Don’t Wait Until the Boarding Gate to Check Your Child’s Tablet

Tablet/iPad Checks to Do Before Travelling with Your Child

The problem that leaves parents scrambling at the airport usually isn’t a flat battery.

More often, a downloaded programme asks for another login when aeroplane mode is switched on. A game needs an update before it will open. Or a child taps a paid feature, and the approval request goes to another device that is sitting at home.

These problems take minutes to solve in the living room. At the boarding gate, with bags to watch and an increasingly impatient child, they become much harder.

So don’t just check whether the tablet contains enough entertainment. Turn off the Wi-Fi and let your child use it exactly as they will during the journey. That simple test is more useful than another trip through the settings menu.

Make It the Child’s Tablet for the Journey

Many families do not have a separate children’s tablet. They temporarily hand over a parent’s device instead.

That is convenient, but it can also give a child access to the parent’s email, photographs, cloud storage and saved payment methods. None of those things needs to come along for the ride.

Before travelling, create a child account or set up a properly restricted space. Apple’s Family Sharing and Screen Time features can manage app downloads, purchases, web content and changes to privacy settings. On an Android tablet, Google Family Link can control apps, permissions and screen time.

However, seeing “parental controls enabled” on the screen does not mean the job is finished.

Apple recommends keeping all family devices updated so that restrictions sync correctly. Its parental-control guidance also separates controls for app installation, in-app purchases, web access and account changes. They are not all covered by one switch.

Google Family Link has its own boundaries. It can supervise Android tablets and Chromebooks, but it cannot supervise a child’s iPhone or iPad. Families using a mixture of devices should not assume that rules created on one platform will automatically carry over to another.

The useful question is simple: can the child reach anything on this tablet that belongs to the parent rather than to them? Work email, private photographs, unrestricted cloud storage and shopping apps can usually be removed from the holiday setup.

Don’t Read the Purchase Settings—Test Them

The quickest way to check purchase approval is to ask the child to install a free app.

If the settings are working, the parent should receive an approval request. If the app starts installing immediately, go back and check which account is signed in and how purchases are managed.

Test an in-app purchase separately. Free games often present paid items as upgrades, extra levels or useful objects. A younger child may not realise that tapping the button means spending real money.

Google states that Family Link purchase approval only applies to transactions made through Google Play’s billing system. If an app sends the user to an external website, the usual approval request may not appear.

Content ratings have limits too. Restricted material can still appear in search results or be reached through a direct link.

Rather than trying to inspect every setting, open the two or three apps your child will actually use. Check whether they can:

• Chat with strangers or add new friends.
• Follow links that leave the app.
• Change profile information.
• Enter multiplayer games.
• Buy something without a parent’s approval.

There is little value in auditing an app the child will never open. Spend the time on the games and services that will really be used during the journey.

Then Turn Off the Wi-Fi

This is the part most families miss.

Switch on aeroplane mode and try every film, book, game and map that has supposedly been downloaded. Do not stop when the home screen opens. Play several minutes of the programme, enter an actual game level and turn a few pages of the book.

Some apps store the artwork but not the full content. Others allow a game to open before requesting an internet connection at the next stage. A streaming app may need the account to sign in again or confirm that a download is still available.

If that happens at home, there is still time to find the password, update the app or choose different entertainment. Once the flight has taken off, the options are limited.

Test the headphones at the same time. Most tablets allow Bluetooth to be turned back on while aeroplane mode remains active, but it is better to confirm that the headphones pair correctly before leaving. Check the volume as well.

The 5-Minute Offline Tablet Test

Run this check before the tablet goes in the bag.

Step 1	Step 2
✈︎ Switch on aeroplane mode	↓ Play a downloaded programme
Turn Wi-Fi off. Use the tablet exactly as it will be used during the journey.	Do not stop when the home screen opens. Let it play for several minutes.
Step 3	Step 4
🕮 Open the real content	🎧Test the headphones
Enter an actual game level. Turn a few pages of the book. Check that nothing asks to go online.	Reconnect Bluetooth if needed. Check the pairing and volume. Make sure the child can use them.

If anything asks for a login, update or internet connection, fix it before packing. Five minutes at home can prevent a much harder problem at the boarding gate.

This test may reveal that the tablet does not need a public connection at all. If the programmes, games and books work offline, there is no reason for a child to search for free airport Wi-Fi simply to watch an episode.

If the tablet genuinely needs to go online, consult a public Wi-Fi safety guide before the journey and decide whether it will use a parent’s hotspot or a shared network.

Use a Personal Hotspot When It Is the Easier Option

Airports and hotels often show several networks with very similar names. Signal strength does not tell you which one is genuine.

The UK National Cyber Security Centre advises users to identify the legitimate access point when similar public network names appear. The most direct solution is to ask a member of staff for the exact network name.

When the parent’s mobile plan allows it, a personal hotspot is often easier to manage. The family controls that connection and does not have to rely on an unfamiliar login page or a network of unknown quality.

If a shared connection cannot be avoided, a VPN can encrypt the connection between the tablet and the provider’s server, reducing the opportunity for someone on the local network to observe or intercept traffic.

It solves a network problem, not a parenting problem.

It will not disable game chat, stop a child buying an upgrade or decide whether a video is suitable. It also cannot confirm that a login page belongs to the real hotel rather than a convincing imitation.

The reverse is also true. Parental controls can restrict purchases and content, but they cannot prove that the tablet has joined the airport’s official network.

These protections have separate jobs. One should not be treated as a replacement for the other.

Give Your Child Three Rules, Not a Security Lecture

A child is unlikely to remember a long set of online-safety instructions while travelling. Three clear rules are more useful.

Ask them to bring the tablet to an adult when:

1. It wants to join a new network.
2. An app asks to install, buy something or enter a password.
3. A stranger sends a message, or a page suddenly opens outside the app.

It is also worth saying that they will not get into trouble for asking, even if they have already tapped the wrong button. A child who expects to be blamed is more likely to close the warning or keep trying alone.

Internet Matters recommends combining controls at the device, app and network levels with regular family conversations. No single control works on its own.

Before leaving, spend half an hour testing downloads, purchase approval, headphones and aeroplane mode. Then make sure the child remembers those three rules.

Once the programmes play, purchases require approval and everyone knows what to do when an unexpected message appears, the tablet is finally ready to go in the bag.

Guest Article.