What Family Link can do, and what it can't
Keep Family Link. Add "this app, at these hours".
The daily limit is set. Inside it, it's YouTube all the way.
You limited the app, and found the same videos playing in the browser.
"Only during homework" is nowhere in the settings.
Google Family Link is the foundation when you hand a child an Android phone. Daily time, bedtime, approval before an app is installed. Family Link is good at this, it is free, and keeping it is the right call.
What is missing is "hide this one app, at these hours" and what happens after a screen is touched. Live Lock is a parental control app that takes only that part. Pick the apps you don't want opened; when your child opens one, the screen quietly closes, and everything else works as usual. The roles do not overlap with Family Link, so the two sit side by side.
Two jobs, two apps
Daily time, bedtime, approval for new apps, location. The house rules.
YouTube, games, Settings, purchases. Only the screens you chose, closed at the hours set by the schedule or your calendar.
For example: "two hours a day" in Family Link, and "no YouTube or games from 5 to 7 pm, homework time" in Live Lock. Inside the limit, what is shown and what is not is decided.
Keep Family Link, just add
- Leave your Family Link settings exactly as they are.
- Install Live Lock on your child's Android and set a parent PIN.
- Switch on the apps you don't want opened. If your child watches videos in the browser, switch the browser on too.
- Set the hours in the weekly schedule. From anywhere, put an event on your Google Calendar and the phone switches.
On the child's own account. An account managed with Family Link can install and use it as it is. When you buy, choose the prepaid plan or Lifetime, with a parent's approval. The first 14 days are free, so install first and see.
Questions parents ask
QDo I replace Family Link with Live Lock?
No. Family Link stays. It handles daily limits and approvals; Live Lock handles not showing a chosen screen at the hours you choose.
QMy child gets around the YouTube limit by using the browser.
In Live Lock, the browser can be added to the same list as YouTube, so both close. Learning apps and YouTube Kids can stay open.
QDoes it still work after my child turns 13?
Yes. Live Lock works inside the phone itself, separately from the age rules of your child's Google account. Settings sit behind the parent PIN.
QCan a child account buy it?
Yes. An account managed with Family Link can buy the prepaid plan or Lifetime with a parent's approval. The first 14 days are free, no purchase needed.
No more heart-skipping moments.
Every feature free for 14 days. One app stays free after that. No card needed.
Get it on Google Play See pricing