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If you have kids who use a Nintendo Switch, you might be concerned that they could potentially talk to strangers in connected games online. Fortunately, Nintendo offers an easy way to turn off communication with others in its parental controls app for smartphones. Here’s how to set it up.
First, download Nintendo’s parental controls app
Before you can restrict communications with others online, you must register the Switch console with Nintendo’s parental controls app. Nintendo is making the app available as a free download for iPhones, iPads and Android devices. Setup is easy and only takes a few moments to square up.
RELATED: How to set up parental controls on Nintendo Switch
How to Restrict Communication with Others in Switch Parental Controls
Once parental controls are activated on your Switch, open the Nintendo Switch Parental Controls smartphone app. If you have multiple Switch consoles registered, select the Switch you want to edit in the upper left corner of the screen. Then tap “Console Settings” at the bottom of the screen.
Under “Console Settings”, tap “Restriction Level”.
In “Restriction Level Settings,” you will notice several predefined profiles, such as “Teenager,“ Pre-teen, ”and“ Child. ”If you select“ Teenager, ”communication with other people in games on this switch If you select “Pre-teen” or “Child”, communication with others in online games will be disabled by default.
But there’s a better way to gain more granular control over these communication restrictions. Tap on “Custom settings”, then on “Communicate with other people”.
Under “Communicate with others”, turn on the switch next to “Restrict communication with others” to turn it on.
Under the option “Restrict communication with others”, you will see a list of games installed on that particular Switch console. By using the toggle switch next to each game, you can toggle the communication restrictions for a particular game.
So if you want to allow communication only in a certain game, such as Minecraft, for example: you can turn off the switch next to Minecraft in the “Communicate with others” list, and your kids will be able to connect to online worlds and chat with strangers only for Minecraft.
Some examples of restricted communication on the switch
The “Restrict communication with others” setting does different things in different games. Typically, it prevents players from sending a message to another player, whether by voice, text, drawing, sign, or otherwise. Here are some examples.
- All games with voice chat: Voice chat will be disabled.
- Animal Crossing: New horizons: Players are not allowed to send letters to friends between islands and use the internet-connected design kiosk.
- Fortnite: Players cannot chat with other players.
- Minecraft: Prevents online gambling with other people, including friends.
- Splatoon 2: Players cannot read or share player messages (the hand-drawn images that hover over players’ heads).
This is just a small sample of the hundreds of games affected by the “Restrict communication with others” parental control setting. To see its effects in each game, you will need to do some experimentation. If it works as expected, you should see a message similar to the one seen in Minecraft when you try to access the online communication features.
But at least with Nintendo’s Switch parental controls, there’s no reason your kids still can’t enjoy games while giving you some peace of mind. Good game!
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