This is How You Can Kid-Proof Your Android Phone

Our internet-connected devices, especially our Android phones, just like the family PC, allow access to all sorts of harmful and inappropriate content that you do not want your kids to ever see. You can hack Android phone of your kid to monitor their online activity but how are you going to stop them from exploiting yours?

While you might not mind letting your kids play with your Android phone now and then, you certainly wouldn’t want them opening existing apps, installing inappropriate and potentially damaging ones, and unintentionally deleting or tweaking important data.

To your luck, Android devices come with several safety features for making your device safe for your kids such as the ability to lock your device, enable parental controls on Chrome browser and Play Store app, and create and set some restrictions on secondary as well as guest user accounts.

Last but not least, you can also install third-party parental control or kids’ safety apps to protect them from online dangers. We would recommend using Android’s built-in safety features as well as installing a third-party monitoring productivity tracking software or parental control app to make your Android phone safe for your kids.

Let us discuss a few methods you can follow to make your Android phone safe for your kids.

Lock Access to Your Android Phone

One of the first things you can do to make your Android phone kid-proof is that you can select and set up one of the several screen lock options offered by Android. Depending on the device you are using, Android offers standard password or PIN screen lock options and some biometric features as well such as face recognition, fingerprint reading, and iris recognition.

Many Android devices such as Note 9 allow you to use a combination of both standard and biometric screen locks. You can access the screen lock options by heading to your phone’s Settings. It is up to you to decide what type and levels of security you need. Your kids are not likely to defeat a facial, fingerprint, or iris scan if you are using an Android phone that supports biometric features.

However, they may be able to get around standard password or PIN screen lock options by guessing the digits of the password.

Create Multiple Users on Your Android

If your Android phone allows you to create multiple user profiles, then you can use this method to restrict your kid from what he can do and what he can’t on your phone. If more than one kid is using your phone, you can create and define a profile for each one of them.

All you need to do is go the Settings of your phone, scroll down and tap Users, choose “Add user or profile”. In the next window, tap Restricted Profile. Now, a screen will be displayed on your phone allowing you to switch access on or off to almost everything on the device including Chrome and the Google browser app. By default, most of the options are already turned off.

It’s better to browse the list and turn on the apps and content you want your kids to access. You can also restrict each user from sending texts and emails or making phone calls. Remember that for each new app you install or content you downloaded for kids on your phone, you will need to come back to the Settings and allow or deny access.

Enable Parental Controls in Google Play

To make your Android device safe from your kid, even if he/she is an older one, you can enable the built-in parental controls in Google Play Store. By enabling these, you can restrict the types of apps, music, books, and movies that you want to download on your phone.

To set up parental controls in Google Play store, first, you need to open the app on your phone, tap the menu icon (three horizontal lines) in the upper-left corner of the app, tap Settings, scroll down and then tap Parental controls. You will find them turned off by default. To turn them on, you need to toggle on the switch.

Once you do that, the ensuing dialogue box will ask you to create a content PIN which you can use to change settings for parental controls. Type the Pin, tap OK, type the PIN again to confirm, and then tap OK again.

In the Parental controls section, you will find “Set content restrictions” that will give you several options ranging from “Everyone” (most restrictive) to “Allow all, including unrated” (least restrictive). You can disable or change parental controls as required but only after you enter the four-digit PIN, so make sure you do not forget it.

Moreover, keep in mind that these settings do not apply to apps and content downloaded on your phone before enabling parental controls.

Third-party Kid-Safe Apps

Last but not least, you can also download and install a third-party kid-safe parental control app or best spy app for Android to monitor what your kid does on your or their device. Google Family Link and several other apps can be used to control how you want your kid to use the device and what content they can access.

With the help of these apps, you can block inappropriate sites and apps as well as set time limits for them on your Android device.

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *