Apple’s updated parental controls will require kids to get permission to text new numbers

Apple is introducing a suite of updated child safety features, including one that will give parents more control over who their kids can communicate with. The features are set to arrive with iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS Tahoe 26, watchOS 26, visionOS 26, and tvOS 26, which will launch this fall.

Children will now be required to get parental approval when they want to communicate with a new phone number. Requests will appear in the Messages app, and parents can tap a button to approve or decline. Apple is also launching a “PermissionKit” that will let developers fold a similar feature into their apps so that kids can “send requests to their parents to chat, follow, or friend users.”

The company’s parental controls automatically enforce protections such as web content filters and app restrictions for kids under 13, and Apple will enable “similar age-appropriate protections” for kids between the ages of 13 and 17. Apple’s Communication Safety tool is being updated to “intervene” when it detects nudity in FaceTime calls and to blur nudity in shared albums in the Photos app, the company says. App Store age ratings will also expand to include more granular categories, including 13 plus, 16 plus, and 18 plus.

Additionally, Apple will let parents share a child’s age range with apps, the company says, without disclosing their specific date of birth. Developers can request age range information with a new “Declared Age Range API.”

Companies like Meta, Snap, and X and a coalition of adult content companies have advocated for legislation that would require app store operators to verify their users’ age, a requirement that Apple has pushed back on over privacy concerns. Utah and Texas have already passed app store age verification bills.

Apple previewed some of the new features in today’s press release in a whitepaper from earlier this year.