Parental Control Software – Family Safety, Screen Time and more - DIY in 5 Ep 151

Опубликовано 23 июля 2021, 17:00

Today we’ll go over some simple, and budget-friendly software to monitor exactly how much screentime kids are using, what type of content they are consuming available to you for free or at minimal cost and show you how to set them up with ease.

PC
Microsoft Family Safety, which works on iOS, Android, and Xbox and Windows devices and is a parental control app that lets you monitor screen time and app usage across multiple devices for free with a Microsoft account. All you need to do is set up a Microsoft account for each family member you want to track as a member of your family. If you don’t already have a Microsoft family group, simply sign into your Microsoft account, click “Add a family member” and enter their email address associated with their Microsoft account. To set up a Microsoft account for your child, you can click “Create a child account” and follow the on-screen instructions. Then download the Microsoft Family Safety app on each mobile device, tablet, or Xbox you’d like to monitor and sign your family members into their own Microsoft accounts on their own respective devices. In addition to monitoring activity, you can also turn on screen time limits, schedules, filter specific apps, monitor location via GPS and even monitor web browsing if using the Edge browser. If using the Edge browser, you can set allowed and blocked websites, search filters and more. There’s even location sharing options and you can save places your children visit frequently. With a premium account, if you happen to be a Microsoft 365 subscriber, you can also set up location alerts and monitor drive history and get access to drive safety reports - you know, if your tiny human isn’t quite so tiny anymore.

Mac
For Mac users, there are built-in parental controls for screen time monitoring as well. By turning on Family Sharing, you can remotely manage and monitor each child’s device usage from your own Mac or iOS device. If you choose not to use Family Sharing, you can still log into a child’s Mac account and set up screen time in their settings if you choose to do so. Whether you are doing this through your account via Family sharing or via your child’s account, go to System Preferences, Screen Time, choose the child if using Family Sharing, click options in the lower left corner, then click turn on in the upper right corner. At this point, you have the option to include website data if you want specific sites visited instead of general time spent in Safari, and to activate a Screen Time Passcode to allow additional time once limits expire or to adjust settings. You can also set up a downtime schedule, set time limits for individual apps or sites, set up communication limits and/or content and privacy restrictions as well.

Downloadable Software
The built-in PC and Mac parental controls can do a lot, but if you want to go even farther than that or you have specific child-focused devices not covered so far, there are other downloadable programs that may be more suited to your particular goals. Qustodio is a free app for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Chromebook and Kindle that includes things like social media monitoring, text message tracking and calls. The real-time internet filter can detect and block inappropriate sites, even in private browsing modes. If you upgrade to the premium version, you can monitor up to 5 devices, have location tracking and more. Kaspersky Safe Kids is another option for Windows, Mac, Android and iOS that’s free with no limit on devices or child profiles. For premium features like location tracking, social media monitoring, YouTube search history and real-time alerts, there’s a 7-day free trial and it’s only $14.99 a year for the full version if you decide to keep it. Kaspersky offers a robust web activity monitoring that’s category specific and, while it includes multiple browser options on desktop, on Android and particularly iOS your browser options are limited to Chrome or Kaspersky’s Safe browsers. iOS devices in general limit the third party monitoring you can use, so you won’t be able to monitor app usage or block access after a time limit is reached. NetNanny and Norton Family Premier are other popular options that are out there as well, and while they both offer monitoring like what we’ve discussed, neither have free versions and run anywhere from $39.99 to $89.99 per year.

As with any monitoring software, privacy can be a major concern as well as finding the line between over and under monitoring when it comes to your child, and that can be a very personal decision. What type of monitoring are you looking to see? Are there other solutions you’ve seen that you recommend? If so, let us know in the comments.

#familylink #parentalcontrol #screentime