Overview
Family Protector is an internet accountability and filtering application from Intego, one of the biggest names in internet safety and monitoring. It is designed for iOS devices to help parents control and monitor their children’s device and internet usage. It has several innovative features that make it appealing to a wide range of families, and is worth checking out if you’re looking for internet filtering products to protect your family from harmful content or internet usage.
Pros
Family Protector has a broad range of features included in its software. Families will be able to shut off internet or phone accessibility during certain times of the day, so you can enjoy a nice family meal without having to worry about devices and phones distracting from the table. Moreover, you can also use the app to enforce punishments. Users can give their children a “time-out”, where the children will not be able to use their device for fun or browse on the internet.
What sets Family Protector apart is the fact you can access all of its features from an app on your phone. That means no complicated logins or websites to use when you need to change something. You can also give permission to make purchases and engage in more internet use from home or the office. This also means that Family Protector blocks in-app purchases unless you decide to allow them. That can help you save money on your phone bill and prevent the accumulation of hundreds of dollars in micro-transactions.
Family Protector also allows you to schedule times when the internet and device shouldn’t be available. As a result, you can be sure your children are getting the sleep they need instead of staying awake at night playing with their devices.
Cons
One drawback of the way that Family Protector is set up is that your children can change their permissions if they get access to your phone. The same system that makes it easy and convenient for you to change settings also means that your children will be able to figure out how to give themselves more permissions than you think they should have.
Additionally, if your child turns off Wi-Fi or puts the device into Flight Mode, then the program will use cellular data to communicate. This can really increase your data bills and can result in the app costing even more than you think it will.
Finally, Family Protector uses a monthly pricing service. The fee is $5 per month, which seems reasonable, but there are plenty of internet monitoring applications which offer a yearly subscription for much less than the $60 that Family Protector will cost.
Verdict
Family Protector is a solid choice for most families. It has more features than many of the other internet filtering and monitoring applications, and it can do things that you can’t do using the built-in internet controls on most phones and devices.