Sony Launches PlayStation Family App: Gaming Management Solution for Parents

Sony has officially released the PlayStation Family app for Android and iOS, giving parents a new tool to control their children's gaming experience. The app is now available to users globally, according to the announcement.

With PlayStation Family, parents can manage a variety of controls directly from their smartphone. The app lets you view activity reports to see what games your kids are playing and for how long, and approve requests for extra playtime with a quick tap.

In addition to limiting play time, the app also sends real-time push notifications when kids want to access restricted games, making it easy for parents to approve or deny. Activity reports provide detailed daily and weekly metrics showing the total time your child spends on the PlayStation.

PlayStation Family also supports spending management: parents can add money, check their balance, or set monthly spending limits on the PlayStation Store. If multiple children use the same PS, parents can still create separate profiles for each child to independently manage both playtime and spending.

One of the app's key features is its customizable content filtering system and age-appropriate recommendation settings, which help keep kids away from games that feature violence, crime, adult content, or foul language. Parents can also set limits on when their kids can participate in online features like voice chat or user-generated content, and make exceptions for specific games.

Parental controls have been available on the PS4 and PS5 for some time now, but they were previously only available directly on the console or via the PlayStation website. Sony's launch of PlayStation Family makes the management experience more convenient and centralized.

The app is available for download now from the App Store and Google Play. While many users have welcomed the move, some have argued that Sony should have built family management features into the existing PlayStation app. Additionally, PlayStation still lacks family game sharing like Steam Families, where members of the same family group can share games regardless of device.