Each child signs in on the shared iPad with a private code. The child's own apps, downtime windows and chores sit behind that code.

Can my child change the time on the iPad to end Downtime?

On a phone where nobody locked the date and time, a child moves the clock forward and Downtime ends early. On a phone linked to SimpleSentinel the clock is locked, whether or not anyone found that setting. A linked iPad keeps Downtime running to the hour you set.

Does a toddler need an iPad of their own?

No. Kid Mode runs on your own iPhone, so a toddler can use the parent's phone under the child's rules.

Does every child on the iPad add to the bill?

No. One plan covers every child on the shared iPad and every device the family adds.

Start the 7-day trial
On the App Store. Billed by Apple.

The plan and the price are on simplesentinel.com/pricing.