Family Link on Android TV: why it won't work on your Xiaomi TV

By The TameTV team · Updated November 3, 2026

Family Link doesn't supervise Android TV. Google's list of Family Link devices covers Android phones and tablets, Chromebooks and the Fitbit Ace LTE, and neither Android TV nor Google TV is on it. On Google TV, Family Link reaches the TV only through a kids profile, with fewer settings than on a phone. On plain Android TV, which includes the Mi TV Stick and most older Xiaomi sets, there is nothing for Family Link to connect to.

Google doesn't say "unsupported" in so many words. The TV just isn't listed, which is why so many parents set up Family Link, open the TV and find nothing changed. This guide explains how to tell which system your TV runs, what you can set up today on each, and where the gaps are.

Does Family Link work on Android TV or Google TV?

The names are close, but they are two different systems, and Family Link treats them differently.

	Plain Android TV	Google TV
Family Link supervision	No	Only through a kids profile
Kids profiles	No	Yes, where your region has them
Daily time limit	No	Yes, set on the TV
Bedtime	No	Yes, set on the TV
Restricted profile	On some models	No
Change the time limit from your phone	No	No

On Google TV, the kids profile is what Family Link talks to. From the Family Link app on your phone you can see app activity, block or allow apps, and add or remove apps in the kids profile. For apps that have both a phone and a TV version, you need to block both. Google is clear about the rest: daily limits and bedtime "can only be set on Google TV and can't be set through Family Link", and some of Family Link's parental controls aren't available for kids profiles. Google's page on this is Family Link and Google TV.

On plain Android TV there are no kids profiles, so there is no child account on the TV for Family Link to supervise.

Xiaomi TVs: which ones run which system

Xiaomi is a good example because its range covers both systems, and the box often doesn't make it obvious.

Mi TV Stick (original and 4K) and older Xiaomi Android TVs run plain Android TV. No Google kids profiles, no Family Link.
Xiaomi TV Box S 2nd Gen (2023) and Xiaomi TV Stick 4K 2nd Gen (2025) run Google TV. Kids profiles may be available where your region supports them.
PatchWall Kids Mode is Xiaomi's own kids mode, with a PIN lock and picked content. It was made for India-market Mi TVs in 2020. We found no sign of it on European models or on the Mi TV Stick.

The same split applies to other brands. Older TCL, Hisense and Philips Android TV sets are plain Android TV too, while their Google TV sets get kids profiles.

How to tell which one your TV runs

You don't need the model number to start. The home screen usually tells you.

Press the Home button on your remote.
Look at the top of the screen. A "For you" tab and a profile picture you can switch between mean Google TV.
If you don't see those, you are most likely on plain Android TV.
To be sure, open Settings and find the About section. Where it sits varies by model. Note the model name and the Android version. You'll want the Android version later if you look at TameTV, which will need Android 9 or newer.

What works today without TameTV

On Google TV (newer Xiaomi boxes and sticks)

A kids profile is the best built-in option. Set it up on the TV itself.

Open the profile menu on the TV and add a kids profile. On the Google TV Streamer the option is called "Add a kid"; the wording can differ on other devices.
Choose which apps appear in the profile.
Set a daily screen-time limit for the days you pick, anywhere from 15 minutes to 8 hours in 15-minute steps.
Set a bedtime with a start and end time, in 30-minute steps, on the days you pick.
Turn on the kids lock, so leaving the profile needs your PIN or password.

When time runs low, the TV shows three countdown warnings and then a "Time is up" screen. You can give bonus time with your PIN. Google's setup steps are on Set up a kids profile on Google TV. After that, the Family Link app on your phone lets you see app activity and block or allow apps.

If the TV doesn't offer a kids profile at all, Google says it "may not be available in some regions or on some devices". Our guide on Google TV kids profiles that aren't available covers that case.

On plain Android TV (Mi TV Stick, older Xiaomi sets)

There's no Family Link here, but you still have a few options.

A restricted profile, if your model has it. This is plain Android TV's built-in kids option. We haven't confirmed it on Xiaomi models, so check your settings.

Go to Settings → Personal → Security & Restrictions.
Choose Create restricted profile.
Set a PIN.
Pick the apps the profile can open.

A restricted profile is an app allow-list. It has no Play Store, some apps may not work in it, and it has no time limits. If you forget the PIN, the only way back is a factory reset, which erases your apps and channels. We compare it with the other built-in options in Android TV parental controls explained.

Play Store parental controls. In the Play Store settings you can set a PIN and a maximum rating for downloads and purchases. Apps already installed stay usable, and it only applies to that one device.

YouTube Kids through the main YouTube app. The separate YouTube Kids TV app was retired in July 2024. Today you open the main YouTube app, sign in with the parent account that created the YouTube Kids profile, and pick your child on the "Who's watching?" screen. A parent code can keep your child inside Kids.

A sleep timer. Many TVs have one. It turns the TV off once, after a countdown.

Where it falls short

Even on the newer Google TV models, the built-in options leave real gaps.

You can't change the time limit from your phone. Daily limits and bedtime are set on the TV only. Family Link can block apps, but it can't give an extra 30 minutes while you're at work.
There are no per-app time limits. Google TV has one daily limit for everything. You can't give YouTube 30 minutes and an educational app more.
Plain Android TV has no time limits at all. The restricted profile only chooses apps. The Play Store PIN only covers new downloads. A sleep timer is one countdown, not a daily schedule, and a kid can switch the TV back on.
Kids profiles depend on where you live. Google launched them in the US in 2021 and publishes no country list.
YouTube's own timer. The YouTube Kids timer exists in the phone and tablet app. We couldn't find it in the TV YouTube app's Kids mode.

Parents have also reported problems in Google's community forums. Around September 2025, some saw an "Add a kid" sign-in loop on a few Google TV and Android TV 14 devices; a fix was later reported. Others have reported a kids profile, or its YouTube sign-in, disappearing, and in 2022–23 YouTube time not counting toward the daily limit. In August and September 2025, parents on several Android TVs, Xiaomi among them, reported a loop where the TV's YouTube app said to use YouTube Kids and then bounced back. The advice then was to update the YouTube app and sign in again. We don't know which of these are still current.

How TameTV will handle it

TameTV started with a parent of a 7-year-old, a Xiaomi TV, and Google controls that didn't work on it. The goal was to ration YouTube, not to remove it. TameTV is in development, and TVs like that one are the reason it exists.

It will run on Android TV and Google TV, Android 9 and up, including plain Android TV sets with no kids profile and no Family Link. On that TV it will give you:

A daily budget for total screen time, per kid.
Per-app limits: YouTube 30 minutes, Netflix 90, or whatever you decide.
Allowed hours: the TV works when you say and locks when you don't.
From your phone, anywhere: change limits, lock the TV, add bonus time.

Each kid will get a profile, picked from a "who's watching?" screen, with their own list of allowed apps. A new kid starts with everything blocked except the apps you tick. Kids get a 5-minute and a 1-minute warning before a limit, and Settings and the Play Store will be locked for them. You'll keep a parent PIN to override.

The honest limits:

On Android 10 and up, locking needs the Accessibility permission, which you grant during setup. Without it TameTV can only count time.
TameTV can't see or filter what's inside the YouTube app. It will limit YouTube time, or block the app for a kid. A separate safe YouTube mode with only channels you approve will come later.
Your TV needs Android 9 or newer. Check the version under Settings → About.

For Xiaomi, our status is Expected: Works. That means we expect it to work but haven't confirmed it yet, and a Xiaomi TV is the first device TameTV will be tried on. See the Xiaomi compatibility page for details, and how TameTV works for the setup steps.

If your TV is one that Family Link doesn't reach, you can join the waitlist to hear when TameTV is ready.