When kids are using tablets, keep in mind how much screen time is healthy for children. Then you’ll have to install a parental control app to ensure kids don’t see things in apps or online that you’d rather they didn’t. If you’re not going to buy any of the models already mentioned, you could go for a standard Android tablet intended for adult use. But, you can always buy a protective iPad cases and Apple’s App Store has the widest selection of apps and games, many of which are free.Īpple gives you relatively good parental controls: you can disable Safari (to prevent web browsing), restrict music, videos, apps and games to the appropriate age level, and Screen Time lets you enforce time limits for certain apps, as well as a Downtime during which they can’t use it at all. Another issue is that they’re quite fragile. Just don’t buy one that’s too old, though, as really old ones may not support some apps or might have poor performance. If price is a problem, you can find a refurbished iPad mini on Apple’s website, but there are more and more websites popping up which sell refurbished tablets as well as phones.Ī couple of places to look include Back Market and Music Magpie (UK) / Decluttr (US) The latter is cheaper than the iPad mini, and neither are what you’d call budget tablets. That’s one reason we’ve included latest iPad mini and iPad 10.2 here. Older kids might well ask you to buy them an iPad. But, you can remove some or all of these restrictions as they get older, reverting to the regular Fire tablet interface designed for adults when, say, they turn 13… if they’re still using the tablet at that point.Īlthough Amazon Fire tablets are not Android tablets and don’t have the Google Play store or any Google apps on them, Amazon’s Appstore still has a lot of popular apps that kids love, and they can watch YouTube (if you let them) via a web browser. The best thing about these tablets is that they provide a safe walled garden that does a great job of making sure your kids don’t see anything they shouldn’t. That’s the same price, but has a slimmer, more age-appropriate case and a more grown-up interface as well (shown above).įinally, with both tablets you get a year’s subscription to Amazon Kids+ which lets your child play games, read books (including audiobooks), watch videos and other things – including educational apps – that usually cost money. But, if you’re buying it for an older child, there’s the option of a more grown-up-looking Fire HD 8 Kids Pro. That breakage is less likely because a chunky case is included in the box to protect the tablet. So if your child manages to break it, Amazon will replace it. You can also set goals, such as requiring a certain amount of time spent reading before any games can be played.Īpple’s parental controls are also great, with Screen Time to track and control time spent on a per-account and per-app basis, the ability to set different kinds of age ratings for different kinds of content (so for example you might let teens listen to sweary music but not watch gory horror movies) and lots of fine-grained control over what your family members can and can’t do.First is a two-year warranty that covers any accidental damage. The Parent Dashboard enables you to set age-appropriate content ratings, shut down at bedtime and set time limits on particular kinds of activity. ![]() Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Edition vs Apple iPad mini: parental controlsĪmazon’s parental controls are great. As with the full-sized iPad we’d urge caution with ad-funded games, which often contain advertising for games that are much higher age ratings. That means the same App Store as the iPhone with around 2 million apps and good curation policies to ensure that malware and fake apps don’t get in. The iPad mini runs iPadOS, currently iPadOS 14, which is the big-screen version of iOS. ![]() You also get a year of free apps and books from the likes of Disney. It connects to Amazon’s own App Store, which currently has over 60,000 apps, and the selection includes all the big hitters such as Minecraft, Roblox and lots of games. For the Kids Edition it adds a child-friendly interface that you can disable for older kids or adults. Amazon’s tablet runs an Amazon-specific Android based on Android 9 Pie.
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