iMessage & SMS safety
Communication Safety, filter toggles, and the four SMS scams every kid will see.
iMessage
- Communication Safety (Settings › Screen Time › Communication Safety) — blurs suspected nude images in Messages and warns the child. Apple says it is on by default for under-18s on current software, so check it rather than switch it on. It does not tell you when it triggers: Apple states it “doesn’t receive an indication that nudity was detected and doesn’t get access to the photos or videos”, and nothing is sent to you either. The one exception is if your child reports the sender, in which case Apple says the content is sent to Apple for review.
- Screen Unknown Senders — Settings › Apps › Messages › Unknown Senders, or from inside Messages via Filters › Manage Filtering. Apple states it is off by default in iOS 26, so nothing is being filtered until you turn it on. Messages from unknown senders then move into their own filter rather than the main list. On iOS 18 the same setting is called Filter Unknown Senders and sits under Settings › Messages.
- Communication Limits — under Screen Time, restrict who can message your kid to contacts.
- iMessage is end-to-end encrypted. Monitoring tools can’t read content server-side; they can only read what’s on the device (via Bark, with permissions).
Google Messages (RCS/SMS on Android)
- Spam protection: on by default.
- Block senders: tap conversation › Block.
- RCS chats support end-to-end encryption between up-to-date Google Messages users, but conversations can silently fall back to unencrypted SMS when one side uses an older device or app — don’t treat it as guaranteed.
Common scam patterns
- “Hi Mom, I broke my phone” — family-member impersonation. Verify by calling the real number.
- Package delivery phishing — “your package is held.” Don’t click.
- Bank/school alert phishing — “your account is locked.” Go to the app directly.
- Wrong-number social-engineering — starts as “Is this John?”, moves to friendly chat, ends as a scam.
Group chat risk
- Bullying clusters form in group iMessage/Google Messages threads.
- Screenshots spread. Once in, hard to leave socially.
- Teach your kid to screenshot + leave + tell you when a group goes bad.
Common questions
Can I read my child’s iMessages?
Not from a server — iMessage is end-to-end encrypted. Monitoring tools can only read what is on the device itself, which is how Bark works once granted permissions. Any product claiming server-side access to iMessage content is misdescribing what it does.
What does Communication Safety do?
It blurs suspected nude images in Messages and warns your child. It does not send the image or a report to you — it is a protection for them rather than a monitoring feature for you. Find it under Settings › Screen Time › Communication Safety.
Which four SMS scams will my child definitely see?
Family-member impersonation — “Hi Mum, I broke my phone” — where the answer is always to call the real number; package-delivery phishing claiming a parcel is held; bank or school alerts claiming an account is locked, where you go to the app directly rather than the link; and wrong-number social engineering that opens with “Is this John?” and warms up before turning into a scam.
Is RCS on Android encrypted?
Not reliably. RCS chats support end-to-end encryption between up-to-date Google Messages users, but conversations can silently fall back to unencrypted SMS when one side has an older device or app. Do not treat it as guaranteed.
How should my child handle a group chat turning nasty?
Screenshot, leave, tell you. Bullying clusters form inside group threads, screenshots spread, and once someone is in a group it is socially hard to leave — so making the exit a pre-agreed rule removes the decision from the moment it is hardest to make.
How do I stop messages from unknown numbers?
On iPhone, Settings › Apps › Messages › Unknown Senders — called Screen Unknown Senders on iOS 26 and Filter Unknown Senders on iOS 18 — and use Communication Limits under Screen Time to restrict messaging to contacts. On Android, Google Messages has spam protection on by default and lets you block senders from within a conversation.
When parental controls change
The controls behind this change more often than the advice does. Roughly monthly we send new guides, changes to controls like these, and scams worth knowing about.
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What was checked, and when. Communication Safety, Screen Unknown Senders and Communication Limits were verified against Apple’s own support pages on 2026-09-08. The iOS 18 menu name below could not be re-confirmed.