{"id":335945,"date":"2017-03-16T09:16:36","date_gmt":"2017-03-16T01:16:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/techcrunch.com\/?p=1465082"},"modified":"2017-03-16T09:16:36","modified_gmt":"2017-03-16T01:16:36","slug":"google-introduces-family-link-its-own-parental-control-software-for-android","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/google-introduces-family-link-its-own-parental-control-software-for-android\/","title":{"rendered":"Google introduces Family Link, its own parental control software for Android"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Google has just one-upped Apple on mobile in a significant way: today the company today\u00a0announced<\/a> the launch of Family Link<\/a>, an application for parents that lets them establish a child\u2019s first Google account, as well as\u00a0utilize\u00a0a series of \u00a0parental controls to\u00a0manage and track screen time, daily limits, device \u201cbedtimes,\u201d and which apps kids\u00a0can use.<\/p>\n

While all the major mobile device providers \u2013 Apple, Google, and Amazon included \u2013 offer parental controls on their devices \u2013 \u00a0Family Link is different because it\u2019s a two-party system. Instead, it works more like the third-party parental control and monitoring software already on the market, where an app installed on a parent\u2019s device is used to configure settings and keep an eye on kids\u2019 digital behavior.<\/p>\n

For the system to work, Family Link\u00a0requires that both parent and child use Android. The parent will first download the Family Link mobile app to their own device, running Android KitKat (4.4) or higher. An iOS version is not yet available, says Google.<\/p>\n

From this app, parents will set up the child\u2019s Google account. It\u2019s designed to be used for those children under the age of 13, Google notes.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Then, on the kid\u2019s device, the child\u00a0signs in using these new credentials. The child\u2019s phone or tablet must be running either Android Nougat (7.0), or a supported device running Marshmallow (6.1). (A full list is here<\/a>\u00a0in the Family Link FAQ.)<\/p>\n

Once signed in, the child\u2019s phone usage is tracked and logged, so parents can see how much time kids spend in various apps, via weekly and monthly activity reports. From the parent\u2019s app, moms and dads can set a number of rules for their kids, including how long kids are\u00a0allowed to be on their mobile devices every day, at what time\u00a0the devices can no longer be used that day (through a remote locking feature), and which apps can be installed.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Parents can approve or block apps the child wants to download from the Google Play Store, much like how Apple\u2019s iCloud Family Sharing\u2019s \u201cAsk\u201d feature works today.<\/p>\n

Like Apple, Google doesn\u2019t offer any suggestions as to whether a given app should<\/em> be approved, however \u2013 that decision is left up to the parents\u2019 discretion.<\/p>\n

Explains Google:<\/p>\n

\u201c[Family Link]\u00a0can\u2019t make the apps or services on their phone that were designed for adults kid-safe; it\u2019s up to parents to choose what\u2019s right for their kid.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

A lack of guidance\u00a0is one of the gaping holes with many parental control systems today. That\u2019s unfortunate given that all the app stores have app ratings. It seems that simply highlighting the rating to parents during the \u201cAsk\u201d process could go a long way to helping parents make better decisions.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

That being said, Family Link does allow parents to at least remotely configure the filtering options for some of Google\u2019s own apps, like the Google Search app and the Chrome browser. This will protect kids from adult content and other inappropriate material when doing web searches.<\/p>\n

Plus, having standalone application that lets parents remotely configure a variety of control mechanisms for children\u2019s\u00a0devices will be generally helpful, and could become a selling point for Android phones and tablets.<\/p>\n

Family Link isn\u2019t yet broadly available. Google is offering<\/a> early access to testers willing to try the service during this early preview, and provide feedback.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"\" Google has just one-upped Apple on mobile in a significant way: today the company today\u00a0announced the launch of Family Link, an application for parents that lets them establish a child’s first Google account, as well as\u00a0utilize\u00a0a series of \u00a0parental controls to\u00a0manage and track screen time, daily limits, device “bedtimes,” and which apps kids\u00a0can use. While all the… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n

\n<\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a> <\/img><\/a>\n<\/div>\n

\"\"\/ <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5817,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[59,66,26],"class_list":["post-335945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology","tag-media","tag-techcrunch","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5817"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=335945"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/335945\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=335945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=335945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=335945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}