Apple brings privacy and safety-centric feature ‘Watch For Your Kids’ to India

Apple on Wednesday (July 24) announced the launch of the much-awaited ‘Watch For Your Kids’ feature in India.

It was first introduced with Family Setup feature in the watchOS 7 update in 2020, but its availability was limited to select regions. Now, it has finally arrived in the subcontinent.

This privacy-and-safety-focused feature will help parent monitor their children’s activity outside the home. The gaurdian has to buy an Apple Watch and pair it with his/her iPhone.

This feature offers a sense of reassurance for parents as they would be able to know their kid is safe at school or their friends’ home. They can call any time to the child’s Apple Watch. Or else check on the Find My Network app to know the exact location of their ward.

Further, the parent can decide which numbers can be added to the contact list of the child’s Apple Watch. Only those people will be able to message and call the kid.

Also, as Apple Watch supports direct app downloads from the App Store, parents can block this. And, turn on the Ask to Buy feature. Whenever a child finds an interesting app, he/she can ask the parent to allow them to download the app. Once the guardian accepts the request, the app gets installed on the Apple Watch.

Besides fun apps, kids can also listen to songs on earphones via Apple Music app on the Watch. The tracks has to be approved by the parent so that the child don’t get any access to age-inappropriate content.

Also, the Apple Watch For Your Kids includes a mode called Schooltime. This will help ensure kids stay focused and attentive in the classroom or at home.

During Schooltime, a distinctive yellow circle is displayed on the watch face for teachers and parents to easily recognise, signifying that access to apps is restricted and Do Not Disturb is turned on.

Parents can also set the schedule on their iPhone so Apple Watch automatically goes into Schooltime mode during certain hours, or turn it on from the Control Center on the child’s watch.

There is also a Downtime feature. Once this is turned on, the child cannot use apps or message anybody on the watch.

With the Activity Rings feature on Apple Watch, parents can set movement goals, exercise minutes and standing time as per child’s ability. This way, they can encourage their kid to develop an active lifestyle to stay fit and healthy.

Another very important aspect of the Apple Watch is that the child can trigger an SOS emergency with just by long pressing side button (below the digital crown). This will send the help request message with location details to the parent’s iPhone. This can come in handy during an accident or mugging near a house or school.

In India, for now, e-sim plans for children are available only on Reliance Jio cellular service. It will be expanded to Airtel, Vodafone and other services soon.

‘Watch For Your Kids’ feature can be enabled on Apple Watch SE, Watch Series 4 and newer models with watchOS 7 (newer version). And, parents should have iPhone 6s or newer iPhone models with iOS 14 (or a newer version).

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