“With great power comes great responsibility,” said Ben Parker to his nephew Peter — a.k.a. Spiderman. Uncle Ben was right, especially when it comes to technology.

https://www.qustodio.com

App Review

“While technology and electronic devices provide many benefits for children and parents, they also can increase stress and create challenges for families,” says Dr. Nicole Beurkens, Ph.D., CNS, and a paid advisor and psychologist ambassador to Qustodio. She explains to Parentology, “The biggest challenge I see parents face is setting healthy limits for their kids related to time spent on devices and content consumed. Parents also need to manage safety issues for their children online including bullying, predators, and pornography.”

Qustodio offers packages with an annual price ranging from $55 to $138, based on the number of devices you want to enroll. It can help parents manage boundaries around tech devices by limiting screen time, filtering content, screening texts, and monitoring locations. It might sound like Big Brother, but parents can prioritize the controls that are most useful for them. Setting limits for children of any age is one of the most powerful tools that will help them learn to set limits for themselves.

Customizable Parental Controls

The app allows parents to:

View their child’s activity summary — their time spent on apps, social networks, and searches.
Set daily, weekly, or monthly screen time limits or set limits on individual games and apps.
Block explicit content; Qustodio’s filters automatically block adult content.
Review every website your child visits on the dashboard.
Link your child’s Facebook account to Qustodio to monitor social media use.
View incoming and outgoing texts and calls.

Plus, the app’s location service updates every few minutes to help eliminate the, “Where are you?” texts. And, in an emergency, your child can use the “Panic Button” to call for help.

https://www.qustodio.com

Remote Management and Apple Devices Don’t Mix

Qustodio uses remote management software to access the information on your child’s phone. That means the apps, texts, calls and location information you control using Qustodio is being collected by a third party. Remote management software is commonly used for parental control software.

If your child uses an Android device, you will be able to to use all the functionality that Qustodio offers, including monitoring texts and calls. Apple’s iOS devices don’t allow text or SMS remote management. This could change in the future and Apple users will have these benefits as well.

Parental controls are one of the most powerful tools to help children of all ages learn responsibility and grow independence. Qustodio is an intuitive, customizable app that lends a helping hand in the ongoing struggle many parents feel over technology.