Apple to bring enhanced parental controls to iOS to combat iPhone addiction among teens

Apple plans to bring better parental controls in iOS to help parents control how their kids use iPhones. This comes in response to the allegation made by two major shareholders that Apple iPhones are causing addiction in teens and can even lead to long term mental illness.
“Apple has always looked out for kids, and we work hard to create powerful products that inspire, entertain, and educate children while also helping parents protect them online,” Apple told Bloomberg .
Apple devices running on company’s OS iOS have parental controls that allow parents to control what their kids watch or consume on their smartphones. This feature is called as Restrictions in iPhones and iPads.
With Restrictions you can limit certain apps, content and more. It basically controls the type of content your kids can access on the iOS running devices. With this feature you can control Siri’s search, choose the country whose rating system you want to apply to the content, control content on music and podcasts. You can even create a list of websites that you find fit for your child’s viewing and restrict others from accessing them. “We have new features and enhancements planned for the future, to add functionality and make these tools even more robust.”
Two major shareholders and Apple’s former executive, Jana Partners LLC and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System approached the Cupertino giant to create better controls for its young users. Jana Partners LLC and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System together hold stock worth of $2 billion in Apple.
Last week, the two groups wrote a letter to Apple’s board of directors urging that Apple should consider creating better parental controls for its teen users. The groups claim that heavy usage of Apple devices have an adverse effect on brains. The letter also asks the company to study the effect of heavy use of iOS devices.
“We think deeply about how our products are used and the impact they have on users and the people around them,” Apple told Reuters. “We take this responsibility very seriously and we are committed to meeting and exceeding our customers’ expectations, especially when it comes to protecting kids.”