Parental controls?

[dorlow]

Ok, parental controls on phones and tablets have become very frustrating. Finally, I thought I got parental controls working and where the kids can't bypass it. I use MM Guardian. All the sudden, I checked one of the kid's phones and Google Play uninstalled mm guardian due to security concerns. I tried to reinstall it and Google Play is restricting installing it. So, now I'm stuck using only Family Link to lock down the phones. Family link works great for controlling which apps the kids have on their phones, but it doesn't track phone calls or sms messages at all. Also, it won't allow me to monitor kids once they're older than like 12 or something... so I have to then create bogus Gmail accounts that say my 13 year old is only 5. I don't know why Google would think teenagers don't need to be monitored. Teenagers are the age when bad things happen when they start talking to strangers on the internet. When I was in high school, one of the kids in school with me met someone on the internet and she disappeared for months. She was on the news almost daily with people trying to find her. I think she made it to the side of a milk carton. She showed back up after a few months alive and fine. But, teenagers are the age when bad things happen. I don't know why Google would think teenagers don't need to be monitored.

 

[mikedt]

Quite frankly parental(and government) controls on Android waste is a waste of time, they can always be bypassed. If you really want to lock your kids down, get them Apple iPhones.

 

[dorlow]

Apple phones are so expensive. I'm totally an Android person. I like how I can get a $1500 android phone or a $30 android phone. I get the expensive ones and my kids get cheap ones. Android OS on the phone is the same between the $1500 and the $30 phone. It's consistent.

 

[dorlow]

I feel like Apple's modo is what Ford's modo was back in the day. You can have any color car you want as long as that color is black. Apple should release their OS to other manufacturers. Then Apple could compete with other manufacturers using their OS to improve quality and drive down cost. If Apple is confident in their superior hardware, this shouldn't be an issue.

 

[puppykickr]

Lol, what did I tell you about Google?

Anyway, go into the (Play Store & Google) app settings (external, not inside the app) and find Advanced.
Then disable the permissions that allow it to modify system settings, along with anything else in that realm.

Then use an alternative app store to download what YOU want, instead of what Google thinks you can have.

 

[puppykickr]

https://m.apkpure.com/mmguardian-parental-control-app-for-child-phone/com.mmguardian.childapp

Oh, and that message you get that is designed to scare you into not 'installing apps from untrusted sources'?

Guess who that came from?

 

[dorlow]

I really don't like doing stuff unsupported. I used to do that kind of stuff. I used to root my phones and mess with stuff and make things worked that was outside the supported config. But, it seems like you're always having issues doing things like that. I have a Pixel 5 and I have not rooted it or done anything outside the supported setup. There has to be a supported way to do this. Problem is with unsupported is when you have problems, you're stuck with asking random people on the internet. When you have something supported and you run into an issue, you usually have a support department for that particular solution to make sure you get the right answer quickly. As of now, I'm a true believer in doing things that are supported and doing things the way they were designed to work.

 

[Brian706]

Try disabling Play Protect. On pixel 5 it's located by opening the play store and tapping your profile icon in the upper right. Then it's just there in the menu that pops up.

 

[dorlow]

Well my kids don't have a pixel. But, none the less, the parental app support emailed me today saying they had an updated apk that fixes the issues I'm having. I tried it on one phone and it worked. The second phone it says it installed, but it doesn't. They're both the exact same make, model, android version, etc

 

[mikedt]

Apple phones are so expensive. I'm totally an Android person. I like how I can get a $1500 android phone or a $30 android phone. I get the expensive ones and my kids get cheap ones. Android OS on the phone is the same between the $1500 and the $30 phone. It's consistent.

The reason why I suggest the kids have iPhones with parental controls and admin. Is because I know the Chinese communist govt totally controls and dictates what Apple allows on iPhones in China, like no VPN apps, and all games must be approved. And the only ways around it, is either to jailbreak the iPhone, or have a foreign iTunes account. Which is something they just can't do with Android phones in this country. And kids will probably defeat any parental controls on Android phones. And we have had posts about this before on AF.