New phone or iPad for Christmas? Set it up before you wrap it

If there's a phone or iPad hiding in the wardrobe for Christmas, here's the most useful thing we can tell you: set it up before you wrap it.

On Christmas morning, a child holding a brand-new device doesn't want to wait while you work through settings, and you won't want to either. If you do it a week or two before, everything's ready when the paper comes off: the right account, the right controls, the updates done. It also means the rules come with the device from the start, so you're not adding them later.

This is our checklist for Australian families. It covers iPhone, iPad and Android, and takes about an hour, most of it waiting for updates.

Before you start

• Your own phone needs updating too. Apple's redesigned Screen Time only shows up once every device in your family group is on iOS 27, iPadOS 27 or macOS 27. Update yours first.
• Have your child's real birthday ready. Apple uses it to set age-appropriate restrictions, and Google uses it for supervision. Rounding up "so it's easier" switches off protections designed for their age.
• Pick a passcode your child has never seen. You'll need one for Screen Time or Android's parental controls. Don't reuse the device passcode or anything they've watched you type.
• Charge it, and open it somewhere quiet. You'll put it back in the box afterwards.

If it's an iPhone or iPad

1. Create your child's account first (if they don't have one). On your iPhone: Settings → Family → Add → Create Child Account. Enter their name and birthday and follow the steps. A Child Account is required for children under 13 and available up to 18, and it's what makes the rest work.

2. Set up the new device as theirs. Turn it on, bring your own iPhone close, and choose to set it up for your child. If they don't have a Child Account yet, Apple walks you through making one here. Sign in as your child, not as you. A device signed in to a parent's account is a device with an adult's settings. Our guide on setting up your child's device walks through every screen.

3. Update it before anything else. Settings → General → Software Update. Do this now, not on Christmas morning.

4. Check the settings that matter. On your own iPhone, go to Settings → Family and tap your child's name (on older versions it's under Settings → Screen Time):

• Ask to Buy: you approve every app before it installs, free ones included. It's on by default for under-13s; turn it on for older kids too.
• Content & Privacy Restrictions: set the App Store age rating that fits your child.
• Allowed contacts: choose who they can call and message. With iOS 27, messages from new senders stay hidden until you approve them.
• Ask to Browse: your child asks before opening a website they haven't visited before. It's on by default for under-13s, and you can turn it on for older children.
• Communication Safety: steps in on nudity, gore and violence in shared images and video.
• Downtime: a schedule for when the device is off, overnight being the obvious one.

Handing down an old iPad or iPhone as well? Don't just erase it and sign the next child in. Family Sharing keeps the old binding and parental-control apps quietly fail. Our guide on handing an iPad down to another child has the steps AppleCare gave us, and they take a few days, so start early.

If it's an Android phone or tablet

1. Create a supervised account during setup. Turn the device on and follow the prompts. When it asks you to sign in, choose to create an account. If you don't see "For my child", look under More options. You'll enter your child's details and then sign in with your own Google Account to give consent.

2. Keep other accounts off it. Google won't add supervision to a device that has other accounts on it. If you've already signed in with yours, remove it first.

3. Update it. Settings → System → Software update (the wording varies a little between brands).

4. Set the controls. On Android 17 and later, Settings → Parental controls lets you set a PIN, then a daily limit, downtime, app limits and Play Store filters, all on the device itself. For school-time schedules, purchase approvals and location, install the Google Family Link app on your phone. Most families end up using both.

Worth knowing: Android's web filters work in Chrome and the Google app. Google's own help page says other browsers may still show explicit content, so check which browsers are installed.

The social media ban, and what it doesn't cover

Since 10 December 2025, Australians under 16 can't hold accounts on age-restricted social media platforms. eSafety's list includes Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube and Facebook, and eSafety updates it as things change. Our guide on which apps are covered keeps track.

What the ban doesn't cover matters more for a new device. Messaging and gaming apps sit outside it. eSafety lists WhatsApp, Messenger, Discord, Roblox and Steam among the services it doesn't consider age-restricted. Those are where under-16s will be talking to people, including people they don't know.

So when a new device arrives:

• Set up the apps you've agreed to together, on the day, rather than letting them appear one by one later.
• Check the age your child enters in each game and app. A child who says they're 18 gets adult settings, including who can message them. Our guide on checking the age your child entered shows where to look.
• If they're under 16, don't set up an account for them in your name on an age-restricted platform. eSafety says a platform that works out an account is really used by a child should remove it.

There are no penalties for children or parents under the ban. It's the platforms that have to take reasonable steps, so this is about your family's choices, not about getting in trouble.

The talk that comes with the device

Controls do a lot of the work, but they can't see what happens inside a chat. Before or on the day, it's worth saying a few things out loud:

• "If something online upsets you or someone makes you uncomfortable, tell me, and you won't lose the phone for telling me." Worry about losing the device can stop a child from speaking up, so take it off the table early.
• Agree on where the device sleeps. Charging outside the bedroom overnight is the simplest rule there is.
• Explain the controls rather than hiding them. "These settings are on while you're learning, and they'll loosen as you get older" lands better than discovering them.

Our guide on how to talk to your kid about online safety has more on this, and on online grooming warning signs if your child will be chatting in games.

If something goes wrong over the holidays

• Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800, any time, for your child to talk to someone.
• eSafety Commissioner: report serious online abuse, image-based abuse and illegal content at esafety.gov.au.
• If a child is in immediate danger: call 000.