Sharing a tablet or phone with your kids
Kids find everything. Especially photos that synced over from your phone.
Give the kids their own user profile on the tablet, keep your Google account off it if you can, and keep anything private in a vault with a lock they don't know.
The sync surprise
If a family tablet is signed in to your Google account with Google Photos installed, every photo backed up from your phone shows up on the tablet too. That includes screenshots, documents and anything you'd rather your eight year old didn't stumble on.
Give kids their own profile
Most Android tablets support more than one user. Add a user for the kids in Settings under Users or Multiple users, and sign it in to a child account or no account at all. Their profile has its own apps and its own photos, and yours stays behind your lock.
Google's Family Link lets you manage a child account's apps and screen time if you want more control.
If it has to be one shared profile
Sometimes a single shared profile is the realistic option. Then:
- Turn off Google Photos backup syncing on that device, or sign the shared profile out of your personal Google account.
- Move private photos and documents into a vault. Dobr opens with a pattern only you know, and it locks the moment anyone switches away from it.
- Avoid using your phone's screen lock pattern as the vault pattern. Kids are very good at watching fingers.
Don't forget the downloads folder
Files you downloaded on the tablet, such as tickets, bank statements and school forms, live in Downloads where any file manager can see them. Move what matters into the vault and delete the rest.
Last checked 2026-11-01. Phone menus change between Android versions and brands, so labels on your phone may differ slightly.