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It’s tough being a parent in the digital age, but you can make your life a little easier by using the right app to keep your child safe online. Qustodio can help, with its intuitive and flexible parental control tools. Founded in the beautiful city of Barcelona in 2012, it has since grown to be one of the most popular parental control software providers on the market – supporting over four million users worldwide. This popularity is due to Qustodio’s unique features, such as advanced social media monitoring, calls and SMS tracking, and smartphone apps with location tracking. In addition to the limited free version that you can use forever, there’s a 3-day free trial for you to try out the premium features. Plus, all subscriptions come with a 30-day money-back guarantee.
When you sign up for Qustodio, you’ll be asked to create a profile for your child, assign them to a device, and then set specific filters. There’s the option to add daily time limits to each device and once that time expires, Qustodio will lock the device or block internet access. It’s also possible to schedule times each day that you will allow device access. Although you can only select hourly slots and you have to manually highlight them in red, it guarantees screen-free time for your kids.
The platform has an extensive website category list that lets users choose between having categories blocked, monitored, or allowed. All the usual ones are there, like profanity, violence, and adult websites, but the loopholes category is a great way to prevent your child from trying to find a clever way around these restrictions. It’s also possible to add specific websites that might be unfairly blocked by the category rules.
The dashboard allows parents to see what websites their children visit, get call and messages alerts, and check time spent on each activity. Qustodio emails real-time alerts for any suspicious behavior, not to mention that it’s possible to know how trustworthy and child-friendly each site is by using the timeline. Another handy feature is the ability to keep Qustodio hidden on desktop devices so children can’t tamper with the settings or think about downloading a VPN to bypass the web filters that you set.
In addition to tracking internet activity, all social media networks and apps are covered by Qustodio, such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, TikTok, SnapChat, and more. Once a child starts using an app, it automatically appears on both the dashboard and timeline. Although communications between users on these apps are not revealed by the company, it indicates when and for how long the app was used. If necessary, parents can also block or set a time limit for certain apps.
The premium version of Qustodio lets parents read the messages that their child sends and receives. It’s also possible to see all incoming and outgoing calls, meaning it’s easy to detect and block suspicious contacts. This is a handy feature that really helps to ensure child safety in the digital age. Setting up call and SMS monitoring on Android devices is as easy as pie – you only need to download a separate app from Qustodio’s website onto your child’s phone. Meanwhile, iOS owners need a Mac computer in order to set up device monitoring.
Qustodio provides a wide variety of device support. It works on Windows, macOS, Chromebook, and is one of the few parental control platforms to offer an Amazon Kindle Fire app. While users can only set up their kids’ profiles through the website, the Android and iOS apps excel at giving parents peace of mind. Qustodio Kids is the dedicated smartphone app for children, while Qustodio Parental Control is for the parents. What’s great about using the mobile apps is that you can track the location of your child using the premium feature Family Locator. There is a map that displays time-stamped locations and you can get directions to the addresses by clicking on the arrow symbol on the map. It’s also possible to save the places that are frequently visited by your children. If you add their school, for example, you can get notified when they arrive and leave.
It’s possible to use Qustodio for free. However, this option is quite limited, only allowing you to monitor one device. Meanwhile, the company offers three premium plans built for families of any size: small, medium, and large. The small plan is the cheapest option and already protects up to five devices. But the sweetest thing about it is that you can get it for just $3.99 per month as there’s a special offer for a two-year subscription on all plans. If you feel this is a big commitment, you can also go for the annual subscription.
While the large plan allows users to monitor up to 15 devices, it has the same features as the other subscriptions. If you have a big family or your kids use a lot of devices, then it’s definitely worth choosing the most expensive plan.
All plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee, meaning you can try out the premium version risk-free for a whole month and ask for a refund if you’re not satisfied with the service. But it’s also possible to create a free account and take advantage of the limited 3-day free trial to see how the platform works. Qustodio accepts all major credit cards, PayPal, and it’s also possible to pay through the App Store or Google Play.
Qustodio provides email support to paying users. You just need to log in to your account to fill in the request form on the website. There is a possibility to add a service called Care Plus to all premium plans, which gives you access to exclusive features such as phone support, regular check-ins, and personalized help in English and Spanish. Small plan users need to pay an extra $12.99 for Care Plus, but it comes free of charge when you choose the Medium and Large subscriptions. Otherwise, you can check out Qustodio’s extensive help section for anything related to billing, subscriptions, and technical issues. But if you need urgent assistance, it’s worth trying to get in touch via the company’s social pages on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or LinkedIn.
Qustodio has extensive monitoring and blocking options available for parents to ensure their children remain safe online. It’s possible to set daily time limits, schedule device access, filter content by website category, and check digital activity. The premium features like call and SMS monitoring, as well as the family locator on Android and iOS apps, offer an added peace of mind. It’s useful to use the 3-day free trial to test the app, but the best thing about the affordable paid plans is that they all come with a 30-day money-back guarantee. So, if the paid version does not meet your expectations, you can always ask for a refund. The company provides a thorough help page with answers to questions related to setup and payments, not to mention that you can also ask for help via its social pages. Qustodio is definitely worth a shot if you want to supervise your kids’ online activities and achieve a well-balanced screen time routine.
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