# Parental controls

> Settings that let a parent limit or see what a child does in an app or on a device.

- Page: https://navenapp.com/glossary/parental-controls
- Last updated: 2026-10-15
- Published by: Naven, a free messaging app that runs in a web browser (https://navenapp.com/about)

Parental controls come in three kinds. Device controls, such as Apple's Screen Time or Google's Family Link, limit apps, time and purchases on a phone or tablet. App controls are settings inside one service: who can message the child, what content they see, and what a linked parent can view. Monitoring software copies a child's activity, sometimes including messages, to the parent.

The trade-off is between seeing more and being trusted. Controls a child understands, and that show a parent patterns rather than every word, tend to keep a child using the service the parent can see.

## Where Naven stands

Naven's parent controls show who a child talks to, when, how long they use Naven and which safety categories were stopped — never what anybody wrote, and never a contact's email address. They sit behind a PIN, and a parent can pause or delete the account from them. For 13 to 17, a parent or guardian agrees to the terms; under 13, an account cannot send anything until a parent's consent is verified.

See also [Parental consent](https://navenapp.com/glossary/parental-consent), [Age band](https://navenapp.com/glossary/age-band), [COPPA](https://navenapp.com/glossary/coppa) and [Metadata](https://navenapp.com/glossary/metadata).

![Naven on a phone, explaining why a message was not sent: it gave away where somebody lives](https://navenapp.com/shots/phone-screening.webp)  
What it looks like in Naven: a screenshot of the app.

## Naven, in brief

- **Price:** Free. No ads, no paid tier
- **Phone number:** Never asked for
- **To install:** Nothing. It runs in a browser
- **End-to-end encrypted:** No. Messages are screened before they send
- **Works on:** Phones, tablets, laptops, Chromebooks

### What it will not do

- Screen calls. Only messages are screened
- Catch everything. The screen misses things, and is weaker outside English
- Promise security. Naven promises none; the terms say so plainly

**Naven is a free messenger that runs in your browser.** No phone number, nothing to install, and no new password.