What you need to know
- TikTok preps new parental controls for monitoring teens' screen time.
- Parents will soon have a customizable daily screen time limit for their teenagers.
- A new dashboard will be included, which shows the total time spent using TikTok and how many times it was opened.
- Sleep reminders will also arrive soon for all users.
As TikTok continues to consume the lives of many young adults, the platform is introducing new ways parents can help monitor their children and limit their app use.
According to a TikTok press release, in the weeks ahead, all accounts registered to a user under 18 years old will default to a one-hour screen time limit. The platform explains that a teen's caregiver can customize their daily screen time limit depending on the day of the week or scenario (such as a vacation). TikTok explains that while this one-hour limit will be set automatically for users under 13 years old, a parent or guardian will need to enter a passcode to add an additional 30 minutes.
Additionally, parents will soon find a new screen time dashboard with this coming update. The dashboard will offer information such as how much screen time their child has spent, how often they've opened TikTok, and a breakdown of time spent during the day and night. The company is citing a research study it conducted as it hopes to offer parents as many tools as possible to guide their teenagers.
The final feature allows parents to set a window of time to silence TikTok notifications on their teen's phone. This builds on the already existing feature where accounts with registered users 13 to 15 have their notifications muted at 9 pm. Those aged 16 and 17 have theirs automatically muted after 10 pm.
These three new options will be added for parents in Family Pairing, which is a hub of parental controls caretakers can utilize to better manage what goes on with TikTok on their teen's phone.
Aside from monitoring your teenager, TikTok will be adding sleep reminders on the platform. Users will soon be able to set when it's time to close TikTok and get a good night's rest. When the set time is reached during the night, a pop-up will appear, alerting the user that it's time to close the app.
The coming new features, specifically the new 60-minute customizable limit, are backed by TikTok's newfound approach to encouraging healthier practices. The platform will prompt teens to set the 60-minute limit themselves, especially if more than 100 hours are spent on the app. However, if declined by a teen, a parent can always set a limit themselves through Family Pairing.
TikTok's new controls follow similar moves made by its competitor Instagram last year, introducing ways to limit and monitor teens using the platform, particularly around Reels.
