Aunty Bea vs Google Family Link: free controls versus safety notes

Google Family Link is free, it comes from Google, and for an Android family it is the obvious first thing to switch on. So the fair question is not which is better but what each one does. Family Link controls time, apps and location. Aunty Bea watches for harm and tells you when a conversation is worth having. For a lot of families the answer is both.

The short version

• Family Link is the free way to set screen-time limits, approve app downloads, see app activity, filter Chrome and Google Search, and see where an Android phone or Chromebook is.
• Family Link does not alert you to grooming, bullying or self-harm, does not let you read messages, does not block inappropriate content by itself (Google's words), and cannot supervise an iPhone or iPad.
• Aunty Bea does the thing Family Link leaves out: it notices risky activity and sends you a plain-English note with a conversation starter, on Android, iPhone, iPad, Mac and the family browser. Social Lock, the free tier, enforces Australia's under-16 ban.

Side by side

Family Link facts from families.google, support.google.com/families and the Australian Google Play listing, checked 13 October 2026.

What Family Link does well

For an Android or Chromebook family it is a genuinely good set of controls at no cost. You can set screen time limits, approve or refuse every new app, block apps, see app activity, turn on SafeSearch, block sites in Chrome, and get an alert when your child's phone arrives at school or leaves it. Google builds it into Android, so it is hard to beat for the time and apps job. Our iPhone vs Android parental controls guide compares it with Apple's Screen Time in detail.

Where the two part ways

1. Controls versus safety

Family Link answers how long and which apps. It does not answer what happened. Google's own FAQ says Family Link does not block inappropriate content, and nothing in its help centre describes an alert for grooming, bullying or self-harm. It also does not let you read messages, which we think is right. But it means that if an adult in a game chat starts asking your child where they live, Family Link has nothing to say about it. Aunty Bea is built for that moment: it notices, and sends you a note in plain English with words you could open with. You still never see the chat itself.

2. The iPhone gap

Google's help centre is direct: iPhones, iPads and computers other than Chromebooks can't be supervised with Family Link, and on an iPhone most supervision settings, including screen time limits, device location, app activity and app blocking, won't work. A parent can run Family Link on an iPhone to manage a child's Android, but a child on an iPhone is outside it. Aunty Bea runs on the child's iPhone or iPad, built on Apple's Family Controls framework, and does what Apple allows: network-layer blocking, a blocked-attempt log, a Safari extension, Social Lock and tamper alerts. We cannot see inside other apps on iOS, and we say so.

3. The ban

With Family Link you can block apps one at a time. Aunty Bea Social Lock is built around Australia's under-16 social media ban: it blocks the platforms that are age-restricted under it, including Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, Snapchat and X, on every paired device, free, with no expiry and no card. It is not a fixed list; coverage grows as more platforms come under the ban.

4. Where your data goes

Google's privacy policy says it maintains servers around the world and may process your information outside the country where you live; the Family Link parent notice lists Chrome browsing history synced to the account and telephony log information among what it collects. Aunty Bea's infrastructure providers process data in the United States, and we are an Australian company. What matters more is what leaves the device, so here is ours.

On every device, Aunty Bea checks on the device and sends us only the type of concern it found, the app or site, and a page title. The on-screen text does not leave the device, and your child's name is never sent with it. The plain-English note is written by Claude, made by Anthropic, which keeps what it receives for up to 30 days and never uses it to train its models. Our infrastructure providers process data in the United States. The full detail is in our privacy policy.

Who should pick which

• Android family, you want time limits and app approvals: Family Link, free. Start there.
• Android family, you also want to know when something online looked risky: keep Family Link and add Aunty Bea. They do not conflict.
• Child on an iPhone or iPad: Family Link cannot supervise it. Apple's Screen Time does the limits; Aunty Bea does the safety notes and the ban.
• You mainly want the ban enforced: Aunty Bea Social Lock, free.

Sources

• Google Family Link on Google Play (Australia): price 0 AUD, no in-app purchases
• families.google/familylink: screen time limits, block apps, approvals, SafeSearch, location alerts
• Family Link FAQ: "Family Link does not block inappropriate content"; iOS "can only be partially supervised"
• Google: devices that work with Family Link: Android 6.0+, ChromeOS 71+; "iPhones, iPads, and computers other than Chromebooks can't be supervised"
• Google: devices that can't be supervised
• Google: Family Link on iPhone and iPad: settings that won't work
• Google: what a parent can and can't do: can't read emails or messages, listen to calls, check Chrome history or past searches
• Family Link child disclosure and Google privacy policy: servers around the world, processing outside your country
• Aunty Bea: About, homepage, privacy policy