Android 16 Could Make It Easier To Block Unwanted Content On Your Child's Supervised Device

Contents

Content filtration could occupy prime Settings real estate with Android 16

Here’s an early look at the upcoming page

Content filtration could occupy prime Settings real estate with Android 16

Summary

Android 16 is approaching its stable release, potentially in June, following the Beta 4 build.
A hidden “Supervision” page discovered in the Android 16 beta suggests Google is integrating Family Link parental controls, like web content filtering, directly into the system settings.
This new settings page will require a PIN to enable features such as blocking explicit sites in Chrome and filtering Google Search results, with more content restrictions expected in future updates.

Google’s Android 16 is expected to hit stable in a few months — sometime in June to be specific, if leaks are to be believed.

The operating system (OS) achieved Platform Stability with the release of Beta 3 back in March, followed by Beta 4 that fixed several developer and user-reported issues found in earlier builds.

The OS, once available in stable, is expected to bring themed clock colors to the Pixel’s Always-on Display, Identity Check on more Android devices, “Screen-off Fingerprint Unlock” on older Pixel phones, color-coded battery indicators, and potentially a lot more.

Now, in a bid to make the Android experience a bit safer for young users, Google seems to be working on enhancements to the Family Link app — enhancements that would bring certain controls from the parental control app to the centralized Android Settings app.

Here’s an early look at the upcoming page

A screenshot of Android 16's upcoming Supervision Serttings page.

Source: Android Authority

Highlighted by credible Android leaker and analyst Mishaal Rahman in a report for Android Authority, Android 16 Beta 4 offers hints that suggest Google intends to add a new Supervision page within the Settings app, set to appear right beneath the current Digital Wellbeing & parental controls section. “Content restrictions & other limits,” reads the section’s description.

For reference, the section isn’t currently visible in the latest beta build, but there’s a good chance that it goes live with the stable or a subsequent quarterly release of Android 16. Once live, users (parents) will be asked to set up a PIN to use device supervision, and be subsequently presented with Web content filters for two key sources:

Google Chrome and Web, and
Google Search

A screenshot of Android 16's upcoming Supervision Serttings page with Web content filters.

Source: Android Authority

The former, as seen in the screenshot above, gives parents the option to either allow their child’s device to show all websites without any filtration, or set it as Try to block explicit sites, which “should help hide sexually explicit sites.” Similarly, for Google Search, parents would have the option to SafeSearch filtering on or off.

Considering that the page’s description reads “Content restrictions & other limits,” it is likely that Google is still working on adding more settings to the Supervision page, prompting us to believe that its full functionality might not be unlocked until a future Android 16 quarterly update.