Nintendo Switch parental controls, right on the console
No phone app, no Nintendo account, no internet.
PlayGuard brings the settings of Nintendo's Parental Controls phone app onto a modded console. It drives the console's own controls — the limit, the PIN, the warnings, the suspension — so nothing runs in the background.
Everything the phone app does, on the console
Play-time limit
The same every day or one per day, profiles, extra time or no more play today in one press.
Activity
Time per game and per account, charts, export to CSV, JSON, XLSX or PDF.
Restrictions and PIN
Restriction level, age rating, PIN, temporary unlock, “Block all games” in one switch.
Console
The network clock set from public time servers, so the timer counts right on a console that never reaches Nintendo, and a check of the installed games.
Companion app
Unlink it, even on a second-hand console.
History and backups
Every change is logged and can be undone.
Notifications
A bell gathers what needs you — an alarm off, a clock drifting, changes made elsewhere — with the fix one press away.
Every console language
The 15 languages of the console, light and dark themes.
On the console
Try it before you install it
The real PlayGuard runs in your browser against a simulated console: browse every screen, try a locked or unlocked console, a limit reached, another firmware.
Install
- Search for PlayGuard in the Homebrew App Store or sphaira,
- or extract playguard.zip from the latest release to the root of the SD card. Download v1.2.0
- Launch it over a game, with a parent's user.
Quick start
- Open PlayGuard: the “First steps” guide sets the PIN and the daily limit.
- Still linked to the phone app? “PIN › Unlink the companion app”, or its next sync overwrites what you set.
- Network clock inaccurate? “Console › Network clock › Measure the time difference”, then set it.
Forgotten PIN or second-hand console? Locked out?
Compatibility
PlayGuard runs on a Nintendo Switch with Atmosphère, launched from hbmenu, sphaira or the Homebrew App Store. A firmware newer than the ones it knows opens read-only until a release supports it. There is no Switch 2 version: there is no Atmosphère for it. Supported versions