Amazon Fire tablets are often touted as a great kid-friendly option, but many parents find that actually setting up robust child restrictions is far from intuitive. While Amazon’s FreeTime (now Amazon Kids) platform provides some baseline controls, it can leave gaps when it comes to granular settings like blocking specific apps, managing screen time down to the hour, or fully disabling the browser. In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to lock down your Fire tablet to give you peace of mind when it’s in your child’s hands.
1. Create a Child Profile and Enable Amazon Kids
The first step is to set up a dedicated profile for your child. This keeps their content and settings separate from your own.
- Go to Settings > Profiles & Family Library > Add a Child Profile.
- Enter your child’s name, birthdate, and choose an appropriate theme.
- Once the profile is created, enable Amazon Kids (formerly FreeTime) by tapping Manage Your Child’s Content and Settings. This platform provides basic parental controls out of the box.
2. Set Screen Time Limits
While the Fire tablet won’t let you set usage limits on a per-app basis, you can define daily screen time allowances and enforce specific “no-device” periods.
- Go to Settings > Parental Controls > Daily Goals & Time Limits.
- Enable Set Daily Time Limits and then choose how many total hours the tablet can be used each day.
- To restrict use at certain times (like after bedtime), toggle Bedtime and set the start and end hours.
3. Restrict Content and Disable the Browser
By default, the child profile limits access to Amazon’s app store and web browser. To ensure your child can’t access inappropriate content or accidentally download questionable apps, take the following steps:
- In Amazon Kids, select your child’s profile and tap Smart Filters.
- Use the age filters to limit books, videos, apps, and games to those appropriate for their age range.
- For stricter control, toggle off Web Settings under the same menu to disable the browser entirely. This prevents your child from surfing the web unsupervised.
4. Block YouTube and In-App Purchases
YouTube and in-app purchases are common pain points for parents. The Fire tablet doesn’t always make it obvious how to block these directly, but you have a couple of workarounds:
- YouTube: If YouTube isn’t already restricted, you can remove it by going to Settings > Parental Controls > Block Content and toggling off any apps or services you don’t want accessible.
- In-App Purchases:
- Go to Settings > Parental Controls and enable Parental Controls.
- Set a PIN.
- Under Manage Storage, find any games or apps with in-app purchases and tap Disable in-app purchases.
5. Lock the Device When Not in Use
Even with restrictions, a curious child might try switching profiles. To prevent this, always lock the screen with a PIN, password, or pattern.
- Go to Settings > Security & Privacy > Lock Screen Password and set a code only you know.
- This ensures that your child stays within their controlled profile and can’t jump into your unrestricted account.
Final Thoughts
While the Amazon Fire tablet does provide some basic child-friendly features, ensuring your kid’s experience is truly locked down requires a bit of manual tweaking. By setting daily screen time limits, filtering content, disabling the browser, blocking in-app purchases, and locking the device itself, you can give your kids the freedom to enjoy age-appropriate entertainment—without the worry of unwanted purchases, late-night YouTube binges, or accidental web browsing.
