Device safety
Getting your child a device, whether a smartphone or iPad, can be quite exciting for them. It can be a relief that you no longer need to give up your device for games. But it’s not enough to just download YouTube, hand them the device and let them run off.
This all comes with a few things to consider though, how much scree time is too much, what apps can they download, who are they communicating with online?
Below are a few tips on how best for you to manage your child’s device.
From my experience I’ve found that having iOS natively having these settings makes it so much easy to control and monitor. Google has tools as well that you can use to achieve the same.
The first thing you need to do is set up your little ones account, whether it be Apple ID or Google Account.
You need to specify this as a child account. It is far easier to set up these control if you share the same device type (iOS and iOS or Android and Android), if you have different devices not all is lost.
As a parent if you use an Android device you have a few options, you can download an app called Google Family Link.
With this you can view their activity, manage what apps they can download, track their screen time and if they get carried away you can lock their phone, there is the option, for older kids, to track their location. This can all be done from your own device and work on birth iOS and Android.
That is the general idea, but in reality the above app works great as long as its connected to the internet, but I’ve read some reviews mention that it can be bypassed by kids if they switch to power save move or airplane mode.
An alternative is OurPact, also iOS and Android, this is touted to be the number 1 parental control app. From personal experience this app works really well.
You’re able to manage times, limit apps, filter harmful content on sites and manage their location. This worked really well for me and my daughter, but does come with quite a bit of an installation process. Until recently the app was free but has recently been made into a paid subscription service.
The above apps work best for a parent with an Android phone and the child has either iOS or Android, or the parent has an iOS device and the child an Android device.
Should you have an iOS and your child has an iOS device things get a lot easier.
iOS has a built in feature called Screen Time. As the name suggests you can monitor and manage your own screen time on your iPhone or iPad. But you can also apply those same controls to your child’s iPad, iPhone or iPod.
You can set schedules for sleep time or Down Time, where all apps are blocked except ones you specify, you can control what apps they can install and uninstall, you can limit who they are able to communicate with; whether within apps or over messages and block age restricted content and apps. Coupled with Find My (another built in iOS feature) you can be able to track their location.
Probably the easiest method I’ve used, it’s completely free to use and all the rules are stored on the child’s device so whether they are on WiFi or not the device will still block and unblock as per the schedule set.
The added benefit of this is the ability to restrict what apps they can download and what in-app purchases can be done. There have been more than a few horror stories of kids running up their parents’ credit cards on games.
Another extra feature worth mentioning is Guided Access. This can be handy if you want them to focus and use only one app for a set time, maybe for their homework.
What this does is it locks the screen to a single app, unlocked by a passcode, and you can specify what features you want to be available. For instance you can enable on an ebook, you can disable either touch, keyboard, volume or side buttons. You can also block out certain parts of the screen.
Some might find it daunting to give their child a device, some might see it as an easy way to entertain and keep them occupied, but with the way things are online one needs to be properly armed with the right tools and knowledge to protect and guide their little ones.
Bear in mind that the older your kids get, you’ll have to have a conversation about these measures and help them understand that you’re not trying to invade their privacy and “control” them but rather build mutual understanding where they can feel safe to share without fear of judgment.