Sony launches PlayStation Family app: What is it, how it works, and more

Sony PlayStation Family app is available on Apple App Store and Google Play Store for iOS and Android, respectively. The app is gateway to parents tools to manage playtime, purchases, and more

Sony has launched PlayStation Family, a new parental-control app for iOS and Android that lets parents manage their children’s gaming activity on PlayStation consoles directly from a mobile device. The app extends existing console-based controls by offering real-time playtime monitoring, activity reports, spending limits, content filters, and social interaction settings. As per the company, parents can also approve or decline extra playtime and purchase requests remotely.

 

Available globally, PlayStation Family works with PS5 and PS4 accounts.

What does PlayStation Family do

PlayStation Family is designed to work with existing PlayStation accounts and consoles. It aims to move several parental controls from the console to a parent’s phone. Parents can use a guided onboarding flow to create or link a child account and receive push alerts when a child launches a game. 

 

The app provides real-time notifications about what a child is playing, daily and weekly activity reports, configurable daily playtime limits, and equips parents with the ability to approve or decline extra playtime requests remotely. 

The app includes tools for controlling purchases and allowances: parents can add funds to a child’s wallet, view balances, and set a monthly spending limit for purchases from the PlayStation Store. Content filters are available as age-based presets that can be applied with one tap, and every setting can be customised individually. Social and privacy controls let parents manage how children connect with others and which social features are available.

 

Sony said PlayStation Family is available to download from the App Store and Google Play in most markets starting September 11, and that it plans to add enhancements to the app over time. The release follows existing console parental controls (playtime limits and age restrictions) by moving many management tasks to mobile devices for easier, on-the-go access.

Recently, many companies like Google in Gemini, Meta in Facebook Messenger and Instagram, OpenAI in ChatGPT have introduced parental controls to safeguard minors from exposure to content that is not deemed fit for their consumption. This move from Sony falls in line with the same, offering parents more control over the content that their children get exposed to.