Parental Control/Game time limiter

Just for context, my house is almost completely an IOS and OSX home. The only exception is the devices for my children. After a lot of research, and frustration with Apple's approach, we purchased a Nexus 7 and installed the application Funamo http://www.funamo.com I think that you would find that all of the controls, history reports, remote access, etc are available via Funamo.

Too bad Apple is so controlling, I literally have all Mac's, iPhones, and iPADs, Airport Extreme, AIrport express, etc. with the exception of my smaller kids devices. They really are missing out on this one and encouraging loyal Apple people to get exposed to the world of Android.

I want to thank everyone who participated in this post. I'm glad that there are parents who understand technologies and its limitations. And understandably enough there are parents who don't understand that app control is a must.

I'm really glad somebody is making Funamo. That's exactly the app I was looking for so my children can use Sketchbook all theywant but just one hour of Netflix a day. Because of this, the 3 tablets I'm purchasing today for Christmas will be Nexus 7 and not ipad minis. Apple, you lost my money!

I was considering buying an iPod touch for my 9yr old daughter, and first decided to check out how parental controls work. I am glad I read this. I won't be buying one. They are way too addictive.

John Davidson1 wrote:

This is an Apple problem, not a parenting problem.

You're partly correct. Its not a parenting problem. The problem is "parents" today are either too "busy" or too timid to do the right thing.

The fact of the matter is PARENTS are supposed to be setting the rules, not the children, and those rules should definately not come from lines of computer code. This lack of parental back bone is the main reason that young people have no respect for authority, no respect for themselves, no respect for their peers, and no respect for their elders.

You're partly wrong.

Most (if not all) people in this discussion thread recognize that being a good parent and setting/enforcing rules is essential. We've acknowledged this multiple times.

But all the rules in the world won't save your kid when his device is stolen and used to do inappropriate things. All the rules in the world won't keep your kid from stretching the truth every now and again. All the rules in the world won't prevent your kid's friends or strangers from sending profane things to your kids. All the rules in the world won't keep your kid from stumbling across something inappropriate on an iPad, iPhone, or iPod. And kids break rules--even yours.

However, if Apple opened up their system code (as Android does), all of those things could be significantly mitigated by third party software. Software won't solve every problem nor will it alleviate the need to actively parent. But software will and can be a powerful enforcer of rules and much stronger gatekeeper than any parent. That's why security and nanny software exists for computers, not only for kids but in the corporate environment too.

Apple needs to take a more proactive role in this. They either need to develop an app themselves or open up third parties like me to do it for them. It's not a complicated problem at all.

That was for the people on this thread, not to stay on this board.

Well, the main alternative platform (Android) does not appear to limit the developer community in this area so the solution is obvious:

Force Apple to review and change the policy by leaving them for products that better suits your needs.

During this years Christmas vacation, my son has become more or less obsessed by gaming on his IPhone, which he got during the summer. I just started to search for solutions on this to find out that Apple does not really care. Behind the technical details, there might of course be contractual/licensing issues (I do not know the details of the contractual agreement between Apple and an app vendor) - a company in general that have sold an app of course does not want any other app to control or restrict it.

On other game devices in our home, though, like the XBox, there is at least reasonable support for managing this kind of problem. If phone manufacturers does not realize that this is a problem for families, they will have to face that we choose other products.

Personally, I prefer the less controlled fashion and the extended possibilities to customize your phone that Android devices offer, but I am a computer geek that does not mind the extra time it costs to make the phone appear as I want it.

For children and less technically interested people, I find the simpler IPhone style and paradigm superior, so it is really a shame that Apple does not acknowledge this problem.

On Android devices there are no problems finding apps that lets you (have not controlled, yet):

- restrict by timer as well as clock period

- select what apps that should be manitored/controlled/blocked

- have overall control settings as well as settings for individual apps

- logging of app usage, SMS and call logs

I even saw some services promising cloud solutions (managing multiple devices for a single user) but I am a little sceptic that they actually can provide some useful support - will have to check.

I will spend some time during this vacation to see if the Android apps really support what they promise (on my own phone) and if so switch phone with my son.

Apple needs to take a more proactive role in this. They either need to develop an app themselves or open up third parties like me to do it for them. It's not a complicated problem at all.

Actually no. It's not Apple's job to protect your child. ITS YOUR JOB.

The bottom line is, does your child really NEED a smart phone in the first place? Having a way to call home and dial 911 is a good thing, but placing a smart phone in the hands of a child is just plain foolish. You know you cannot watch them every second, and if the child cannot be trusted, why give them something that you know is going to get them in trouble, or worse?

This is exactly why my 12 year old grand son has an old flip phone. His mother gave him a smart phone and he abused the priveledge, so he's back to the flip. Same thing with his iPod Touch. The boy would stay up all night playing games, so she took it. Problem solved.

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You do not seem to listen to any arguments from other people. Do you really think Apple has a strong point or is it just a matter of you wanting to impose your views on parenthood on other people?

What's the vital argument for supporting Apples view, leaving your views on parenting aside?

Apple is only one company - they are not special.

The Open Handset Alliance (behind the Android platform) or actually the 84 companies in this group think otherwise - they actively try to provide technical means to enable third-party support (apps) to develop functionality the customers are asking for (apps being able to control permission settings in this case) - Apple ignores this customer demand, probably of commercial and perhaps technical control issues.

84 companies on one side - one company on the other side. Hmmm....

It is obviously only a matter of time until Apple change this policy - they of course want children and teenagers to have IPhones, its a lot of lost revenue if they lose this customer segment.

We all remember how reluctant Apple was in a similar issue, 2 or 3 years ago: not having a security setting that disallowed apps from in-line buying. Only after huge media focus and criticism, Apple changed policy, much like a reluctant child...

About your opinion that it's foolish to put a smart phone in the hands of a child: how much longer to you expect non-smart phones to be on the market? Operators and manufacturers earn a lot less on these phones so do not expect them to be around in two or three years time... As smart phones becomes cheaper, the other phones will disappear from the market - it will not be commercially viable to manufacture them, at least not for selling in our part of the world.

I am not telling Apple what they should do, they are perfectly capable of running their company and develop products that are demanded. I have, however, no problem in ignoring Apple products if they do not meet my demands.

For what it is worth I have only had Apple products for years, iPhones, iPADs, Mac Minis, iMACs, MacBook Pros, Air Book, Airport Express, Airport Extreme, Apple TV, iPODs, Nanos, etc. etc.

This Christmas I purchased 3 Amazon Kindle HDs for one very simple reason, I can be a responsible Parent and set up Parental Controls with 3rd party APP. Story done, Apple set the stage for a very entrenched Apple customer to experience, use, enjoy, and potentially value the competative products over this one issue.

So far, it has been a good experience, and I believe that another of my children, who is almost an adullt will likely end up with a Kindle as well, even though it won't be driven by Parental Controls, but by what she can afford. Based on her syblings experiences she is thinking Kindle would be great.

What I'd like is the ability to put all the non-educational games in one "box" and set limits for that box only. I want them to have unlimited access to the dictionary, encyclopedia, khan academy, etc.