My 8-year-old son uses an iPad that's heavily restricted: he can watch approved shows and play selected games, but he can't install apps without permission and doesn't have unrestricted internet access. The iPad uses his own Apple ID under our Family Sharing setup. I recently discovered that he can open iMessage and send messages. I'd like to disable it entirely, but the Messages setting is grayed out and I can't find an option to change it through Family Sharing. What's the right way to sign him out of iMessage or block the app?
3 Answers
On the iPad, open Settings > Messages > Send & Receive, tap the Apple ID shown at the bottom, and choose Sign Out. If Messages isn’t signed in separately, it shouldn’t be able to send messages through that account.
You can also manage this through Screen Time under Family Sharing. Check the Content & Privacy Restrictions settings and look for the options controlling Messages and account changes.
If Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions has Allow Changes to Accounts set to Don’t Allow, you may be blocked from signing out of iMessage. Temporarily allow account changes, sign out of Messages, and then restore the restriction afterward.
My own account isn’t signed into Messages either, so I’m not sure why this is proving so difficult, but I’ll try signing out from that screen.