My child has an iPod Touch, my partner has iOS, and I've moved from iOS to GOS over a year ago. As my child gets older I would really prefer to put them on GOS when the time for a cell phone is appropriate, but I'm not aware of any type of similar parental controls in GOS, or Android for that matter like iOS.
Looking for feedback and advice.
There is no parental control in GOS.
The safest phone for a child is a cell phone just able to do calls, SMS/MMS and pictures.
are there really no parental controls at all in GrapheneOS? Is that still the case, in the year 2025?
Except DNS based filtering of web traffic (with OpenWrt device)?
I don’t have Google Play Services installed and don’t own a Google account.
Scott are there really no parental controls at all in GrapheneOS? Is that still the case, in the year 2025?
From the website: https://grapheneos.org/
GrapheneOS is a privacy and security focused mobile OS with Android app compatibility developed as a non-profit open source project. It's focused on the research and development of privacy and security technology including substantial improvements to sandboxing, exploit mitigations and the permission model.
Considering what GrapheneOS's focuses are, it's surprising you'd expect the project to put in resources to develop parental controls. If parental controls are added to AOSP, then GrapheneOS will also have parental controls. I'd ask Google why there are no parental controls in AOSP, in the year 2025.
The only OS-level Android option is Google FamilyLink, which GrapheneOS could theoretically implement, just as it's implemented Android Auto. These are proprietary apps which require Play Services to have control over the device, which is normally prevented by Graphene's placement of Play Services into the normal app sandbox. However, reviews of the FamilyLink app itself appear to be mixed, and it seems likely it will not be a priority for the GrapheneOS team anyway.
There are other third party options which do not work at the operating system level. My personal recommendation is a service like NextDNS for DNS filtering at both the device level and the router level, and then installing an app like Norton App Lock with device administrator abilities which will prevent a user installing a VPN to bypass DNS filtering, or changing the custom DNS settings. If you want stricter controls and friendlier alerts, perhaps you just need to consider a stock device such as an iPhone for temporary use until they come of age. Also, definitely recognize that none of this is a replacement for limiting & supervising a minor's access to the internet.
Personally, it is frustrating that AOSP does not implement filters at all. Same with ISPs. In 2025, it seems bizarre that most internet users (both children and non-tech-savvy adults) are still using unrestricted and unprotected devices on a totally unfiltered internet.
dcc The only OS-level Android option is Google FamilyLink, which GrapheneOS could theoretically implement, just as it's implemented Android Auto. These are proprietary apps which require Play Services to have control over the device, which is normally prevented by Graphene's placement of Play Services into the normal app sandbox.
Thanks. But "Google Family Link" requires a Google account which I don't have.
I get the temptation to offer parenting advice, but I don't think this is the place. It is not on topic for this forum. The GrapheneOS Discussion Forum is for discussing GrapheneOS and other related topics. If anyone wants to give or receive parenting advice, I'm sure there are better places for that kind of discussion.
So, please keep discussions focused on the technical side of things.
dcc Personally, it is frustrating that AOSP does not implement filters at all. Same with ISPs.
I think it's OK that ISPs don't filter things.
You could use a DNS provider that does this for your. dnsforge and AdGuard have (free) DNS resolvers that block ads, trackers and adult content.
However, I have no idea if it's possible to prevent changing the DNS setting back to the default (basically if a user profile can be created that isn't allowed to change system settings)
Recognizing this is off topic, but just to clarify - by "an ISP offering filtering" I meant at the level of the router or gateway. Many ISP gateways do not offer the ability to add house-wide DNS filtering at all, and require hacky workarounds which most parents are unable to perform.
It feels to me that parental controls is something that could be implemented as an MDM.
