Nowadays, anything can be done with a smartphone. This is usually a good thing, rather an amazing thing but, this can present a tough problem for parents who want their children to know the stuff while they are having an eye on what they are doing.
Google has recently released an Android app which aims to solve this problem. The app lets the parents create a Google account for their own kids and by this, they can monitor which apps they can use and how long they can use those apps.
Well, this is how parents can get started:
- A new Android device running Android 7.0 Nougat or higher need to be given to kids.
- Parents need to download the Family Link on their own devices and create an account for their child.
- You need to sign in your kid using the account you have created.
Once you are done doing that, parents can blacklist or whitelist apps which apps can install on their kid’s devices. This brings the Google’s introduction of age ratings which is in 2015 full circle, as it makes it easy for the parents to determine what kind of apps are kid friendly.
Parents can also have a look how many minutes are spent on each app, view weekly use stats, and even set the time limits for how long their kids can use their mobile phones. If you really want to put your kid on lockdown for study time or some other reason, you can also remotely lock their device.
Google stresses that the app is meant for children under 13, who technically aren’t supposed to have their own Google accounts yet, and it’s worth reiterating that you need to start with a fresh device for this to work.
The app is available only in preview – parents can sign up and try it out via an early access program.