I’d like something that lets me schedule apps and web sites.
I see stuff that lets me block web sites, and stuff that lets me schedule screen time, but I’m not trying to either of those things. I’d like say no games and no YouTube during school time (lock-down schooling).
Any suggestions?
YouTube can also be viewed on a browser so setting limits on that does not stop the kid from using it unless you also block the browsers which you may or may not want to do. On the iPhone you can set up a time where restricted apps can not be used. It is really meant for late night/bedtime, but I think you can set it up for anytime.
What platform are we talking about? PC/Mac? iPad/iPhone? Android device?
Yes, you can set your times for any portion of the day on iphone. The level of control I have over Vaderling’s iphone sorta freaked me out at first
Sent from Dorkvader’s Dadphone by iphone😎
I left the platform open, because I wanted to see what people said about iPad and Android and Windows, and network solutions, but the iPad is the least of the problem, Android phone second, and Win/PC the biggest problem during school time, because it has to be on, and he has to be in front of it, during school and homework time.
Vaderling could connect his ipad to his iphone (use his phone as a hotspot) but if he did that, that would give me parental control of his ipad as a device connected to his phone, and apple doesn’t seem to mess around with parental control, Parents have it, basically all of it.
Verizon has a service and app for parental control that is sort of like a lite version of apple’s controls. They tread a bit more lightly for legal reason, iirc. I used this when I was on android. It is a subscription service unless you are on an unlimited everything all inclusive plan(I am, I found it to be strangely both cheaper and less expensive)
I got nothing for windows
If you have to ask how to set this up, it’s almost a given that your kid (or his techie friends) know more about online tech than you do. So he’ll have bypassed it in less time than you spent trying to set it up.
How about just sitting your kid down, and having a calm & realistic talk about setting priorities (like schoolwork before games) and difference between online and actual (like porn is readily available but not at all realistic)?
Might also mention that most of what is online is:
Not true in this case.
Yeah, my kids are 8. They can’t bypass stuff yet. And they have less self-discipline than is required to always put school first.
I wish I could help. I looked for solutions for a long time, but ultimately just had to have someone in the room with them when they are on the computer. It was also complicated by the school using YouTube to post lessons, so I couldn’t block the site.
Set WiFi times on your Router/Modem, works with all gadgets that use WiFi
Be sure to change the default password on your Router to something the kids don’t know,
Whenever I see this thread title, I always think “Why didn’t we have software to control parents when I was a kid?”
Another way of doing this is to use 2 routers, one just for the kids connected to a smart switch and hidden in the home or simply put where the parents hang out and can control access to the physical router. This way you have the ability to control their network times and not interfere with your normal one (with its own password). It saves the step of diving into router settings.
That only works if you don’t need web access for the same school time you want to block some sites for. It would not have worked for me.
My router only allows me to set on/off schedules for connected devices, not for destination sites or apps.
Of course every set up is different, so depends.
In my case my main computer is a desktop connected via LAN so any WiFi setting does not affect me.
As I said depends on your set up, there’s no one one solution for everyone.
Another way you might be able to control individual devices is to block their MAC address from your Router.
Don’t know if you can control time control individual devices this way, depends on your Router.
You can get the MAC address for any devices that connect to your system by using one of the free “IP Scanner Programs” programs.
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