Viewing 34 posts - 1 through 34 (of 34 total)
  • Android tablets and kids
  • freddyg
    Free Member

    The other thread regarding iOS devices and children got me thinking. I bought my kids a 7″ Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 for Christmas. As they’re under 7 years old, I used my Google account to set it up. Not a problem as whenever they try to download anything for a fee, they need my password – all good.

    The one thing I’m struggling with though is securing them. I.e. filtering content. I’ve some this on their accounts on the various PCs and as an alternative I know I can
    use openDNS, but that affects all devices as it works on my external IP address. Is it possible to control access by device or is there parental control for Android?

    Ta.

    Stoner
    Free Member

    gave stoner jr my old 7″ chinese tablet for christmas.

    I pre loaded it with some games and educaitonal stuff and then hust turn the wifi off.

    When there’s something Ive found that I think he’d like I turn wifi on again briefly.

    Im not going to let him use the web on it yet, hes only just turned 6.

    miketually
    Free Member

    Consider a hypothetical internet of a mere 20bn documents that is comprised one half “adult” content, and one half “child-safe” content. A 1% misclassification rate applied to 20bn documents means 200m documents will be misclassified. That’s 100m legitimate documents that would be blocked by the government because of human error, and 100m adult documents that the filter does not touch and that any schoolkid can find.

    In practice, the misclassification rate is much, much worse.

    There’s no way to stop children viewing porn in Starbucks

    Filtering creates an illusion of control and safety, but that’s about all. Either remove access to the internet completely, or supervise/educate your children.

    My daughter’s Android tablet is set up with her Google account, otherwise YouTube would keep recommending Tori Vega and One Direction to me.

    freddyg
    Free Member

    Yes, I turn the WiFi off too. However, my son is football mad and loves searching for facts and stats… ordinarily I wouldn’t worry, but over Christmas my wife left her account logged in on the PC; 5 mins later she returned to the computer room to find my son (with eyes on stalks) looking at an impressive pair of norks on it**! My first reaction was “that’s my boy!”. 5 seconds later it changed to “sh*t!”…. that’s when I nailed their accounts down.

    ** he’d googled “bare ladies boobies”!

    freddyg
    Free Member

    Their PC accounts use a white list – only listed URLs allowed. I’ve even blocked Google.

    scaredypants
    Full Member

    ** he’d googled “bare ladies boobies”!

    😆 😆

    (I don’t think there’s a way, tbh)

    PrinceJohn
    Full Member

    The first image if you google bare ladies boobies – So you could argue what he was googling was football related..

    disgusting….

    EDIT – it’s the second image if you remember to turn off the moderate safe search.

    miketually
    Free Member

    ** he’d googled “bare ladies boobies”!

    On your Google account. At least you can blame the boy for any other searches 🙂

    freddyg
    Free Member

    At least you can blame the boy for any other searches 🙁

    😎 niiice…

    DickBarton
    Full Member

    We got ours a Meep…seems to work for safety/security/monitoring and using…

    freddyg
    Free Member

    Pardon my ignorance, what’s meep, an app?

    deepreddave
    Free Member

    lol at bare ladies boobies. He’ll learn. Quickly 😉

    DickBarton
    Full Member

    A tablet designed for kids…has a parent portal that allows you to control access and what they can do on it…

    freddyg
    Free Member

    Ah. Bit late for that.

    DickBarton
    Full Member

    Still got the receipt? Take it back…

    kevj
    Free Member

    We bought the boys two cheap pads for Christmas too and use Family Sandbox which allows us to control content. Seems to work well.

    TheFunkyMonkey
    Free Member

    Got our 5yr old a nabi, it’s totally locked down out of the box. Works on a whitelist

    kevj
    Free Member

    EDIT; Famigo sandbox. Bloody auto correct.

    tomaso
    Free Member

    You can install an app that monitors searches & notifies you when they search b00bies & also takes regular screen shots that you can review. Much better to let them be free ish but have the opportunity to discuss why they are looking at x or y. Sorry but I.can’t remember what its called but you can get it on mobiles too.

    jonnymojo
    Free Member

    My boys age 6 and 9 got the galaxy tabs for christmas too and I ran into the same problem. Ended up using an app called funamo that filters the internet and youtube as well as blocking access to any important controls and settings. You can log onto the funamo website and check web history and application activity to see what they’ve been up to. I tested it by googling on the internet and youtube “boobies” and “titties” ect” and I was unable to see anything awesome so that was a result. Seems to be working well, only drawback is that it costs $20 per device

    knightrider
    Free Member

    Grandparents got my 2 boys (5 and 7) I’ve used kids place app, you can select apps and put the tablet into airport mode. Works a treat

    mogrim
    Full Member

    I opted for the “educate my kids” approach, seems more productive in the long run.

    (Slight advantage: they’re girls – no searching for “boobies”).

    mogrim
    Full Member

    you can select apps and put the tablet into airport mode. Works a treat

    Will work a treat until they work out how to get it out of airplane mode, which won’t be long… Other problem are the apps that only work with a Wifi connection.

    knightrider
    Free Member

    Locked in with a pin code, even loads on reboot

    mogrim
    Full Member

    Locked in with a pin code, even loads on reboot

    Ah, that would be a different matter!

    miketually
    Free Member

    Ah, that would be a different matter!

    Shall we run a book on when they learn to get past it? 😉

    mogrim
    Full Member

    Shall we run a book on when they learn to get past it?

    Just checked on my phone: in plane mode I can still connect the wifi, just no 3G connection. Haven’t investigated if there are any apps I could download to lock the phone down, though.

    mogrim
    Full Member

    Edit: double post

    knightrider
    Free Member

    On the tablet there’s no WiFi on plane mode, the kids place app locks everything that you don’t select

    freddyg
    Free Member

    Thanks for the updates folks, I’ll go and have a look at the “kids place”, “funamno” and “famigo sandbox” apps. They seem to be along the right lines – and I don’t mind paying.

    With regard to taking them back and swapping for a Meep. No thanks, the Galaxy tab is a great bit of kit for the money.

    mogrim – Member
    I opted for the “educate my kids” approach, seems more productive in the long run.

    (Slight advantage: they’re girls – no searching for “boobies”).

    Hahaha, you’re joking right?? I didn’t tell the second half of the story…. At the time of the discovery of young MasterG’s penchant for ladies squashy bits, we had a couple of the neighbours daughters around playing with my youngest. When MrsG walked in on the lad, she exclaimed rather loudly – attracting the attention of my 5year old girl and her two slightly older friends (6 and 9). What followed was a good talk with all four of them about the dangers of the internet etc, etc. We thought it was all sorted. Two days later we were all round at our neighbours for a festive drink and a bite to eat. The hostess shouted for her kids to wash their hands and come to the table for dinner; they didn’t respond so MrsG went to get them. They were on their PC. The eldest girl has recently been learning how to put together slideshows and presentations. What greeted MrsG when she entered the room was a procession of willies cut & paste from a number of different internet sources.

    I have since nailed their PC down too.

    jarvo
    Free Member

    My partner got her daughter (7) an Android tablet for Christmas. This is fine by me, as I now get my tablet back from her sticky paws!!

    My suggestions would be:

    1) Setup/configure something such as OpenDNS for their parental controls: http://www.opendns.com/home-solutions/parental-controls

    This will stop them being able to get to certain content.

    2) Depending on their age, install Kidmode : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zoodles.kidmode

    This works rather well, as you can configure different portals for each child in the family, and it only shows them apps which you approve.

    3) Install App Lock : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.domobile.applock

    This is great as it allows you to lock out certain applications and require a pin-code. For instance I use it on my own handset, so if I hand my phone to a mate to use the internet, they can’t launch Facebook and update my status with something amusing!

    miketually
    Free Member

    the kids place app locks everything that you don’t select

    It will until they figure out how to bypass it 🙂

    freddyg
    Free Member

    Having looked at a couple of the recommendations, Funamo seems to be the best so far.

    Cougar
    Full Member

    It will until they figure out how to bypass it

    Wow. That’s a quality article, thanks for the link.

Viewing 34 posts - 1 through 34 (of 34 total)

The topic ‘Android tablets and kids’ is closed to new replies.