New Family Link glitch prevents kids from calling home

Google's suite of Family Link tools help parents set up and manage their children's Android, ChromeOS, and iOS devices.

They offer parents digital peace of mind that's of the utmost importance in an age where we are perpetually connected to the internet. However, a recent Family Link bug is doing the exact opposite.

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By  Jay Bonggolto

On supervised devices, parents have the option to approve contacts for kids to call and text, with kids only being able to ring up said approved contacts. This functionality, however, seems to be broken right now, as pointed out by PiunikaWeb.

Children on Family Link supervised devices are unable to make any calls right now.

The issue was first reported by user ednolbbmud in the r/familylink subreddit.

The user pointed out that the Family Link-supervised device in question can receive calls just fine. It's only the outgoing functionality that seems affected. The OP added that they're facing the issue with two supervised devices, both Samsung Galaxy A16s.

When trying to make a call, the system gives this error message:

"Call can't be placed by System parental controls. Try using a different call redirecting app or contacting the developer for help."

This doesn't seem to be an isolated issue, as it was corroborated by several users on the thread.

Common troubleshooting steps, including removing Family Link calling restrictions, don't fix the issue, as confirmed by a separate Google Support post with over 250 upvotes.

Google seems to be aware of the bug

Although Google hasn't officially acknowledged the issue, the company reportedly does know about it.

As pointed out by one Reddit user, they reached out to Google support and were informed that the company is currently working on a fix for this known issue.

While there's no official timeline for a fix just yet, some users have found 'inconsistent' workarounds to get outgoing calling working. For some, disabling the 'Approved contacts only' restriction seems to fix the issue, while others are relying on alternatives like WhatsApp calling to stay in touch.

Is your child facing a similar calling issue? Let us know in the comments below!