Help Parental controls

[sweetness001]

Hello, I am new to this we are buying our first captivate and we also are getting our son and daughter one. As parents we would like to know how you can block porn and unwanted adult material from thier phones. We are looking to block certain websites, videos, and pictures. Also we have noticed that certain apps have alot of adult content in them. Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[Jack45]

You can preview what's available by going to a site like AppBrain.com and search for "parental control" apps. That said, kids are resourceful. If they're sufficiently driven to "explore," they'll find a way to circumvent whatever barriers you put up.

 

[sremick]

I know of no software on Android that works as a parental filter.

In fact, I know of no software even on the PC that is an effective filter that blocks everything and can't be circumvented. Ultimately, expecting software or hardware to do your parenting for you is a losing battle. The tools are imperfect, kids will find ways around it, and it's the wrong way to address the problem. The real solution is taking an active role in being a parent... talking about these things with your kids and educating them. They're going to find these things and be exposed, actively or passively, smartphone or no smartphone.

Not trying to be harsh, but really... it's part of being a parent. You can't have kids, find a technology "pill" and then tune-out and detach from the responsibility you've chosen to take on. The solution to raising good kids is you, not technology.

Good luck...

 

[sweetness001]

Hello and thanks to all of the replys. I take being a parent very serious. There are things on the computer and on the phone that I would not like my children to have access to at a young age. I know there will ways around certain things that is not my concern here. When you click on certain things and search for certain things sometimes as we all know the wrong things come up in the search bar. I am being a responsible parent and trying to stop that from happening. Also not wanting a virus downloaded to the phone is another. As far as "loosen up and let the kids have fun" I sure hope you don't have young children.I will not by no means be able to stop my children from visiting certain sites I am aware of this. I just needed information on how to stop unwanted material from popping up on the phone. I thank you all for your advise, and for those that chose to be of no help at all thanks to you as well.

 

[Jack45]

I am being a responsible parent...

No doubt that's your goal. Had it not been, you wouldn't have posted the question in the first place.

 

[chicknlil]

If you're looking for a phone "antivirus", try Lookout, which you may have seen advertised in commercials for the...I believe it was the Droid X.

There's also a $30 app that might serve your purposes for locking aspects of the phone - Parental Control. I've never used it, so I can't advocate one way or another.

That said...holy useless replies, guys. Cut the lady some slack. If you don't want to answer her questions, great, but don't piss on her leg for trying to protect her kids.

 

[sremick]

My reply was not meant to be mean-spirited (hence the smilie), but as a consultant as well as an admin I regularly deal with people dealing with failed attempts at "parental control" software. It's a losing battle.

Now, if we're talking viruses/trojans, that's a whole different matter entirely... and a different issue and a different question than the one originally asked (which was solely about blocking adult content).

First of all, there are virtually no trojans and zero known "viruses" on Android. The number of malicious "trojan" apps actually seen in the wild could be counted one one hand (I think it's only up to 2, maybe 3 at this point in all the years Android has been out). So the effectiveness of the apps that tout themselves as "antivirus" for Android hasn't really been tested. Lookout is commonly known... AVG now has an app out too. I might be more-inclined to trust them.

AVG antivirus free - Android app on AppBrain
AVG antivirus Pro - Android app on AppBrain

 

[SlappyMcgee]

AT&T offers a Smart Limits for Wireless Parental Controls. Its an extra $5/month but offers

• Time of day their phone can and cannot be used
• Number of text and instant messages per billing cycle
• Dollar amount for download purchases (ringtones, games, etc.)
• Amount of Web browsing usage allowed per billing cycle
• Block/allow specific numbers that can be called or text messaged (incoming and outgoing)
• Restrict content inappropriate for children

 

[sremick]

AT&T offers a Smart Limits for Wireless Parental Controls. Its an extra $5/month but offers

• Time of day their phone can and cannot be used
• Number of text and instant messages per billing cycle
• Dollar amount for download purchases (ringtones, games, etc.)
• Amount of Web browsing usage allowed per billing cycle
• Block/allow specific numbers that can be called or text messaged (incoming and outgoing)
• Restrict content inappropriate for children

More info: AT&T Smart Controls: AT&T Smart Limits for Wireless

Worth noting:

"Smart Limits for Wireless does not work for blocking, restricting or filtering data usage while the user is in WiFi mode."

 

[SlappyMcgee]

More info: AT&T Smart Controls: AT&T Smart Limits for Wireless

Worth noting:

"Smart Limits for Wireless does not work for blocking, restricting or filtering data usage while the user is in WiFi mode."

Understood but the OP was looking for options. Was just providing some info.

 

[Jack45]

The only way to realistically prevent children from any exposure to the world's "evils" is to lock them up in a basement room with no access to the outside world. Their life's experiences demand that they be prepared through effective parenting (read: communication) with the goal of enabling them to discern right from wrong.

But I digress.

The lady's question focused on her quest to filter the bad from the good. Not whether she should give them smartphones, nor was she seeking our input regarding whether her parenting skills were adequate. To that end I avoided the inappropriately tangential "advice" and attempted to reply solely to the request originally posed.

 

[Mom of 4]

I'm there also. I got my daughter a Captivate. She is a great kid. All A's, never a worry with her. She has an extremly long bus ride (nearly 2 hours each school day) and I thought the phone would be fun for her. She has played games on mine for forever. Her father and I didn't worry about blocking content. She came across porn. Accident or not I can't erase what ever she saw and it is killing me. Children are curious by nature, it is my job as a parent to guard her. I found this and I hope it helps you...
http://hubpages.com/hub/Cell-Phone-Parental-Control

 

[EarlyMon]

Well, gee, for a minute there, I couldn't believe my eyes.

For a moment there, it was looking like good AndroidForums.com was the kind of place where someone comes looking for advice on a specific app or Android ability but instead was answered with advice on how to raise their kids complete with invitations to a flame war.

But then - when I looked again - I found that those posts were gone.

At AndroidForums.com we stay on topic and give newcomers the same help and courtesy we all looked for when we first joined - or we get infractions.

It's hard enough being a parent, so here's my decision: the penalty for the next poster that ignores this warning is going to be severe.

I would STRONGLY urge everyone to read my sig below the Latin - we attack problems, not other posters.

sweetness001 and Mom of 4 - Welcome to the forums! If you get any abuse whatsoever, just tap that !Report button to the left of the post in question - it's our hotline.

 

[captivate1]

try trend micro's Mobile Security app -- can find it via market place.

it works pretty well -- but not always. doesn't have the granularity I would like -- it blocks porn but also shopping (like mp3 download/buys).

give it a try though - reputable company and works pretty well.

 

[58mark]

I'm too looking for an app that helps with parental controls. I would like to find something that either:

Blocks cell phone (browser) use at a time of day or night that I select

or

Gives me an internet history, with times, that cannot be deleted by the user


Does anybody know of an app that will do either one of these? My son had an issue with surfing the internet instead of going to sleep. We found out he's been staying up until 2AM doing it lately. They weren't porn sites or anything bad, I just want to remove the temptation of him being able to get on the internet instead of getting a good nights sleep on a school night

 

[KMA]

When using wifi at home for example, you can setup your network to use opendns.com which allows you to block adult sites, etc. It isn't perfect, but it catches the easy ones pretty well. There is some configuration you can do to fine tune it also. It's also free. Note: Depending on how you set it up, any one using the wifi will be restricted by the same rules.

 

[EarlyMon]

See if this can be used to turn off/on the 3G and wifi radios at specific times, I'm pretty sure it can - https://market.android.com/details?id=com.latedroid.juicedefender&feature=search_result

Then see if you can lock down access to Juice Defender and Settings with this, I'm pretty sure you can - https://market.android.com/details?id=com.estrongs.android.safer&feature=search_result

 

[rh24]

First of all, kudos to trying to protect your kids! It is definitely wise to recognize that today's smartphones are just as dangereous as computers.

For me, monitoring is the key. I need an application that does nothing more than monitor internet usage, app store downloads, and text messages. I get call history on my bill.

We have been very careful with our children but not overprotective. We have an open relationship with them and have had very candid discussions about these "life" issues. We also command respect in our household and consequences are taken seriously.

So for me, all I need is the monitoring. I need to be able to go to a website and just show them that I can track them. I will tell them exactly what they CAN do with their phone and then I will show them how I can monitor it. The key is for them to know they can't get away with it. (It helps that they know that dad is an IT professional.) The benefit to them is that their phone experience is not negatively impacted because the monitoring would only be passive in nature.

My problem is that AT&T doesn't do this. Sure they provide some blocking and filtering, but it's not enough and even though there are solid Android apps out there that do what I want it to do (mostly website logs), AT&T blocks them because they *think* they provide an adequate service... which they don't.

Does anyone know of any Android apps NOT blocked by AT&T that can do this monitoring for me?

 

[EarlyMon]

Welcome to the forums!

Unfortunately, that sort of FULL monitoring software is likely to be akin to spyware and not put on the Market.

That said, you might consider something like -

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.greenbriar.code9.android

And if AT&T won't let you have it, email the dev (address in link above) and see if they'll send you a copy to side-load.

 

[yahoowizard]

I'm sorry, but I don't understand the question entirely, so I'll answer it both ways...

If you're afraid of inappropriate content popping up onto the phone, that really don't happen. I mean, it's not like random stuffs going to pop up and I've never seen anything bad in the Market (read rest of the post before calling me out). It occurs much more frequently with PC's, but even in that case, you gotta be visiting some unsafe sites, inappropriate sites, or something of the sort for these random popups to show up.

If you're afraid that they're going to use their phone to look up inappropriate stuff, yeah, there's no way to get out of that. If they specifically search for stuff on the Market, I'm sure they'll find it (never personally tried it myself (mostly due to search history xD)) or if they wanted to visit sites on their phone, there's no way to prevent that. And yeah, even if you did find a way, they'd find a way to fix it so there's not really any beneficial situation there. I guess you just have to trust them, and yeah, you can't stop them from being human?

 

[mykmars]

McAfee now has Family Protection for Androids. I haven't used it yet, but it may be worth looking into. It says it can be used to filter websites and dowloads.

http://home.mcafee.com/Store/PackageDetail.aspx?pkgid=388

 

[geeve420]

From what I am seeing doing a search one really doesn't exsist. You can however grab a silent app that let's you review app, browser, call and search history from any PC, they also have some that let you track where they are based on the phone location.

May not let you block the content, but it may let you know if a "talk" is due when you get home from work Here is one that I found:

MobiStealth | Mobile Spy Software, Cell Phone Spy Monitoring, GPS Location Tracking App For $39.99 | iPhone, Blackberry, Android, Symbian/Nokia Spyware


Geeve

 

[JohnMiller]

Hello, i've been using ParentalFlux platform for some time, you can check them at Parental Flux - Monitoring Android Devices. They have nice plans and a good support team. Also the features are ok for the price. They have a very nice widget for panic alerts.
Just sharing an app that finally is working good...


Best regards,
John

 

[JakeYenom]

My team and I are working on a new kind of service - an app that takes over any Android phone and turns it into a kid-friendly smartphone with GPS location and full parental control from the web.

If you've been thinking of giving your child a phone but are hesitating and think you'd like to have some control over how your child uses their phone, our service might be right for you.

If you're interested, please email me at jakeyenom@gmail.com and we'll get you set up in under 5 minutes.

 

[Arbee322]

My team and I are working on a new kind of service - an app that takes over any Android phone and turns it into a kid-friendly smartphone with GPS location and full parental control from the web.

If you've been thinking of giving your child a phone but are hesitating and think you'd like to have some control over how your child uses their phone, our service might be right for you.

If you're interested, please email me at jakeyenom@gmail.com and we'll get you set up in under 5 minutes.

Wow! One poster actually read and LISTENED to the OP and their request..

I won't bother adding yet another opinion to the Sh**Heap that already exists here.

I came here for the same reason as the OP - answer to a specific question, not a general request for opinions or y'alls observations of my skill-set or lack thereof. I don't CARE about your opinions/observations so save yourself some time, energy and bytes and turn the Safety button back ON on your flamethrower!!