You don't have to hover over your children's shoulders, watching their every move, to keep them safe. Apple has several parental control features for the Mac to help protect them as they browse the internet, use apps, and play games. You can even set time limits for your little ones' computer activities, so they don't overuse their allotted screen time.
![]()
Download the Microsoft Remote Desktop client from the Mac App Store. Set up your PC to accept remote connections. (If you skip this step, you.
Here's how to set up and manage Parental controls on your Mac.If you are looking for how to use parental controls on iOS, check out our.How to create a new user account on MacIf you currently only have one user account (your administrator account), you'll need to create a new account for your kids. Select System Preferences from the Mac Dock. Choose Users & Groups.Tap the lock at the bottom left.Source: iMore.
Enter your administrative username and password to unlock your accounts.Tap the + at the bottom left.Source: iMore. Toggle the type of account. Use Standard as your choice. Enter the full name of the child that will be using the new account. Create a password for the account. Verify the password. Add a password hint in case you forget it.Click on Create User to create a new account.Source: iMore.
Repeat Steps 5 to 11 for additional children accounts.Once you create an account for your child, you must set restrictions by activating Screen Time in macOS Catalina. How to turn on Screen Time on macOSScreen Time is located in System Preferences in macOS Catalina.
To get started:. Click Screen Time in System Preferences. Make sure the administrator account is selected at the top left. By default, it is.
Select the Options button at the bottom left.Click the Turn On button at the top right.Source: iMoreYou can now start using Screen Time on Mac. For further information on Screen Time for Mac, see:.The following steps are exclusive to establishing parental controls on Mac using Screen Time. How to set restrictions across all devicesThanks to Screen Time, you can establish restrictions for your children across all of your devices. As changes are made on one device, they'll carry over to the others. However, they must be set up to do so.On Mac:. Click Screen Time in System Preferences.
Make sure the administrator account is selected at the top left. How to set app limits using Screen Time for macOSIn Screen Time for Mac, you can also set app time limits. Click Screen Time in System Preferences.
On the left, toggle the child account. Select App Limits on the left side.Click the Turn On button to activate App Limits.Source: iMore. Select the + to add an app category.Next, check the box next to the app category you'd like to limit.Source: iMore. Tap the expand icon to see the apps affected by this limit.
![]()
The list will include apps across all devices, when applicable. With the app category highlighted, set the total limit using the radio buttons. You can set the limits Every Day or using a Custom schedule. Repeat Steps 5-6 for each app category you'd like to limit.Click Done to complete.Source: iMoreTo remove app limits:. In Screen Time for Mac, toggle the child account.
Select App Limits on the left side. On the right, uncheck the box next to each app category you no longer want to limit.To turn off app tracking, click the Turn Off button.Source: iMoreHow to set always allowed content in Screen Time for macOSYou might want specific processes available on the Mac at all the time for your child, regardless of other restrictions.
Trot back to the 16th century and corner famed prognosticating monk Nostradamus, and it’s quite likely that when posed the question: “Will those living in the year 2013 be able to call up any media programming they like from a single box?” he’d respond with an enthusiastic “Mais oui!”Sadly, we know only too well where this one sits in the cleric’s win/loss column. Progress has been made, via cable and satellite services that deliver a trillion channels plus on-demand programming, as well as set-top boxes that have access to online music and video services. But the ultimate goal—watching exactly what you want to watch when you want to watch it—remains elusive.In search of a solution, some people have turned to the most powerful media device in their home—their computer. Not only can it play locally stored music, video, and slideshows, but it can also bring you any media found on the Internet, including streaming TV programming, movies, and music.But sitting in front of a computer monitor—regardless of its resolution—can be limiting. It makes for a less-than-satisfying group-viewing experience, and it’s hard to shake the feeling that you’re, well, sitting in front of a computer. What many of us want is a device as intelligent as a computer but one that’s at home in the living room, attached to a big-screen TV. Turns out that Apple produces a device fitting that exact bill: the Mac mini.Small, not obscenely expensive, and capable of accessing media locally as well as online, the Mac mini has a lot going for it.
But is it the perfect solution for those anxious to cut the media cord? I spent a month with one to find out.About the boxI chose the $599 base-model Mac mini for my media experiment, largely based on its price and performance. That mini includes a 2.5 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB of memory, a 500GB hard drive, and the Intel HD Graphics 4000 chipset built into the motherboard. For another $200 you can purchase a Mac mini with a i7 processor and a 1TB hard drive. I chose to save that $200 because the base-model’s processor is fast enough for a media server, and because, while storage is important for this kind of use, an external hard drive offers more space for less money.The Mac mini sports ports aplenty.Today’s Mac mini offers other advantages as a media server.
It sports an HDMI port, which allows you to jack the computer directly into your TV or HDMI-compatible AV receiver. It includes an SDXC card slot for directly accessing the pictures stored on a camera’s memory card. Unlike most of today’s Macs it still retains a FireWire 800 port (though it also has a Thunderbolt port). It includes four USB 3 ports for plugging in additional storage devices and media peripherals. The mini has an IR receiver and comes with Apple’s remote, so it can be controlled from the couch. It carries a gigabit ethernet port, for when wireless isn’t fast enough. And it supports digital audio in and out.Dealing with discsWhat the mini doesn't have—and hasn't had for a couple of iterations—is a removable media drive.
![]()
If you still depend on DVDs and CDs then you may be annoyed that there’s no slot in the front of the mini for your discs. However, external USB removable media drives are inexpensive and they operate just like an internal drive—allowing you to play movies and install disc-based software. You can find such drives for around $30 that are every bit as good as Apple’s $79.Those drives do not, however, play Blu-ray discs, a technology that Apple has never supported. Although you can add an external Blu-ray player for under $100, and solid software is available for burning data to these discs, the software necessary to play Blu-ray movies isn’t terribly good. In this instance you’re better off using a separate Blu-ray player that’s plugged directly into your TV or AV receiver.
(Or glomming on to a copy of the digital download that’s often offered with today’s Blu-ray discs and adding that copy to the mini’s iTunes library.)Scarcity of storageMedia—movies and TV shows, in particular—can take up a lot of storage space. Your average HD movie purchased from the iTunes Store consumes 3GB of storage, while hour-long HD TV episodes come in at just under 2GB. Add reasonably robust music and photo libraries, and the mini’s 500GB of storage would be used up in next to no time.One way to work around this is to leave your purchases in the cloud and download or stream just that content that you wish to view or listen to (using iTunes in the Cloud for video and iTunes Match for music).
When you’re finished with it, delete it. While this provides you with more storage space, you have to wait while the content downloads or streams plus, if you have a data cap on your Internet usage, this can cause you to burn through that cap before the month is out.Because you’ll want to save that bandwidth for things like Netflix, Pandora, HBO Go, Hulu, YouTube, and Amazon Instant Video, you’re better off attaching an external hard drive to the mini and storing your personal media on it. Shop around and you can find 2TB USB hard drives for a little over $100. Once you’ve attached that hard drive to your Mac, it’s a simple matter to designate it as iTunes’ storage destination.The control conundrumWhile a computer can be a terrific media player, one element has traditionally stood in the way of every media rack bearing something like the Mac mini: Convenient control.
![]() Comments are closed.
|
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
January 2023
Categories |