iOS 27 child safety: Australia link in Apple overhaul

Apple’s iOS 27 child-safety overhaul, including a rebuilt Screen Time app and new website approval tools, was partly influenced by Australia’s under-16s social media ban, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said this week.

The update gives Apple child accounts more parental controls as Canberra presses platform companies to do more for younger users. Albanese told ABC News that Apple chief executive Tim Cook had linked the redesign to Australia’s policy push.

“Mr Cook told me these changes are in part inspired by Australia’s world-leading social media age ban, as well as the continued research Apple is undertaking into the impact of social media on kids.”

Anthony Albanese, Prime Minister of Australia

Apple’s own description is narrower than a wholesale lock-down of children’s phones. In its Australian Newsroom preview, the company said iOS 27 will change child account setup, add an Ask to Browse permission flow in Safari, introduce Time Allowances and refresh Screen Time. Parents will be able to set app limits across Entertainment, Games and Social Media categories, instead of managing each app separately.

The features were announced at WWDC 2026, but the Australian link gives the update a policy edge beyond Apple’s annual software cycle. Children’s online safety has become a central digital-platform issue for the federal government. Apple is not taking over enforcement of Australia’s social media ban; its design puts more of the daily control on the device and the family account.

Apple vice-president of health and fitness Sumbul Desai described the tools as a way for parents to tune restrictions for each child.

“Our approach to helping families create safer digital experiences is grounded in the belief that every child is unique … to let parents tailor their kids’ digital journey.”

Sumbul Desai, Apple

What parents will see

Ask to Browse is the most visible change. When open browsing is blocked, a child will be able to request access to a website from Safari. Apple says parents can approve or reject the request remotely, adding web-level control to app download approvals and content restrictions.

Time Allowances works differently. It gives parents a separate pool of time for broad app categories, including social media. A parent could set one limit for social apps even if a child uses several of them, while leaving room for messaging, school tools or other services the family allows.

Communication Safety is also being expanded. The on-device feature already warns children and parents about sensitive material; Apple said it will now cover gore or violent content in shared images and videos, in addition to nudity. The on-device design matters for Apple, which treats privacy as part of the iPhone pitch.

Lisa Given, an RMIT University information sciences professor, told ABC the change still leaves families with practical work to do.

“I think one of the challenges with this is that type of a shift puts a lot of control into parents’ hands, but that means the onus is on the parents.”

Lisa Given, RMIT University

That caveat is important in Australia. Device-level controls may reduce friction for parents, but they do not replace the wider regulatory fight over age checks, teen accounts and how platforms respond to government rules.

They also depend on parents finding and using the settings after the first iOS 27 setup flow has passed.

For Apple, the move gives iOS 27 a child-safety message that is easier to explain than another Screen Time refresh. For Canberra, it is a public sign that Australia’s social media age-ban debate is reaching at least one global platform owner’s product roadmap, while the harder enforcement questions remain open.