The reasons for that are, it goes almost without saying, pretty easy to understand. Content on streaming platforms from music to videos can be very adult-oriented. Young kids have ready access to smart speakers due to their voice commands-based operation. It’s easy for children to stumble across content we’d rather not see them access. Fortunately, Google’s Nest has ensured that learning how to use parental controls and filters on its smart speakers is easy. And, more to the point, that actually setting that up is fairly easy. You can even do it on a device-to-device basis. So let’s dive in and look at how this works.
How to set up parental controls or filters on your smart home speakers from Google or Nest
Of course, in order to manage minor users with parental controls and content filters on your smart speakers, you’ll first need to learn how to manage children’s accounts. That’s a straightforward process, in itself, that only takes a few minutes to set up. That’s once Google’s increasingly feature-rich parents app is downloaded and installed on your smartphone. You’ll just need to follow the guide. Then you’ll need to add those users to your smart home ecosystem in the Google Home app, of course. That step can be looked past since the following method also works for un-verified users via voice recognition. Which the app refers to as Guests. But for peace of mind, it can be best to set up those users in the app as well. However, once those steps are completed, managing what users can see and listen to on specific devices is incredibly easy if you know where to look.
You’ll need to set this up on a device-by-device basis
As hinted above, the easiest way — in fact, the only way that we could find as of this writing — to set up parental controls on your smart speakers is on a device-by-device basis. But you’ll also be given the option to apply all of your changes to multiple speakers in the home. As with many of our smart home how-to guides, you’ll also need to start with your mobile device, with the Google Home app installed. Here’s how you can set up parental controls or filters on your Google or Nest smart speakers to better filter content and set other limitations.
Downtime is an important part of this as well
Now, the next steps are part of the same series in the setup. But these settings will apply to when managed users, guests, or all users can access features on your smart home speakers. That’s as opposed to how users can access features and which parental controls or filters are set on the smart home speakers from Google or Nest. So, continuing on, those steps will be as followed.