Android 16 and One UI 8 could drastically improve parental controls

Android 16 is coming soon, and we haven't seen many big design changes or groundbreaking features from the four beta updates that have been released. However, there might be one big feature that Google has kept under the wraps until now. A report reveals that Google might bring major improvements to parental controls for web content.

To improve the Parental Controls feature on Android, Google seems to be developing a brand new menu called Supervision in the Settings app, and this was reported by Android Authority. It currently features two things: Use Device Supervision toggle and Web Content Filters.

The Use Device Supervision toggle is disabled by default. To enable it, you need to set a new PIN for the supervised account. Then, you can enter the Web Content Filters option. It allows all web content by default, but you can set it to block explicit content, including images, links, and text. Like most web content filtering systems, it might not block all explicit content.

This new section's description mentions “content restrictions & other limits,” which means Google might bring more options to it in the future. And that could be the reason why Google kept it hidden in all Android 16 beta releases. The fully baked version of the feature could be showcased with the stable release of Android 16.

Samsung has already started working on One UI 8 (based on Android 16), and it could include these Parental Controls improvements. While One UI 7 brought improved parental controls, it doesn't have a Supervision option directly in the Settings app.

As we exclusively reported, the first phones to run One UI 8.0 will be the Galaxy Z Flip 7 and the Galaxy Z Fold 7. Both foldable phones are expected to be launched in July or August, just after Samsung completes rolling out One UI 7.0 to all eligible devices.