Google Family Link vs Vidward for YouTube

Family Link does filter YouTube now

Old advice often says Family Link can only block the YouTube app. That is no longer true. For a child with a supervised YouTube account, Google now offers three content levels, exact-channel blocks, autoplay controls, history controls and screen-time tools that include a Shorts feed limit.

The real gap is not "no filter." It is the kind of filter. Family Link gives you Google's broad content groups and account controls. Vidward gives you your own standing rules inside the desktop site.

What Family Link controls

Family Link manages a child's Google Account and supported devices. Google lists app approval, app blocking, screen limits, bedtimes and location for supported Android and Fitbit devices.

For a child under 13, or the local age set by Google, a supervised YouTube account adds:

• Explore, which Google says generally fits viewers age 9 and up
• Explore more, which generally fits viewers age 13 and up
• Most of YouTube, which includes almost all videos except 18+ content and other videos Google excludes from supervised accounts
• exact-channel blocks from the linked parent account
• autoplay, search history and watch history controls
• YouTube screen-time controls, including a Shorts feed limit

Google says its automated systems choose which videos fit each level and may make mistakes. Google also says a channel block covers only uploads on that exact channel. It does not catch reuploads or similar channels.

What Vidward adds

Vidward does not replace the child's Google Account or Family Link. It adds a rule layer to YouTube in the child's computer browser.

A parent can block or allow channels, block one video, filter words in titles, remove Shorts, hide comments and live chat, keep autoplay off, or set video length limits. An approved-channels-only mode can close the catalog to every channel the parent has not picked.

Those rules do not depend on the child staying signed in to one Google Account. They do depend on the protected browser. Vidward does not cover YouTube apps on Android, iPhone or iPad. It does not filter TVs, consoles or the home network.

Side by side

• Device time and apps: Family Link wins. Vidward has no daily device limit and cannot approve Play Store apps.
• Phone and Chromebook setup: Family Link wins. It belongs to the Google account and supported device.
• Broad maturity level: Family Link wins. Its three levels cover the whole supervised catalog at once.
• Your own topic and format rules: Vidward wins. Family Link does not list title keyword rules or parent-set video length controls.
• Shorts: Family Link can limit Shorts feed time. Vidward removes Shorts surfaces and playback from the protected browser.
• Account switching: Vidward's browser rule stays in place when the YouTube account changes.

What happens in the teen years

Google also offers voluntary supervision for teens. That is not the same as the three child content levels. Google's comparison says supervised teens can use all of YouTube except age-restricted content. A teen or parent can remove that supervision.

If you need exact YouTube rules after the child levels stop fitting, the rule must live somewhere else. On a computer, that is the gap Vidward serves.

See the full guide to YouTube supervised accounts before you change an account. For the format question, read Does Family Link block YouTube Shorts?.