FamilyTime App – Can It Protect Kids Against Cyber Threats? Karan Jain January 9, 2023 Parenting, Technology 330 The severity of digital threats and the naivety of kids demand that parents step up their parenting game. The internet and social media apps are the new playgrounds of Generation-Z kids, and the only way to catch up to modern-day kids is by adopting the tech-savvy parenting style. That is possible if parents use parental control apps that offer the best internet filters, like FamilyTime. What Is the FamilyTime App? FamilyTime is renowned as one of the top-tier parental control apps as per its numerous satisfied customers. Headquartered in (Tokyo) Japan, the app was launched in 2014. However, it garnered a lot of publicity in 2015 when a father saved his daughter from a sexual predator by using FamilyTime parental control. Many top-ranking media outlets, such as CBS News, the Washington Post, and HuffPost, covered FamilyTime’s effectiveness. Eventually, it became the symbol of digital parenting for offering several impressive features. An Overview Before we jump into details of what this app is all about and what it can do for parents, let’s take a quick look into what you can expect from this app. Here are some of the key features that make it an appealing choice for countless parents. It allows parents to monitor activities of kids and teens alike. Parents can use its YouTube and TikTok Monitoring features to keep an eye on their kids’ social media use. It offers one of the best internet filters that protect your kids from exposure to inappropriate content. From location tracking to teen safe drive, parents get access to everything they need. Get the tools needed to prevent screen and gaming addiction. Protect teens on the road with its Teen Safe Drive feature. Parents can use FamilyTime on Android and iPhone devices. Offers budget-friendly affordable payment plans. Detailed Review of the FamilyTime App Nobody can deny the steep differences between parenting problems of the present and the ones that existed in the past. A few decades ago, parents did not have to fight threats like cyberbullying, sexting, screen or gaming addiction, online grooming, etc. All of these issues are the consequences of digital and technological advancement. Modern-day parents cannot fight these threats on their own. They need the help of parental control apps such as FamilyTime to ensure their kids don’t get exposed to digital dangers. Let’s see how this app can help parents overcome this daunting challenge. Key Features The FamilyTime app has everything a modern-day parent may need to fight digital problems. It offers some of the best features, from internet filters to screen limiting to geofence and more. Let’s take a closer look to see how parents can utilize its features to get the most out of this app. 1. Restrict Access to Inappropriate Content Screens and the internet have become the basic necessity of life. We need them to study, complete school assignments, pay the bills, get entertainment, carry out our jobs, etc. The list goes on! The problem is that the internet hosts unlimited amount of data and not all of it is child-friendly. Parents have to be tech-savvy enough to prevent kids from getting exposed to inappropriate content. FamilyTime offers an easy and effective solution to this problem. Parents can use its Internet Filter to restrict kids’ access to adult/explicit/violent content and websites. You can use its keyword block list to prevent kids from viewing content on various subjects, such as violence, weapons, suicidal ideation, drugs, gambling, addictive substances, pornography, etc. Parents can also use its Safe Search feature to remove images, videos, and written text related to the aforementioned subjects from showing up in the search results. 2. Fight Screen Addiction Screen and gaming addiction are two of the most predominant threats to modern society. The number of people (kids and adults alike) addicted to screens and e-gaming continues to rise. More parents are struggling to minimize their kids’ screen dependence every day. The plethora of apps, games, and entertainment content makes this task even more difficult. Though it is seemingly impossible to prevent screen addiction, it is achievable. FamilyTime’s Screen Time Limit feature allows parents to reduce kids’ screen time effortlessly. You can specify the time kids can spend using screens in a day and set the limit hassle-free. You can also set time limits for individual apps so that kids don’t spend hours playing games or watching videos on YouTube. 3. Instill Productivity Teaching kids to be productive at a young age allows them to become better and more accomplished adults. You can help them by creating a task list of manageable or bite-sized chores. It helps kids complete assigned tasks and feel a sense of accomplishment. Most parents face an enormous hurdle while teaching productivity skills, i.e., kids’ ability to get distracted. Its Screen Time Schedule feature allows parents to remove or minimize distractions and create a daily schedule, all at the same time. You can schedule school hours, homework time, meal times, family events, bedtime, etc., to create a productive routine. Parents can disable kids’ devices during those hours to help kids focus on the task with undivided attention. 4. Teach Better Time Management Productivity and time management are like two pieces of the same puzzle. One doesn’t take place without the other. Learning to manage time requires discipline and determination. Parents can help kids with the allocation of time for different tasks and motivate them to spend less time with screens by using FamilyTime’s Time Bank feature. Kids would love the idea of depositing their unused time in the Time Bank, which parents can use later to reward kids with extra screen time as a bonus. 5. Encourage Responsible Use of social media Excessive use of social media apps is one of the most predominant factors that generate screen addiction in kids and teens. Apps like YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, etc., offer engaging short video content with captivating fun filters. The problem is that over-exposure to these apps leads to addiction and kids get so dependent on such apps that they cannot spend a day without using them. Teaching responsible use of social media apps is in the vested interest of (both) parents and kids. Not only does it concern kids’ screen addiction but also their digital safety. Oversharing personal info on social media also invites a lot of threats, such as cyberbullying. FamilyTime’s YouTube & TikTok Monitoring features allow parents to monitor kids’ social media usage. You can see what content kids watch on these platforms and limit their exposure to inappropriate things. 6. Track Kids’ Digital Footprints FamilyTime offers features like Location Tracking and Geofence for parents who want to keep their kids safe from external threats and track their whereabouts. Parents can track kids’ location in real-time and view their past location history. Moreover, you get to create a digital fence around kids and get notified when they enter or leave specific locations, such as schools, malls, cinemas, friends’ houses, playgrounds, etc. 7. Protect Against Cyber Threats Kids are born curious. They explore their surroundings and that includes the virtual world. Though they are better at using technology compared to the millennials, but they aren’t experienced in dealing with people unlike their parents. They may overshare personal details or get conned. Protecting kids against numerous cyber threats is daunting especially when teens rave about their privacy and kids demand to be treated like adults. Parents who despise turning into helicopter parents can try using FamilyTime’s Call & Text Monitoring feature. It allows parents to respect kids’ privacy and protect them from digital threats simultaneously. Parents can find out if kids are sexting, getting bullied, or suffering from depression, anxiety, or suicidal ideation, etc. They can help their kids before anything terrible happens. 8. Provide Real-World Protection From abductions to bullying to sexual predators, every day we hear about horrible things happening to kids in the news. No parent wishes to live this nightmare or have their kids go through such gut-wrenching experiences. The best way to keep kids safe is by providing them with training and tools that can help protect them in such situations. Apart from raising awareness and physical training, parents can train kids to use FamilyTime’s SOS/Panic button. It sends immediate notifications to parents’ devices with kids’ location when pressed in emergencies. 9. Block Unsafe Apps Gaming arcades of the modern world are completely different from the ones in the past. The gaming world has undergone a complete make over with the advent of the internet. Same is true for social media platforms. These things may seem new to millennial parents but kids of the digital age are very familiar with them. The problem lies in the fact that there is no shortage of inappropriate games and social media apps out there. That is alarming and requires parental oversight. FamilyTime’s App Blocker makes it easier for parents to approve/disapprove apps and oversee what kids are doing on their devices. Whenever kids download an app on their devices, it gets blocked by default and parents receive a notification. They can approve the app or block it at their discretion as they deem fit. App Blocker allows parents to prevent kids from using violent or unsuitable applications, e.g., teen dating apps. 10. Never Forget to Pick Up Kids FamilyTime’s Pick Me Up button is a state-of-the-art parental feature that helps parents pick up their kids on time. All parents need to do is enter the time and place regarding the pick-up and that is it. The app will send reminder notifications to let you know from where and at what time you have to pick up your kids. 11. Introduce Road Safety to Teens Road safety is not exactly among teens’ priorities when they want to learn how to drive. It is more about getting independent and becoming an adult. In their ambition, many teens forget that adulthood entails a lot of responsibilities and that includes road safety. Getting behind the wheel is easy but knowing that you hold many lives in your hand may be nerve-wrecking. FamilyTime’s Teen Safe Drive can help parents keep their teens safe on the road. They can use this feature to assign a driving speed limit for their teens. It tracks and monitors their driving speed in real time and alerts parents if teens exceed their assigned speeds. Not going over an assigned speed may help teens heed the gravity of the situation and keep their wits about while driving. FamilyTime offers an impressive list of features and services. It caters to the safety of children of all age groups, i.e., kids and teens, which is why it is an appealing choice for countless parents. Are you curious to know how to use it? Let’s explore it together. How to Use the FamilyTime app? The FamilyTime app is available for download from Google Play and App Store. It has two separate versions, one for parental hub and the other for child’s device. Parents must download their respective versions on both devices, and install the software. The installation guides are available on the website for Android and iPhone devices for your convenience. Detailed instructions are provided to guide you every step of the way for a seamless installation. Afterwards, all parents need to do is enter their credentials, log in to the account, and set up their desired features. You can begin monitoring your kids’ digital activities and safeguard them from cyber threats once both devices are linked and set up. Payment Plans Parents get to test FamilyTime for free since it offers a three-day free trial with a few selected services. Once you create an account and enter your credit card details, you can begin testing its features. On the other hand, it has four premium payment plans inclusive of access to all features. These payment packages are based on the number of child devices parents need to monitor. The detailed payment breakdown is as follows. 1. The MyFamily Plan It costs $2.25 per month and parents can use it to monitor one child device. Once the trial period is over, users pay $27 per annum. 2. The MyFamily 2 Plan It costs $2.92 per month and parents can monitor two child devices using this plan. After the trial period, parents must pay $35 annually to benefit from its features. 3. The MyFamily 3 Plan This package is designed for monitoring three child devices and it costs $3.75 per month. Parents need to pay $45 per year after the trial period to keep using its features. 4. The MyFamily 5 Plan It caters to five child devices at a time and costs $5.75 per month. Users are required to pay $69 annually after the trial period. Compatible Devices FamilyTime is compatible with Android and iOS devices, both of which are predominantly used worldwide. It works seamlessly across both systems so parents can monitor kids’ activities hassle-free and efficiently. FamilyTime – Is It the Right Choice? Apart from the impressive list of features and one of the best internet filters, FamilyTime offers plenty of other security services, such as Internet Schedule, Fun Time, Family Pause, Web History, etc. The app has received countless positive reviews from satisfied parents and customers, which depicts its effectiveness. Its affordable packages and 24/7 customer support are also strong features that make it a more appealing choice for parents and guardians. All apps and platforms face bugs and crashes, but FamilyTime’s record shows it updates its features and fixes bugs regularly. It is the perfect choice of parental app for parents who want a user-friendly and low-budget app with the coolest features. SHARE THIS POST