14 DAY TRIAL // Apple responded to an open letter wrote by a couple of its investors asking the tech giant to dramatically improve the parental control features in the iOS operating system to stop iPhone and iPad addiction among teens.
According to USA Today, the open letter entitled "Think Differently About Kids" cites the California State Teachers’ Retirement System and Jana Partners LLC, which ask the Cupertino-based company to implement new parental control features to protect kids from smartphone addiction.
Apple was quick to publish a statement, as reported by the Wall Street Journal, saying that they take this responsibility very serious and will soon implement more robust parental control features in a future update to the iOS operating system for supported iPhone and iPad models.
"We think deeply about how our products are used and the impact they have on users and the people around them," said Apple in the statement. "We take this responsibility very seriously and we are committed to meeting and exceeding our customers’ expectations, especially when it comes to protecting kids."
There's no setting that can't be disabled
Apple also reminded the investors, and the general public, that there's no setting they can implement that can't be disabled by a child. At the moment, parents can limit access to apps and in-app purchases, and add content age restrictions on iPhone and iPad devices, but more parental control features are needed.
As expected, Apple was shy to offer an insight into the company's plans to stop smartphone addiction in youth, but the shareholder letter suggested them to implement new parental control features like clocking hours or screen time limits, among others. We believe these upcoming features will be coming with the iOS 12 update later this year and unveiled this summer at WWDC 2018.