AVG Family Safety® App

Last year, we wrote a Parent’s Guide to Keeping Children Cyber-Safe, where we highlighted the fact that the Internet is awash with software designed to filter and track computer usage. We are moving into a mobile age, and that means that it’s even easier for your children to fall victim to viruses, scams and offensive material. If you let your child use your iOS device (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch), or if they have their own, it’s important that they’re protected.

We recommend using the AVG Family Safety® app. It’s easy to use, child-friendly and gives you control over what your child sees.

Clicking the app brings up the home page – Google SafeSearch. This filters what you Google to ensure that only safe results are displayed.

 

The app automatically blocks websites that it deems offensive or inappropriate, so you don’t have to worry about manually listing each site.

There are some websites that the app doesn’t block that you may not want your child to see. You can visit the website, click on the middle icon at the bottom of the screen (the box with an arrow coming out of it) and click ‘Block this site’, or you can click ‘Manage block list’, allowing you to manually add your own websites (it will ask you for your Apple ID password first).

 

Now your child is free to browse safe websites! If they try to access a website that you’ve blocked manually, they’ll see this message:

 

One of the downsides to the app is that it easily allows you to clear your browser history, so if your child has managed to find an unblocked, inappropriate website, they could erase the evidence if they’re phone-savvy. Still, the app is free and effective, so be sure to download it and keep your kids safe!