Want more focus?

PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4

On the console, at account management on the web, or in the PlayStation Family app

1. Sign in as the family manager or a parent.
2. Open Settings, then Family and Parental Controls, then Family Management, and pick your child.
3. Set the time zone, then open Playtime Settings and set Restrict Playtime to Restrict. If it stays on Do Not Restrict, the hours below do not apply.
4. Set the hours your child can play each day. School nights can differ from weekends.
5. Set what happens when playtime ends to Log Out, then select Save.

On PlayStation 5, your child can ask for more time from the console, and you approve or decline it on your phone. The PlayStation 4 menus are named a little differently, so follow the official guide there.

PlayStation's playtime guide

Xbox

In the free Xbox Family Settings app for iPhone and Android

1. Download Xbox Family Settings and sign in with your Microsoft account.
2. Add your child to your family group with their email address or phone number.
3. Pick your child, then tap Screen time.
4. Choose the hours play is allowed for each day, leaving homework time out.

The app can also pause play right away, and your child sees that screen time is up until you turn it back on.

Xbox Family Settings

Nintendo Switch and Switch 2

In the free Nintendo Switch Parental Controls app, linked to the console

1. Download Nintendo Switch Parental Controls and link it to the console.
2. Tap Parental Controls, then Play-Time Limit.
3. Set a daily limit, or turn on Vary by Day to set school nights apart. You can also set a bedtime.
4. Turn on Suspend Play When Time's Up, then tap Save.

These limits apply to the whole console, not to one player.

Nintendo's parental controls guide

Google TV

On the TV, with a kids profile, and in the Family Link app

1. Add a kids profile on the TV with your child's Google account, or just a name and age.
2. In that profile, set a daily watch limit and a bedtime schedule.
3. Turn on the profile lock so switching to your profile needs your PIN.

The TV counts down before a "Time is up" screen.

Google's guide to kids profiles

Amazon Fire TV

In the Amazon Kids Parent Dashboard app, or at parents.amazon.com

1. Give your child an Amazon child profile on the Fire TV.
2. Open the Parent Dashboard and go to Settings, then Daily Screen Time.
3. Use Schedule to choose when the profile can be used, leaving homework time out.

Amazon's Parent Dashboard guide

Meta Quest

With supervision in the Meta Horizon app

1. Set up supervision from your phone and link your child's account.
2. See how much time your child spends in the headset each day.
3. Where your child's age and region allow it, set a daily limit or schedule breaks.

Meta's time limits guide

Android phones

On your child's phone, in its own Settings

1. Open Settings, then Digital Wellbeing and parental controls.
2. Tap Focus mode and choose the apps that can wait during homework, like games, video and social apps.
3. Tap Set a schedule and pick the homework hours for school nights, or tap Turn on now to start right away.
4. For an app that eats the whole evening, go back to App timers, tap Set timer next to it and choose a daily limit.

A paused app sends no notifications. Your child can tap Take a break to unpause apps for a while, so agree on Focus mode together. For limits only a parent can change, use the free Google Family Link app. Menus vary a little by phone maker.

Google's Digital Wellbeing guide

Campus Focus comes to Android in late November, the same day as iPhone. Home Focus Parent and Home Focus Student follow. Join the list to hear first.

Google Family Link, for Android

In the free Google Family Link app on your phone, and in your child's phone's Settings

1. On your own phone, download Google Family Link from the App Store or Google Play and sign in with your Google account.
2. On your child's Android phone, open Settings, tap Google, then All services, then Parental controls.
3. Tap Let's do this and pick your child's account. Your child agrees on the phone, and you approve in Family Link.
4. From then on, Family Link on your phone can block an app, set daily limits and lock the phone for homework time.

Under 18, your child needs your approval to turn supervision off, and you both get a notice if it stops. Menus vary a little by phone maker.

Google's supervision guide

Any other TV or device

With your Wi-Fi app or a smart plug

1. Many home Wi-Fi apps, like the one for your router or mesh system, can pause the internet for one device on a schedule.
2. A smart plug on a schedule can turn a TV or console off during homework time.

A smart plug cuts power, so save the game first. Turning a console off at the plug can lose progress.