Modern Xiaomi and Redmi smartphones have become an integral part of children’s lives, providing access to educational resources, games and video content. However, uncontrolled use of gadgets often leads to the fact that the child spends too much time behind the screen or encounters unwanted information, which is why the question of how to set parental control on a Xiaomi phone becomes relevant for most parents who care about the digital security of their children.
MIUI shell and Android offer built-in tools that effectively limit device usage time, block unwanted apps, and track location. Unlike third-party paid solutions, system methods do not require additional software installation and work consistently at the core level. In this article, we will detail all the available ways to adjust restrictions, from basic functions to advanced management scenarios.
It's important to understand that setting limits is not just a technical procedure, but a process of setting up digital interactions within a family. Properly configured parental controls will help to form healthy gadget usage habits without causing a child to feel total surveillance or resentment. We'll look at both Google's standard tools and the specific security settings of the MIUI shell.
Use Google Family Link for full control
The most effective and comprehensive way to manage a child’s device is the Google Family Link app, which allows parents to create and manage Google children’s accounts from their smartphone, download the Family Link app on their phone and install Family Link for children and adolescents on their device, or simply add a child account when you first set up the phone.
When devices are paired, you can set limits on screen time, set time off when the phone is locked, and approve or block downloads from Google Play. The system runs in the background and sends weekly reports on how much time your child has spent on specific apps.
⚠️ Note: To properly work Family Link on your child’s device, you can’t log out of their Google account without your knowledge, otherwise control will be lost.
One of the key features is content filtering, you can set up Google and YouTube searches in Safe Search mode, which will exclude adult content, and the Device Lock feature allows you to instantly lock your child's phone remotely if it's lost or it's time for lunch, regardless of the settings on the device itself.
- 📱 Ability to remotely lock and unlock the device at any time.
- 🕒 Flexible setting of daily limits and schedules of use (sleep mode).
- 🔒 Control of purchases and app installations through mandatory parental approval.
- 📍 Tracking the location of the child in real time on the map.
Configure the built-in MIUI and Digital Wellbeing restrictions
If you don’t want to use a Google account to manage, MIUI offers its own tools based on Digital Wellbeing, which is in the settings menu and allows you to analyze smartphone usage statistics. To activate parenting, go to Settings → Digital Wellbeing and Parental Control.
Inside this menu, you can set timers for specific applications, for example, you can only allow games to play for 30 minutes a day, and you can limit access to YouTube to one hour. When the limit is exhausted, the app icon will turn gray, and you can only run it with your permission or the next day, and this is a great way to teach your child how to plan his time.
Focus Mode, which allows you to temporarily turn off distracting apps, leaving only the necessary tools, such as a phone, messages or a navigator, is useful not only for learning, but also for the child to focus on homework without notification from messengers.
☑️ Digital Wellbeing settings
Xiaomi’s built-in tools are less aggressive than Family Link, and a tech-savvy teenager can find a way around restrictions if they have administrator rights on the device, so it’s better for younger children or as an additional protection measure in combination with other tools.
Blocking applications and hiding content
MIUI is famous for its advanced privacy features that can be adapted to parental controls. The built-in App Lock feature allows you to set a password or biometric protection to run any program, which means that even if the phone is unlocked, you can only start a browser or game after you enter a pin code or fingerprint.
To set up, go to the Security → Application Lock. Here you can select a list of programs that should be restricted. This is ideal to prevent accidental purchases in games or access to social networks at the wrong time. Only a parent should know the password from blocking applications.
An even more powerful tool is Hide Apps, which allows you to completely remove the icons of selected programs from the desktop and menus, so that you can access hidden applications by entering a special code in the Themes app or dialing a secret code in your phone, which allows you to keep certain games or browsers in a deep hiding place.
| Function | Level of protection | Difficulty bypassing | Purpose of use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Application lockdown | Medium. | Low (password needed) | Restricting access to specific games |
| Hide applications | High-pitched | Medium (access code needed) | Complete concealment of the availability of applications |
| Guest mode | Low. | Low. | Temporary telephone transfer |
| Second space | High-pitched | High-pitched | Separation of personal and child data |
Using these features requires presetting passwords, using a complex pattern lock or digital code that a child cannot easily guess or peek, and changing passwords regularly also increases the level of security of the system.
Creating a Second Profile Separation Space
The unique feature of Xiaomi smartphones is the “Second Space” feature, which allows you to create a completely isolated environment on one phone with its apps, photos, contacts and settings, in fact, it’s like two different phones in the same case, switched by fingerprint or password.
You can set up the main space for yourself, and the second space for the child, and in the second space, you can only install children's apps, restrict Internet access, and customize your wallpaper, and switching between spaces is instantaneous, which is convenient when you need to quickly pick up the phone to make a call without letting the child in their personal data.
To activate, go to Settings → Second Space and follow the instructions of the Settings Wizard, and you can choose which apps will be available in the second profile and which will remain hidden. This is a great way to give your child a phone to play without worrying about their personal photos or work documents.
How do you hide the transition to the second space?
However, in terms of privacy and access delimitation, it is one of the most effective solutions in the Android smartphone market.
Internet Filtration and Secure Search
Even with app restrictions, Internet access remains the main channel for getting information, and to protect children from unwanted content, you need to set up secure search, especially for Google Chrome and Google search.
Go to your child’s Google account settings (or Family Link) and search for the Search section, where you can activate the SafeSearch filter, which will hide pornographic and violent images and texts from the search results, and it is also recommended to install a children’s browser, such as Kids Place, or use incognito mode with restrictions, although the latter is less reliable.
MIUI Browser also has built-in security features, you can find the "Security" option in your browser settings and activate the blocking of malicious sites, and many antiviruses, such as Kaspersky or Dr.Web, have Parental Control modules that filter traffic at the system level, regardless of the browser used.
- 🌐 Activate SafeSearch in Google Account Settings for Issue Filtering.
- 🛡️ Installation DNS-filtration (e.g., filtration, DNS from SkyDNS or Yandex.DNS) in Wi-Fi and mobile network settings.
- 🚫 Blocking Unknown Browsers via Family Link.
- 🔞 Setting restrictions on YouTube Kids instead of regular YouTube.
You don't have to rely on just one method of protection, DNS-filtering and controlling installed applications creates a multi-level barrier that significantly reduces the risk of a child encountering dangerous content on the network.
Frequent questions and problem-solving
During the setup process, parents often face technical and security issues, and the following are answers to the most common questions that will help avoid typical errors and solve problems with the operation of control functions.
One of the common problems is battery discharge: constant geolocation transfer and background monitoring can land the battery faster, and in such cases, it is recommended to optimize the energy saving settings for Family Link applications, allowing them to work in the background so that the system does not “kill” the tracking process.
⚠️ Note: If a child resets the phone to factory settings, all set restrictions will be removed. Family Link will notify you of this event, but access to the device will only be restored after re-authorizing the child account under your control.
And many people are also concerned about anonymity, because they will know they're being monitored, because there's often a control icon on the lock screen or in the notification curtain, and that's okay, and even right, because being open about digital security helps to avoid conflict and mistrust in the family.
💡
Effective parental control is not based on total surveillance, but on the balance between technical limitations and a trustful dialogue with the child about the rules of behavior in the network.
If you are faced with a situation where your child has forgotten the password from blocking apps, you can only reset it through the Mi Account or Google Account to which the device is attached, so always keep access to your accounts in a safe place.