Fortnite Battle Royale is coming to iOS, and sign-ups for the beta have begun. Chances are your kids are gonna wanna play it for hours and hours and hours... and forever. It's incredibly popular, and it might be best to get ahead of the inevitable addiction. Here's how to enable the right parental restrictions so that you can set time limits and make sure your young'uns are gaming healthily.
How to disable the chat
Perhaps the most vitriolic part of any game with the feature is the chat. To be honest, I'm not sure why chat even exists in gaming anymore if I'm being perfectly honest. Players (especially those of the child persuasion) don't seem to take chat as an opportunity to interact anymore. It's merely a vehicle for racial slurs, political "views" they hear their parents say, bullying, and just all-around nonsense.
It's best to just disable it. There's no actual word yet on whether or not Fortnite for iOS will have chat, but Epic Games has said that the iOS game will play just like the other iterations, so it's fair to assume it'll be there. You'll likely be able to disable chat in the settings or simply swipe it away.
How to set time limits for Fortnite
With iOS, you can set time limits on any app in order to encourage healthy usage.
- Enable Guided Access in Settings.
- Launch the Fortnite Battle Royale app.
- Triple-click the Home button on your iPhone to launch Guided Access.
- Tap Options on the bottom left of your screen.
- Tap the switch next to Time Limit.
- Swipe the wheels to choose a time limit. You can do anything from a minute to 23 hours.
How to prevent your kids from making in-app purchases
This is a biggie. I've seen adults rack up thousands of dollars of in-app purchases on purpose, let alone kids doing it by accident (or on purpose, not understanding the repercussions). If your kids know your iPhone password, it's even worse. It's especially bad if they have their own iPhone, and it's your credit card on their Apple ID.
Just turn off in-app purchases altogether and don't show 'em how you did it!
How to turn on parental controls for in-app purchases on iPhone and iPad
Any other suggestions?
Do you already play Fortnite on another platform? Sound off in the comments below if you think parents should know anything else about the game!
