Lilia2

Q: Parental controls/time restrictions on iPhone

I can safely say that my daughter's iPhone has ruined our lives.  We've had it for five days.  Yes, there are some built-in parental controls, but Apple has blocked anybody from offering a software program that will turn the dang thing off (I'm talking about texting and calling) at a certain time every night.  I have a daughter who is addicted to her phone and the battles are humongous to get her to do anything but text. 

 

There are plenty of good programs with good parental controls for the Android and Blackberry, but thanks Apple for not allowing us as parents to turn the phone off at night.  I know about Mobicip, which is a great company, but they can only turn the internet off, not texting or calling.  When you have a kid who can and will text 5,000 texts a month, we need something that eliminates the battles at home and can automatically turn the thing off when it's bedtime.  We're all losing sleep.  Most parents, when they get an iPhone for their kid, don't realize that Apple, unlike Android, has chosen to place more importance on children's privacy than parent's ability to place restrictions on their kids' phones.  I plan to take the iPhone back and get her an Android.

iPhone 4S, iOS 4.3.3, Time restrictions?

Posted on Mar 27, 2012 7:49 AM

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Q: Parental controls/time restrictions on iPhone

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  • by bevitore,

    bevitore bevitore Sep 27, 2012 6:11 AM in response to Lilia2
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 27, 2012 6:11 AM in response to Lilia2

    Lilia2~

     

    ...okay, another word comes to mind - pitiful.

  • by kgreen1970,

    kgreen1970 kgreen1970 Sep 27, 2012 7:49 AM in response to bevitore
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 27, 2012 7:49 AM in response to bevitore

    Far less pathetic than wasting your time and all of our bandwidth to judge people you know nothing about. Be grateful for your better life, and apparent superiority, but keep it to yourself, would you?  It's not helpful for those of us less fortunate. 

  • by mysti1975a,

    mysti1975a mysti1975a Sep 28, 2012 9:44 AM in response to Lilia2
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 28, 2012 9:44 AM in response to Lilia2

    Actually there is a feature with AT&T I use to work for them and I had it on my daughter's iphone so I KNOW it works. It is call Smart Limits. The only feature it DOESN'T work with is obviously purchasing apps and accessing the internet however it does limit how many people they can text and even allows you to block numbers. You can put time restrictions on the phone so that they can't use the phone during specific times and as long as you put your number in the allowed list that would be the only number aside from 911 that they are allowed to use.

     

    I was out with my daughter one night with these restrictions on and on an iphone and I had it set to auto shut off at 8 pm (meaning text and voice) and I was on her phone talking to a relative and it disconnected me promptly at 8 and would not allow us to dial out or text unless it was to my phone which is also an iphone.

     

    Again this does work with iphone 3 or later because my daughter had one and I still periodically use the limits on her phone. The only part that doesn't work is the net.

  • by 14335533,

    14335533 14335533 Sep 30, 2012 10:59 PM in response to mysti1975a
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 30, 2012 10:59 PM in response to mysti1975a

    The iphone uses SMS messages to communicate with phones that are not iphones, but uses "imessage" to text iphones. Smart limits works for traditional SMS messages on iphones. However, it will not work for imessage.

     

    As a result, the SMS blocking in smart limits will only stop texting to people who do not have iphones. If they have iphones (or ipads or ipod touch) then they can text as much as they like using imessage. As a result, it would be fair to say that the text blocking aspect of smart limits no longer works.

     

    At this time, if you need to restrict texting (including imessage), you cannot do this with an iphone.

     

    You need to get a different phone.

     

    This could be fixed by apple offering a parental control on the phone for imessage, but there is no such control in IOS6 or earlier.

  • by rkCanada,

    rkCanada rkCanada Oct 14, 2012 2:09 AM in response to Lilia2
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 14, 2012 2:09 AM in response to Lilia2

    This is my first post here and I have the same issue with my daughter.  First off I am ashamed for humanity based on the ignorant, mean comments left by some people here.  Lilia2's question was valid and I ended up here looking for a solution to the same problem, so I suppose that makes me a bad parent too! 

     

    Everywhere I've looked for iphone 4s / Telus mobility there is no solution for parental control over texts, imsg, in/out calls or cellular data ... I can control home WiFi use with my router Linksys EA4500 by time, apps, device, etc.

     

    I fell for the Apple hype and bought 3 iphones, wife and i and 15 yrs old daughter.  Last month she had 15000+ in/out texts ... no wonder her eyes are bloodshot and she behaves like a caveman.  And yes we take her phone away from her every night at 10:30pm.  

     

    If i would have known that apple puts their profit and their carriers profit before the needs of the people paying for their kids phones i never would have bought them.  I did find that Blackberry has built in Parental controls as part of its OS for version 6 and 7 ( http://helpblog.blackberry.com/2012/05/parental-controls/ ) ... wow!  I know, i know ... BB is dead and not cool but it would have saved my wife and I lots of grief in dealing with our daughter and that overpriced toy.  Now I feel pretty stupid for abandoning my BB phones ... well my youngest daughter won't get an iphone when its her turn ... i'll check out the BB10 phone and its parental controls over anything from apple.  Something to think about when the contracts end.  Haters and trolls ... commence bashing!

  • by KiltedTim,

    KiltedTim KiltedTim Oct 14, 2012 8:25 PM in response to rkCanada
    Level 9 (56,496 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 14, 2012 8:25 PM in response to rkCanada

    Technology is not a substitute for common sense. Take the phone away from her. Get her a dumb phone and have the carrier completely block texting.

  • by rkCanada,

    rkCanada rkCanada Oct 15, 2012 4:23 AM in response to KiltedTim
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 15, 2012 4:23 AM in response to KiltedTim

    This is an Apple support community not a parenting skill comparison free for all.

     

    <Edited By Host>

  • by KiltedTim,

    KiltedTim KiltedTim Oct 15, 2012 3:48 AM in response to rkCanada
    Level 9 (56,496 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 15, 2012 3:48 AM in response to rkCanada

    Sorry you feel that way. I honestly don't care about your opinion. I didn't rely on technology to raise my kids for me, and I don't blame others for my own failings.

  • by bsmith6356,

    bsmith6356 bsmith6356 Oct 16, 2012 7:28 PM in response to KiltedTim
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 16, 2012 7:28 PM in response to KiltedTim

    Horrible parent here, looking for Ipod Touch parental controls. I always get a laugh when I read the "Holier Than Thou" parents' comments when it comes to limiting technology through the use of phone apps and cell carrier products. Hat's off to the perfect parents that don't need this technology, although they're often the same ones saying "not my Johnny/Jenny." 

     

    If you're a parent that isn't looking for these products, then your head is in the sand. Rewind back to when we were growing up. Did our parents give us restrictions? Yes. Did we break the rules and do things behind their backs? Yep, cause that's what kids do. Does that mean our parents were slack, or bad parents?. Sure, some are/were.

     

    So I'd say any parent on here looking for help are the ones showing responsibility. Save the condescending comments for the ones that allow free rein and cross their fingers...or don't give a crap.

     

    So, anyone found any good time limit controls for an Ipod Touch?

  • by Len Flier,

    Len Flier Len Flier Oct 26, 2012 4:01 AM in response to Vakerue
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Oct 26, 2012 4:01 AM in response to Vakerue

    Thanks Vakerue, for sharing your story. I had similar issues with my 15 year-old daughter and her iPhone 4S. I've blocked the texting, but I can't turn off iMessage. So... I had to take the phone away.

     

    Result? She's more focused, her grades are up, she has better friends, and her disposition is markedly improved.

     

    I wanted her to have an iPhone --- I really did. I have one myself and they're so darned useful. But if I can't block the messaging, having an iPhone is doing her more harm than good. I hope Apple is listening.

  • by Eric4455,

    Eric4455 Eric4455 Dec 23, 2012 12:43 PM in response to Lilia2
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 23, 2012 12:43 PM in response to Lilia2

    I too hope the Apple folks are listening about the need for expanding the parental controls on the Iphone. Carrier limits from AT&T appear useless when there is wfi available.  So here is what I would like to see: 1. Daily/weekly limits on texting/talking/data (cell and wifi). 2. Bedtime mode (weekday and weekend) with only emergency and designated numbers available after hours. 3. Safari browser parental controls.  I'm sure there are other features that parents with more experieince might suggest; we are relatively new to the game. We have good kids and we all love our Iphones; but taking the phone away every night is a poor solution and not always possible in our situation.  Apple- It's our kids job to push the boundries, please help us to be able to set and enforce the boundries with reasonble parental control capabilities!  Parental controls will be the primary focus for all our future phone purchases.  What a marketing goldmine, hope you're listening apple. For all the parental control nasayers, your not fooling anyone, we know you kids have access to this site.

  • by Meg St._Clair,

    Meg St._Clair Meg St._Clair Dec 23, 2012 1:14 PM in response to Eric4455
    Level 9 (59,674 points)
    iPhone
    Dec 23, 2012 1:14 PM in response to Eric4455

    Eric4455 wrote:

     

    What a marketing goldmine, hope you're listening apple. For all the parental control nasayers, your not fooling anyone, we know you kids have access to this site.

    No, Apple is not listening to you here. Use the feedback link:

     

    http://www.apple.com/feedback.

     

    Meanwhile, you can set up your home Wifi to not allow internet access to the children's devices after bedtime. You can also (yes, I'm going to say it), take the phones from the children at bedtime.

  • by ytseryan,

    ytseryan ytseryan Jan 28, 2013 8:49 AM in response to Len Flier
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 28, 2013 8:49 AM in response to Len Flier

    Actually, you can turn off and block i-message, facetime, etc.  I have SmartLimits to block texts/calls after 10pm, but I have also used the built in i-phone restrictions to disable imessage and facetime completly.  If you go to Settings/General/Restrictions, you can "Enable Restrictions" and then turn off or allow specific functions such as facetime, installing apps (I have this one turned off).  There is not a section specifically for i-message, but if you turn off i-message first, and then under the restrictions/Allow Changes/Accounts - turn off changes to accounts, that will then disable making changes to imessage or facetime settings, esentially completly turning them off.  Works great for us. 

     

    Remember, in order to disable i-message, i-message must first be turned off.  All this restriction does is lock the ability to toggle it on/off, so if it's on - it stays locked on....and if it's off, it stays locked off. 

  • by MNhorseman,

    MNhorseman MNhorseman Feb 12, 2013 5:15 AM in response to Lilia2
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 12, 2013 5:15 AM in response to Lilia2

    I can relate to you Lilia2, but for a different reason. My teenage daughter made some bad choices requiring us to place some restrictions on her pleasure use of her iPhone. So I was looking here for a means of restricting her use, while allowing us to stay in contact with her. I have learned what I needed to know, but am appalled at the rudeness of some of the responses you received... I have been an Apple user since 1984, and remember when we were the good guys. I always went out of my way to help a fellow apple user with my knowledge without having to call them stupid. The behavior you experienced is just another example of how people are "in it for themselves" trying to make themselves appear superior, instead be being helpful for purely altruistic reasons. Unfortunately, these pathetic little trolls are a fact of life in these anonymous electronic environments. I am sorry you were treated so disrespectfully and that an Apple representative didn't say so first...

  • by Len Flier,

    Len Flier Len Flier Feb 12, 2013 7:12 AM in response to ytseryan
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Feb 12, 2013 7:12 AM in response to ytseryan

    Thank you ytseryan! I can confirm that it is possible to turn off iMessage in iOS 6, as you say.

     

    Here is the method again for other readers:

     

    1. Go to Settings --> Messsages:  Turn off iMessage
    2. Go to Settings --> General --> Restrictions: Enable restrictions
    3. In the Restrictions section, go to Accounts: Select "Don't Allow Changes"
    4. Go back to Settings --> Messages: Confirm that the iMessage switch is now disabled

     

    It would be more straightforward for Apple to simply have a switch to disable the app itself in the Parental Controls section, especially since it's an OS app that cannot be deleted. But this is a good workaround.

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