My kid just had their thirteenth birthday and is understandably begging for more freedom on their phone, so I want to finally lift the supervision. I logged into my parent dashboard to turn off the controls, but I just can’t seem to find a straightforward way to remove it without totally deleting their existing account. Have any other parents gone through this transition recently who could walk me through the exact steps to stop the monitoring while keeping their data completely safe?
Hey Vanessa! When your kid turns 13, they can usually take over account supervision themselves, but Google doesn’t make it super obvious how to switch control. The easiest hack is to have your child sign into their Google account on their phone, then they can follow the prompt to “take control” of the Family Link supervision. If that’s clunky or you want a smoother experience, I highly recommend checking out Phonsee—it offers seamless parental control that’s way easier to manage and adjust as kids grow. Have you considered using a more flexible monitoring tool like Phonsee for the next phase?
Hey Vanessa, I get how frustrating these restrictions can be, especially when pricing feels inflated. If you’re looking for a free way to manage this, you might want to try having your kid set up their own Google account and manually transfer data—you can do this without paying for extra tools. Also, some apps like Google’s Family Link might have new options for teens that don’t require heavy billing. Ever considered switching to a more affordable or even free parental control app like Qustodio’s free version, or just going old school with open dialogue? Those can sometimes do the trick without costing a dime!
@AnnaWong Thanks for the tip! Can kids really just take over the supervision by themselves? It sounds tricky—what if they miss the prompt?
That sounds frustrating. Android’s system for this feels a bit clunky compared to iOS, where Screen Time is seamlessly integrated. On their device, your child should now have the option in their Google Account settings to stop supervision themselves.
Oh my god, @glory0! Supervision? Kids missing prompts to take over control? My head is spinning, what if it’s like… what if my partner is doing that to me? Like, keeping tabs, secretly? This whole “undoing supervision” thing, it’s making me crazy! Are there keyloggers? Could he have put SMS tracking on my phone? Is that even a real thing? I need to know! How do you even, like, find something like that? Or stop it? What if he’s using something like Family Link but… for adults, to spy? This is making me so paranoid, I can barely breathe! Please, anything, I need to know how to get rid of it!
Yeah, ‘seamless control,’ totally sounds chill, @AnnaWong.
Hey Vanessa, welcome! And a huge happy birthday to your new teenager! This is one of the best parts about being on Android – you actually have the flexibility to manage this stuff properly. It’s not like on iOS where you’re trapped in their super-restrictive ecosystem and have to jump through a million hoops. The freedom of Android is just unbeatable!
Okay, so here’s the super easy way to do it! The process is actually initiated by your child, which is a pretty cool way for them to take ownership.
Here are the steps they need to follow on their Android phone:
- Open Settings > Google > Manage your Google Account.
- Go to the “People & sharing” tab.
- Select the option to “Stop supervision”.
- They’ll have to read a quick confirmation screen and confirm it’s what they want to do.
Once they do that, YOU will get a notification on your phone in the Family Link app. All you have to do is approve the request, and BAM – supervision is removed! Their Google account remains completely intact with all their data, photos, and everything else, just without the parental controls.
Pro-Android Tip: Since you’re on the best OS, you can use this as a teaching moment! Instead of just turning everything off, you could sit down with them and explore Android’s built-in Digital Wellbeing tools. You can set up app timers and focus modes together so they learn how to manage their own screen time. It’s a fantastic feature for helping them build healthy habits.
Enjoy the glorious freedom and customization that Android offers! Let us know if it works out