The Disney+ Parental Controls Guide

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Disney+ includes R-rated and TV-MA which means getting the controls right is very important.

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Unlike Netflix, which forces members to make all parental control changes from a desktop, laptop, or Chromebook, Disney+ allows members to change all parental controls right in the app, which is wonderful.

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Disney+ also offers a bundle with Hulu, which includes a hub for shows on Hulu that can be accessed directly from Disney+. Thankfully, any of the settings that you enable on a Disney+ account, apply to Hulu shows if you have the bundle. Read more about Hulu here.

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How to Make Disney+ Safer:

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Thankfully, there are pin controls. We show you how to set them below.

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But first, regardless of the app, these three actions mitigate the risks we’ve shared. We teach these actions in our parent presentations:

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1. Require approval for all app downloads.
2. Follow the 7-Day Rule
3. Enable in-app controls and settings

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We explain each of them briefly below. If you’ve already set up approvals for downloads and have used the app, please skip to the In-App Controls & Settings.

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Require Approval for App Downloads

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You can control app stores by requiring permission for apps to be downloaded. This is ensures your child doesn’t have access to an app without your knowledge. Here are the steps (for Apple and Android users):

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For Apple Devices:

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To require permission to download an app, you’ll need to set up Screen Time and Family Sharing (Apple’s Parental Controls). We explain this process step-by-step in our Complete iOS Guide (click here).  

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Once Screen Time and Family Sharing are established, here’s how to require permission to download apps on an Apple device:

1. Go to your Settings app.
2. Select your Family.
3. Select the person you want to apply this setting to.
4. Scroll down to “Ask to Buy” and enable.

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For Android Devices:

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You’ll have to use Family Link (Android’s parental controls) to ensure you retain control over what apps are downloaded. We explain this process step-by-step in our Android Guide (click here).

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Once Family Link is established, here’s how to require permission to download apps on an Android device:

1. Go to the Family Link App
2. Select the person you want to apply this setting to.
3. Select “Google Play Store”
4. Select “Purchases & download approval” and set it to “All Content.”

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For controls related to Smart TVs, see our post here: Smart TV Device Guide

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Follow the 7-Day Rule

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This is our tried-and-true method of determining whether a specific app is safe for your specific child.

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Before you let your child use it, download the app and use it for 7 days.

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Create an account with your child’s age and gender and use it for 7 days. Play through a few levels, review the ads, see if anyone can chat with you, and poke around like a curious child.

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After a week, ask yourself, “Do I want my child to experience what I did?”  Even if you decide to allow them to download the app, now you have a basis for curious conversations about the app when you check in.

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Enable In-App Controls & Settings

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How to Set-up Disney+ Parental Controls (4 Steps):

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1. Restrict Profile Creation

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Limit who can add new profiles to the account from the “master” account (defined: whoever is paying).

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Here's how to restrict profile creation on Disney+:

• Navigate to your account
• Select "Settings" and toggle "Restrict profile creation" to ON
• Enter your password and continue

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Now, your kids can’t circumvent rating restrictions or other controls by adding a dummy profile, watching what they want, and then deleting the profile.

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2. Set Content Ratings

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Like Netflix, Disney+ allows you to restrict the rating of shows for each profile. Disney+ has both R-rated and TV-MA content. So, it’s important to set up the proper content ratings for your child’s profile.

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Here's how to set content ratings on Disney+:

• Navigate to your profile, then select "Edit Profiles"
• Select the profile you would like to set content ratings for
• Select "Parental Controls" then "Content rating"
• Enter your password
• Choose the content setting you'd like to set for this specific account and click save

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3. (Optional) Enable Junior Mode

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For younger children, you can set a profile to "Junior Mode" which ensures your child can only see content that is suitable for all ages.

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Here's how to enable Junior Mode on Disney+:

• Navigate to your profile, then select "Edit Profiles"
• Select the profile you would like to set to Junior Mode
• Select "Parental Controls" then toggle Junior Mode on

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4. Set a 4-Digit Profile PIN

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Also like Netflix, you can lock a profile with a 4-digit pin. For example, maybe you are allowed to watch PG-13, but your child isn’t. This means your child isn’t allowed to watch shows on your profile without your 4-digit pin. And all of these wonderful controls you have just set will be locked under this PIN as well.

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Here's how to set a Profile PIN on Disney+:

• Navigate to your profile, then select "Edit Profiles"
• Select your profile
• Under Parental Controls, select "Profile PIN"
• Enter your password and continue
• Enter, change, or remove your PIN and select save

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Please note that adding or changing the profile pin requires the account passcode. Be sure that auto-fill passwords are turned off, so that your child can't change the PIN!

What if I have more questions? How can I stay up to date?

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Two actions you can take!

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1. If you have more questions: Order Chris's book (or audiobook)! Supported by science, built on deep experience, biblical truth, and proven by thousands of success stories, 5 Habits of the Tech-Ready Family will help readers raise wise kids in a wild digital world.
2. Stay up to date: Subscribe to our tech trends newsletter, the PYE Download. Monthly, we’ll share what families need to know, what the PYE team is up to, and a message from Chris.

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