Vendors rename and move parental controls without announcing it. This is every change we have caught, with the vendor’s own note and the guide we fixed.
We have logged 29 parental-control changes across 15 vendors since 18 August 2026: settings that were renamed, moved, retired or given new defaults, each caught while re-checking our guides against the vendor’s own documentation. Every entry links the vendor’s note and the guide we corrected. Entries are grouped by the month we caught them; where the vendor says when it made the change, that date is shown too, which is why some changes are older than the month they are listed under.
Only changes a vendor documents are listed. If we could not read the vendor’s own page to confirm a change, it is not here.
Apple · Screen Time (iOS 27)·Caught
Downtime is now Screen Time Schedule, App Limits are now Time Allowances and Communication Limits are now Allowed Contacts; a child's settings are managed from the parent's iPhone under Settings › Family.
Discord · Age assurance·Caught ·Vendor change
After launching in Brazil and Texas, Discord began rolling out a global age-estimation model and added new ways to confirm age, such as Apple and Google Play age range, Google Wallet and AgeKey.
Verizon Family (carrier parental controls)·Caught
Verizon Smart Family can no longer be added to accounts; Verizon Family is the service now offered, and the old Smart Family instructions only apply to existing subscribers.
Snapchat·Caught
Snapchat's privacy settings now sit under an "App & Privacy" section (older guides call it "Privacy Controls"), and the discoverability control is labelled "Who Can See Me In Find Friends".
Microsoft Edge·Caught
Microsoft has deprecated Kids Mode in Edge, so the Kids Mode setting older guides point to is gone.
Google · YouTube supervised accounts·Caught
YouTube's three supervised content settings are now named "Older kids" (9+), "Teens" (13+) and "Older teens" (16+), replacing "Explore", "Explore more" and "Most of YouTube".
Google TV & Chromecast·Caught
Guest mode on Chromecast and Google TV is no longer supported; guests now cast by joining the host's Wi-Fi network, so the guest network is the control that matters.
Discord·Caught
Discord's DM safety filters (the sensitive-media filter and the DM spam filter) are now set under User Settings > Content & Social, not Privacy & Safety.
Apple Watch·Caught
Apple now calls the set-up-a-watch-for-a-child feature "Apple Watch For Your Kids" (older guides call it Family Setup).
Apple TV 4K·Caught
A child on Apple TV now gets a managed profile that needs no Apple Account, added under Settings > Profiles and Accounts > Add New Profile, instead of a separate user signed in with its own account.
Apple Account·Caught
Apple's support pages now say "Apple Account" where they used to say "Apple ID", including the steps for creating a child's account in Family Sharing.
Amazon Family·Caught
Amazon Household is now Amazon Family: sharing Prime benefits and setting up child profiles is managed under that name.
Roblox·Caught ·Vendor change
Roblox now places users into age-based Roblox Kids and Roblox Select accounts with their own default settings, so a parent's first job is checking which account type the child is on.
Discord teen-by-default·Caught ·Vendor change
Discord delayed the global rollout of age assurance to the second half of 2026, while keeping it where regulation requires it, so the teen defaults are not yet applied everywhere on a verified age.
Valve · Steam·Caught
Steam Families replaced Steam Family View and Family Sharing; Family View settings move into Steam Families' Parental Controls, and the old Family View PIN is removed.
Google · Family Link·Caught
Family Link's Chrome filter now lives under Controls > Google Chrome and Web, with the options "Try to block explicit sites" and "Only allow approved sites".
Google · ChromeOS·Caught
To turn off guest browsing on a Chromebook (a common way round parental controls), go to Settings > Privacy and security > Manage other people; the section older guides point to no longer exists.
Apple · Messages (iOS 26)·Caught
"Filter Unknown Senders" is now "Screen Unknown Senders" in iOS 26, found under Settings > Apps > Messages or in Messages > Filters > Manage Filtering.
Apple · App Store·Caught ·Vendor change
The App Store's age ratings now include 13+, 16+ and 18+, replacing the old 12+ and 17+ tiers.
Meta · WhatsApp·Caught
WhatsApp's minimum age in Europe is now 13, down from 16, the same as the rest of the world.
Riot Games · VALORANT, League of Legends, TFT (PC, US)·Caught ·Vendor change
Riot launched a Parent Portal in the US: a parent links their email to the child's account and can then turn chat off or limit it, block friend requests, see the friends list and restrict which games can be played.
Telegram·Caught ·Vendor change
Telegram removed the People Nearby feature, so advice to switch off People Nearby no longer applies; Telegram said it would show verified businesses there instead.
Kaspersky Safe Kids·Caught ·Vendor change
Kaspersky Safe Kids can no longer be bought in the US: the Commerce Department barred new US sales from 20 July 2024 and updates from 29 September 2024.
Psyonix · Rocket League·Caught ·Vendor change
Rocket League removed player-to-player trading, so there is no trade setting to lock down, and any trade offer is fraudulent.
Snapchat·Caught ·Vendor change
Snapchat began defaulting 13- to 15-year-olds into friends-only sharing: Stories and Spotlight videos go on a profile only mutual friends can see, and their content is no longer shown to non-friends on Spotlight.
Roblox·Caught ·Vendor change
Roblox now requires an age check before any user can chat, worldwide, instead of trusting the age entered at sign-up.
Character.AI·Caught ·Vendor change
Character.AI removed open-ended chat with AI characters for users under 18, effective no later than 25 November 2025.
Meta · Instagram Teen Accounts·Caught ·Vendor change
Instagram Teen Accounts now default to a content setting based on 13+ movie ratings (first described as PG-13), which teens cannot leave without a parent's permission; a stricter "Limited Content" option is available.
Google · YouTube·Caught ·Vendor change
YouTube now uses machine-learning age estimation in the US to treat accounts it judges to be under 18 as teens, regardless of the birthday entered, with ID or credit-card verification to appeal.
When a setting moves, we fix the guide and put the change at the top of the next monthly email. Roughly monthly.
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