ParentalControls
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Spotify's Premium Family plans get an explicit content filter
Spotify is rolling out a new Premium Family Plan with a much-awaited setting. Parents will now have the ability to filter out songs with swearing, violence, drugs and more via an explicit content filter that can be applied to individual accounts. That feature was surprisingly lacking on a plan with the word "family" in it, considering that it might be used by young children who thought "Snoop Dogg" was some kind of cartoon.
How to manage your child’s screen time
In an age when we all have a tiny computer in our pockets, it's important that we learn to limit screen time in favor of actual human interaction and productivity. It's even more essential that we limit media consumption for children, especially since they're being exposed to things like phones and tablets at an increasingly younger age. Those devices are part of kids' lives earlier than ever, so it's important to keep tabs on how often they use them or watch TV. There are a number of reasons why you should do this as a parent, and, ironically, there's also a range of tech available to help with the task.
Google adds screen time management to Chromebooks
When Google brought its Family Link parental controls to Chromebook, they weren't all that useful because there were limited options available. Now, Google is offering parents more tools to supervise how their offspring use their laptops.
YouTube Kids lets parents choose what their children watch
YouTube has added two new features to its Kids app, both of which give parents more control over what their children are watching. First, parents now have the option to limit what their kids watch to just what they approve. After parents select "approved content only" in their child's profile, that child won't be able to search for content on their own. Instead they'll have access to the videos, channels or collection of channels their parents have specifically added to their approved list. YouTube announced this feature back in April and it's available now on Android globally. The company says iOS users will have access to it soon.
'Pokémon Go' will offer parental controls with a log-in for kids
Pokémon Go will debut a new log-in system called Niantic Kids that will give parents a way to keep a close eye on their children's accounts. The upcoming log-in platform will give parents access to a portal where they can manage their child's privacy settings and control the personal info they share. They'll also be able to review and approve permissions for their kids. According to ComicBook, the new feature will finally give kids under 13 a way to trade monsters with friends.
T-Mobile’s FamilyMode offers parental control for your home WiFi
T-Mobile announced FamilyMode today -- a new parental control setup that includes both an app and a device that connects to your home's WiFi. Like other carrier's parental control options, including Verizon's Smart Family and Sprint's Safe and Found services, it will let parents see where their kids are at any given time. It also lets parents filter what sorts of content their kids can see online, set time limits, schedule when internet can be used and pause internet access on demand, similar to services offered by other companies.
Google's Project Fi lets you add younger kids to your family plan
Google added family plans to Project Fi a long time ago, but it wasn't really built for the younger children in your family. The company is fixing that today -- you can now add kids under 13 to your Fi group plan through a Google account controlled using Family Link. You can track and set alerts for your little ones' data usage, and use Family Link to set time and app limits.
iOS 12 will help you fight your phone addiction
Apple is making good on its promise to fight iPhone addiction. It's introducing a suite of features in iOS 12 that curb the deluge of notifications and alerts that keep you hooked. To start, it's much smarter about how and when it displays notifications. You'll finally, finally see grouped notifications (no more wading through 10 alerts for the same app), for one thing. Do Not Disturb mode can silence all your notifications, too, so you're not tempted to check updates if you wake up in the middle of the night. You can also quickly manage notifications for an app, including an option to "deliver quietly" so that your device won't ping you every single time.
Microsoft adds more parental controls to monitor app and device use
Microsoft announced a number of parental control features today aimed at making it "easier and safer for families to interact with technology and each other." First up is Microsoft Launcher, which will soon let parents see where their kids are as well as what apps they're using and for how long. The new tools are currently in preview and can be used once a Microsoft family group of accounts is set up. If an Xbox One or a Windows 10 PC is added to the family portal, Microsoft Launcher will show activities on those devices as well.
Teen phone tracking app exposed thousands of Apple accounts
Parents understandably pour a lot of trust into apps that monitor their kids' activity. That makes it all the more painful when there's a lapse in security, and that's unfortunately the case today. Security researcher Robert Wiggins discovered that TeenSafe, a mobile app that lets parents track teens' locations and text messaging habits, left the data thousands of accounts exposed on two Amazon servers. One of them held nothing but test data, but the other included kids' Apple ID email addresses and passwords, not to mention the email addresses of the parents.
Google reportedly plans Android tools to help you manage screen time
Google keeps dropping announcements ahead of tomorrow's I/O event, including bringing more Assistant features to Wear OS, new web site mute features in Chrome, Google Pay to the web and supporting even more devices with Google Assistant. Now, according to a report in the Washington Post, Google will be announcing more controls for its Android operating system that will help individuals manage the time they spend on mobile devices.
YouTube adds more rigorous parental controls to its Kids app
Google and YouTube have been struggling with how to let kids watch videos without also exposing them to inappropriate content. Even the YouTube Kids app has suggested not-for-kids conspiracy theory videos. In response, the video platform started looking at handpicking content for its app earlier this month. Now the company is making changes to YouTube Kids to help keep the little ones a little safer, including curated collections, parent-approved content and an improved ability to turn off search in the app.
Verizon adds location tracking to its parental control app
Verizon announced today that it's revamping its parental controls, introducing more capabilities and giving the app a new look. What was known as FamilyBase will now be called Verizon Smart Family and it lets parents set content filters, manage screen time, pause internet access, check the battery status of their kids' phones and get a summary of their children's call and text history. Among the new tools are the ability to block certain apps and location tracking, which can provide alerts when a child enters a predetermined area, like when they come home or get to school, for example.
Amazon offers remote access to FreeTime parental controls
Last year, Amazon launched a Parent Dashboard to go along with its FreeTime subscription service for kids. The dashboard allows parents to see how much time their kids spend on the service and what they've read, watched or played. It also gives parents summaries of whatever their child has engaged with as well as prompts to foster conversation about it. Now, Amazon is giving parents remote access to controls.
Tencent lets parents reward kids' good grades with game time
If you grew up with video games as a kid, you probably struck a deal with your parents: pass a school test with flying colors and you can play more. Tencent wants to formalize those arrangements. Chief executive Ma Huateng has proposed digital contracts that offer game time to kids (for Tencent games, of course) in return for either reaching certain academic criteria or performing chores around the home. He wasn't specific about when these agreements would be available, but he noted that children could have their friends witness the signing of a contract.
Netflix will let parents block individual movies and shows
Netflix announced today that it will soon be rolling out a new tool for parents. Already, parents can manage what their kids watch by putting all content above a particular maturity level behind a PIN or by marking which accounts belong to a child. But soon, parents will also be able to require a PIN for certain shows or movies. This way, parents won't have to block full levels of content if they don't want to and can instead just keep their children from watching certain titles. Additionally, maturity level ratings will also be displayed more noticeably on the screen when a new title begins playing.
Facebook's Messenger Kids app arrives on Amazon Fire tablets
Facebook launched a Messenger app just for kids this past December, but it was only available on iOS. Now the app is available on Amazon's app store for Fire tablets as well. While it might not help counter the current worries over connected gadget addiction, the app has some built-in features to help limit kids exposure to undesirable content and people.
Apple will combat iPhone addiction with more parental controls
Apple plans to incorporate new controls into its smartphones that will allow parents to control how much their children use them, Bloomberg reports. In response to a public letter issued on January 6th by two investment groups -- with a combined $2 billion in Apple shares -- on the company claimed it has always protected kids' interests but vowed to do more to keep them safe online.
Netgear routers now feature Disney's parental controls
Circle with Disney's advanced parental controls are helpful if you want to curb what your kids can do online and when, but it has normally required a separate device you plug in to your WiFi router. Why can't it just be built into the router itself? It is now: Netgear has announced that its Nighthawk and Orbi routers now include Circle with Disney software. If you want to set a time limit on a given app or block racy material, you don't need anything beyond the networking device you already own.
Each of your kids can have their own YouTube Kids accounts
YouTube has been steadily improving its Kids app for youngsters lately, and now Mountain View is giving it a bit of a revamp. Parents will be able to create profiles for each of their kids now, and even better, they'll be accessible regardless of the device you're using. More than that, when you're doing account setup your little one's landing page will adjust based on their age. A blog post says that the younger the kid, the profile will have less text, for example.
