Items tagged with parental controls
In what is a humorous turn of event, an 8-year-old has seemingly found a bug in Apple’s parental controls that allowed her to view YouTube videos despite the fact that Screen Time was enabled. Screen Time allows parents/guardians to block off access to certain apps, or all apps on an iPhone or iPad after a set amount of time has passed, or during a certain time block (i.e. between 10pm and 7am). The bug involves using the Messages app, which for some reason is allowing unauthorized access to flow through its pearly gates. Pulling off this trick is relatively simple if you follow these steps. Open the Messages app Start a new text message Using the iMessages mini app bar, slide over and...
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Verizon has rolled out some new optional tools for families that allow parents to keep a watchful eye on what their kids are doing on their smartphone. The new tools are part of the Verizon Smart Family Premium service and allows parents to track devices and set a limit on what the kids can see on their devices. "Being a parent in today's digital world can be daunting, but it doesn’t have to be," said Susie Fernandes, senior product manager at Verizon. "We created Verizon Smart Family to give parents the tools they need to help them raise tech savvy kids with a healthy and responsible approach to screen time and content viewing." Smart Family Premium offers parents a free 30-day trial of...
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Apple found itself having to defend its parental controls on iPhone devices and other mobile gadgets after investors wrote an open letter criticizing the company's efforts. At the same time, Apple said it constantly looks for ways to improve its devices, adding that new features are in the pipeline that will make its parental controls "even more robust," though the company did not get into specifics. The open letter was written by Jana Partners LLC and The California State Teachers' Retirement System, the two of which collectively account for around $2 billion in value of Apple shares. "As shareholders, we recognize your unique role in the history of innovation and the fact that Apple is one...
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Toddlers love to mimic their parents, which is why you see them talking on pretend mobile phones. And now that the wearable category is starting to gain some momentum, it didn't take long for a company to once again think of the kids, though it wasn't Fisher Price or Mattel. Perhaps more fittingly, LG was the one that thought of extending the wearable experience to the little ones, which is the idea behind its new KizON. KizON isn't simply a toy imitation of a smartwatch, however, but a GPS-enabled device that allows parents to keep track of their young children's whereabouts. Utilizing both GPS and Wi-Fi, mom and dad can receive real-time location data of little Devon on their smartphone. If...
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If you're the parent of a teenager, you've probably seen your son or daughter make all kinds of goofy faces at their smartphone. That's probably because they're using Snapchat or any number of photo, video, and messaging applications available. It's a new generation, and like it or not, mobile phones have become a big part of daily life. There are downsides to that, of course -- it can impede on family time and disrupt proper homework habits, to name just two. This is where a new app called DinnerTime (Parental Control) comes into play. DinnterTime (Parental Control) is available for both iOS and Android devices. Like its name implies, it offers up parental controls for parental units to put...
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Nobody's ever used their Atari 2600 to stream episodes of Family Feud or Different Strokes, but fast forward to the present day and game consoles are capable of so much more than just playing modern day variants of Pitfall and Asteroids. The latest generation of game consoles are full-fledged media boxes that run the show in the living room, and that's a good thing. With that increased functionality comes a responsibility to monitor what your kids can stream, and if you own a PlayStation 4, be advised that they can access adult content even with parental controls turned on. The issue dates back to the PS4's launch in November of last year. At the time, there was concern over the bundling of Playroom,...
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Worried about what your kids are doing online with their Chromebooks? Your only option at this point is to hover their shoulders each and every time they fire it up, but starting soon, you'll be able to implement certain restrictions as a "Supervised User." By allowing for multiple accounts, Google is basically baking in parental controls. We all know that using parental controls isn't a substitute for good parenting or physically checking up on your child's online behavior from time to time, but it's a starting point, and one that's badly needed considering how popular Chromebooks are becoming. The Supervised Users feature just entered Google's Beta Channel, which means a stable release isn't...
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AT&T is adding two new enhancements to its Smart Limits for Wireless parental control offering. With the updates, parents will now be able to block up to 30 numbers to prevent unwanted or harassing calls and text messages on their child’s phone. To help prevent bill shock, AT&T is also adding 411 calls to a restricted list of numbers. The service also provides parents with the ability to limit or restrict on-phone purchases. AT&T Announces Enhancements to AT&T Smart Limits for Wireless Parents Now Able to Block Twice the Number of Unwanted Calls and Texts Dallas, Texas, May 02, 2011 - AT&T* today announced the addition of two new enhancements to AT&T Smart Limits...
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