Apple’s new iOS 27 parental controls give families more ways to scaffold an iPhone as children grow, including Ask to Browse, contact approvals, Time Allowances, customizable schedules, expanded Communication Safety, and a redesigned Screen Time. But do these tools make an iPhone “child safe”? Not quite. We unpack what’s new, what parents need to know, where important gaps remain, and why parental controls should be guardrails, not guarantees.

What if your child’s next online purchase isn’t made by them, but by AI? “Agentic commerce” is shifting shopping from human decisions to automated systems that search, compare, and buy on our behalf. Convenient, yes, but it also raises real concerns around privacy, spending, influence, and control. Here’s what families need to understand before AI starts shopping for them.