Now that children are spending more time at home and streaming service usage has skyrocketed, some are realizing the need for better parental controls. Netflix seems to have noticed this and has released a platform update that significantly improves these controls.
The importance of parental controls
The use of streaming services has skyrocketed during these days of confinement. And, although parents and guardians seek a balance between this leisure time and other activities, it must be admitted that sometimes children spend more time than they should in front of the screen. However, the biggest problem is that they may access content inappropriate for their age.
It is true that that is what the profiles for children are for, a great solution, but if you are a father, mother or tutor, you will agree that they do not always give all the options you would like. And there are times when, even though it is content for children, it is not what some children should see. Or simply, for whatever reason, you don't want them to watch a certain TV show or movie even though its rating is eligible.
Hence the need for all these online content platforms to offer better options and greater control, so that parents and guardians can better manage what their children watch and where they can access it. Netflix seems to have understood this well, as its latest platform update offers a series of extra options to improve how children use the service. This will give those responsible for their education greater peace of mind and control over what they see.
Netflix's new parental controls
What are these new parental control options? Well, the first and most interesting is the ability to remove titles individually . If you don't want them to see a particular series or movie, you mark it as inappropriate and that's it; it won't appear in searches or suggestions anymore.
Another novelty is related to the classifications. You can set what content based on these classifications will appear or not, both in searches and in suggestions. That way, if you don't want them to see content for 12-year-olds, they just won't.
In addition to these two new features, a four-digit PIN has been added to prevent access to other profiles, along with the option to review playback history and autoplay to control children's screen time. All these options will also be available for all other general profiles.
As we mentioned, for many users these types of options won't be relevant at all, but if you have young children, they can be a significant help . This doesn't mean you're not still responsible for their habits and proper use of technology in general, but now that we're all spending more time at home, a little extra help is always welcome.
Hopefully the rest of the services will add these controls and improve them. This way those in charge of managing the profiles at home will have the certainty that everyone sees the most appropriate content. At least, that's how it will be until they have the capacity to choose properly.
These new parental controls are available both within the app and via the web. Simply go to the manage profiles section and you'll see all these options.