This way you can create an Apple ID for children up to 16 years old

Please note: The age limit for restrictions for an Apple ID for a child is 16 in the Netherlands. In Belgium it does apply to children under the age of 13. If you are under the age of 16 in the Netherlands, you cannot create your own Apple ID and this must be done by your parents. On this page you can read what the age limit is per region.

Own Apple ID for children

Family Sharing is a handy feature in iOS that helps you keep a closer eye on children’s purchases. You can create a separate Apple ID for children, so that they can install apps themselves with their own account, while you retain the necessary control over what happens.

• Why 16 years?
• Create child account
• Advantages
• Cons
• Restrict child account
• Allowance
• To delete

Apple ID for children under 16 years of age

From the age of 16, children can create their own Apple ID. Until the age of 16 in the Netherlands (13 years in Belgium and other regions), parents will have to create this for the child. Such a child account gives parents the opportunity to determine what children are allowed to do on their device, for example whether or not to play FaceTime, iMessage and certain games. Parents can also specify that they must give prior permission for every App Store purchase. In addition, there are all kinds of other restrictions that you do not have with a normal Apple ID.

The minimum age for an Apple ID is 13 in most regions, but is 16 in the Netherlands. If you want your child to have their own Apple ID and iCloud account, the child will have to be part of a family. This does mean that you are limited in terms of payment options, because Family Sharing only works with credit card or PayPal as a payment method.

Create Apple ID for child

Creating an Apple ID for children works as follows:

1. On your own iPhone or iPad, go to Settings and click on your own name at the top. Then choose Share with family > Add family member > Create an Apple ID for a child.
2. Enter your child’s date of birth and press next.
3. You will then be asked whether you want to approve the privacy policy.
4. Confirm your payment method, such as a credit card. You can also enter a new payment method.
5. Enter your child’s name and then choose a username.
6. Finally, choose a password and enter the security questions to recover the account. Restoring always works via your own email address, you do not have to set anything else.
7. Log in to your child’s iPhone or iPad with this new Apple ID.

If your child already has a Game Center account, but does not yet have their own Apple ID, you can upgrade the Game Center account to an Apple ID. To do this, go to the Settings app and click on your own name. Then choose Family Sharing > Add Family Member, enter your child’s Game Center nickname, and follow the steps that follow.

If you want to create an Apple ID for a child on a Mac, you can of course do that too. You can find this option in System Settings under your name and then Family Sharing. There you click on the Add member button and then select Create an Apple ID for a child who does not have an account. The steps you then have to go through are the same as those on iOS.

Child account benefits

These are the benefits of creating a separate Apple ID for children:

• Children can install apps themselves with their own account. This makes it easier to separate purchases.
• Payment is made via one joint credit card or PayPal account, so the children do not need to have their own payment method.
• You give children permission for every app they want to install. This can also be done remotely.

With your own Apple ID you prevent settings and content from mixing up. Children only see their own messages and emails and not messages intended for their parents.

The nice thing is that you can share all kinds of things such as online iCloud storage and purchased apps with each other, without being charged extra costs. Creating additional (child) accounts is free.

Disadvantages and limitations of child account

There are also some disadvantages to creating your own child account:

1. As a parent you are less able to supervise, for example, sexting and online bullying. You will always have to look at the child’s private account or set additional restrictions.
2. A child account under the age of 16 is not allowed to install TestFlight apps.
3. You cannot simply remove a child under the age of 16 from the family account.
4. If you have created an account for a child up to 16 years old and you are disappointed by the above restrictions, you cannot simply change the date of birth afterwards. You will have to wait until the child is actually 16 years old.

Restrict Apple ID for children

In principle, children have access to all functions that are part of Family Sharing with their Apple ID. This means they have access to shared music, movies, TV shows, books and apps, which everyone in the family can access. You can limit this with Parental Controls and features like Screen Time.

If you’ve created an Apple ID for a child, children under the age of 13 must always ask permission before downloading apps. This is enabled by default. Do you want children to be able to download apps without having to approve them first? You can then disable this feature via the settings of the child’s account (click on your name in Settings and then on Family Sharing).

Give pocket money to children

A child account up to the age of 16 may not have its own payment method. Children use their parents’ payment method. However, you can give your child ‘pocket money’ for the App Store, in the form of iTunes gift cards. For example, if you give a child €15 App Store credit, you can add it to the child’s account. This ‘pocket money’ will be spent first. The child can then again use the payment method set by the parents, i.e. credit card or PayPal.

Remove child from family

If you want to remove a child from a family group, this is easy to do for children who are 16 years or older. With younger children it is a bit more complicated. You cannot simply remove a child from the family account. If you’ve ever added a child under 16 to Family Sharing, you have two options: contact Apple or transfer the child to another family account.

This is how you go about it:

1. The administrator of the new family account must send the child an invitation.
2. As the administrator of the current family account, you must give permission.
3. The child is now transferred to the other group. The child account is not deleted, but it is no longer under your management.

Once the child is removed from your family account, the content they previously downloaded will no longer be available. The new head of household will have to purchase any apps and subscriptions again. The apps remain available on the child’s device, but once a paid app is deleted it is no longer available on the device and will have to be purchased again. This has to do with the fact that you can only share apps and other content within the original family (and the child is no longer part of that family).

For example, if the child has died and you want to permanently delete the account, you will have to arrange this through Apple. For this you need the child’s email address. Apple will guide you through all the steps. It will take about a week for the account to be closed. It is less work to simply let the account exist and simply remove it from the family account after the 13th birthday.