Nintendo Switch Parental Controls mobile app

Set gaming guidelines for the family right from your smart device with this free app.

It’s only natural for parents to have questions about their kids and gaming.

  • How much time does my family spend gaming?

  • Are the games appropriate for my family?

  • How can I set limits on what they can do online with the system?

That’s why Nintendo Switch has parental controls that let you set rules for using the system—so you can spend less time worrying and more time having fun. While some parental controls are available on the system itself, the free app gives you even more options.

Keep an eye on play time

You can set limits on how long or how late the Nintendo Switch console can be used each day. When the time limit has been reached, an alarm notification will pop up on-screen.

The app will also tell you if the Nintendo Switch console stays on past this time limit. If needed, you can always set the system to automatically interrupt the game when the time’s up.

Parents can disable play time alarms and game suspension features temporarily or for a full day using their PIN.

Alarm

Suspend software

Decide which games they can play

When setting up your parental controls, you can choose from pre-set age categories for faster setup. Or, you can set custom options based on the age of your child. This way, only games that are appropriate for the age you select can be played on your system. (Parents may override this using their PIN).

You may also choose to “whitelist” specific games, excluding them from the Parental Controls Restricted Software setting. (Be sure your Nintendo Switch is updated to version 5.0.0 or latest, and your Nintendo Switch Parental Controls App is updated to version 1.5.0 or latest for this feature.)

If you’re wondering which games your family plays the most, you can see daily play times for each person, and even get a monthly report of most-played games.

You can also get push notifications when new games are downloaded.

Customize online features

Different games have different social and online features that you may want to consider.

With the parental controls app, you can:

• Limit sharing of in-game text or images per game
• Restrict the ability to post screenshots to social media

You may also set restrictions on who can make Nintendo eShop purchases via your Nintendo Account settings.* To get started, visit accounts.nintendo.com.

*Parents or guardians will need a Nintendo Account to access these settings. Visit the support page for details.

Internet connection required to use this app. Data charges may apply.

The Nintendo Switch Parental Controls app lets users control settings for their Nintendo Switch systems. However, it does not include settings for this app or the Nintendo Switch Online app, because apps run on smart devices rather than a Nintendo system. To set restrictions for your apps, please refer to your smart device settings.

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