Setting up a teenager's phone for a school trip or exchange
Before a teenager travels without you, three things matter more than any app: a data line of their own, the new adults in their life already approved as contacts, and app approvals you can give from a different time zone. Screen Time on iPhone and Family Link on Android handle the last two, as long as you change the settings at home and not after the first call for help.
See the data packsA data line of their own, installed at home
Location sharing, messages to you and the group chat with the host family all run over the internet, so the phone needs data the whole time, not only when the hotel Wi-Fi works. A data-only travel eSIM installed on the teenager's phone before departure gives them that, while their usual number keeps working for WhatsApp and calls from home. Install it on their phone, not yours: once installed, an eSIM stays on the phone where it was installed.
Turn off data roaming on their home line so that only the eSIM carries data; here is how on iPhone and Android. For a single-country trip a country pack is enough. If the exchange includes weekend trips across borders, the Europe pack covers 33 countries. For a stay of several months, read when a local SIM wins first.
One eSIM for 33 European countries
Several countries on one trip? Same eSIM, same data, no swapping lines at the border.
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For one to two weeks of maps, messaging and the odd video.
Buy up to 180 days before you fly: the plan only starts when the eSIM connects at your destination.
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Will it work on my phone?
On iPhone: Settings → General → About, and scroll to EID. If there is an EID, your phone takes eSIMs. Every iPhone from the XS (2018) onwards does.
On Android: Settings → About phone → Status, and look for EID. If there is an EID, your phone takes eSIMs. Most Galaxy S20, Pixel 3 and later do.
It also has to be carrier-unlocked. If you bought it outright or your contract is over, it almost certainly is.
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How it works
- 1Choose and payCard, Apple Pay or Google Pay. No account.
- 2Install it at homeThe QR arrives by email. Scan it on wifi in a minute.
- 3Connect when you landTurn on data roaming for the eSIM and you are online.
Approve the host family and teachers before they leave
If you limit who your child can talk to, the people they will depend on abroad are, by definition, not in their contacts yet. On iPhone, Apple's current parental controls are in Settings, Family, then your child's name, Allowed Contacts. With Manage Contacts on and Allow Contact Editing off, your child has to send you a request to add anyone new. Add the host family, the teacher in charge and the exchange coordinator yourself, before the trip.
On Android, the same issue appears in Google's own help: if a parent has turned on contact limitations in Family Link, any emergency contact the child adds should also be added as a parent-managed contact so they can reach them. The fix is the same: add the numbers at home, together, and check that a test message gets through.
App requests from a different time zone
With Ask to Buy, Apple sends you each request your child makes to download or buy an app, and you approve or decline it on your own device. Apple turns it on by default for children under 13, and says that in some countries or regions it cannot be turned off for under-18s. Family Link works the same way for apps from Google Play.
A request sent at their lunchtime can reach you in the middle of your night, and a teenager stuck without the city's transport app is not a good outcome. Before they go, ask the school or exchange organisation which apps the students will need, such as a messaging app, a transport app or a translator, and approve them at home. Offline maps and translation packs downloaded on Wi-Fi also save them from needing data, and from needing you; see how to download offline translations.
What location sharing needs to work
Family Link shows an Android phone's location only when the device is switched on, connected to the internet and used recently, and Google notes that it works best when the phone has a mobile data plan. That is the practical case for giving them their own data: on Wi-Fi alone, the dot on your map stops moving as soon as they leave the hotel.
On iPhone, sharing works through Find My or Messages and needs the same thing, a connection. Our guide on sharing location with family while travelling covers the settings for both systems. A location is not a conversation, though: agree a time each day for a short message, so a flat battery is not mistaken for something worse.
What they can and cannot switch off
Teenagers often ask whether they can simply remove the controls while away. Google's Family Link help says that between 13, or the applicable age in their country, and 18, stopping supervision needs a parent's approval with the parent's Google Account password or the Family Link parent access code, and both of you are notified. Google also lists what parents cannot do: read their emails or messages, listen to their calls or check their browsing history.
Apple states that, depending on the country and the child's age, some settings for accounts under 18 are on by default and cannot be removed. Telling your teenager plainly what you can see and what you cannot tends to work better than discovering it abroad. If the eSIM itself gives trouble on arrival, Snoozim answers the email you bought with, which may be yours rather than theirs.
Does location sharing work with a data-only eSIM?
Yes. Location sharing needs an internet connection, not a phone number, so a data eSIM is exactly what keeps it updating away from Wi-Fi.
Can my teenager stop Family Link supervision during the trip?
Not alone between 13 and 18. Google says it needs the parent's password or parent access code, and both are notified when supervision stops.
Should their home line keep data roaming on?
No. Turn data roaming off on the home line so only the travel eSIM uses data. Calls and WhatsApp on their usual number keep working.
Who should I add to their contacts before the trip?
The host family, the teacher or group leader and the exchange coordinator, plus any local emergency contact the school gives you.
Get your eSIM before you fly: the QR arrives by email in minutes and the plan only starts when you connect at your destination.
See the data packs