Family Tech Blog

Category: Tips

Entertainment Software Rating Board will Warn Parents of In Game Purchases in Video Games

Hopefully, most parents are aware that video games have a rating system very similar to movies. Rating range from “E” to “T for Teen” to “Mature” and contain extra information to help you know why it received the rating it got. As mobile gaming continues to influence more of the video game marketplace, in-app or in-game purchases are becoming the norm. This has inspired the ESRB to add new warnings into their rating systems in an effort to make parents aware when there are pay-to-play items in the latest video games.

“The video game industry is evolving and innovating continually, as is the ESRB rating system. ESRB’s goal is to ensure that parents have the most up-to-date and comprehensive tools at their disposal to help them decide which games are appropriate for their children,” said ESRB president Patricia Vance. “With the new In-Game Purchases interactive element coming to physical games, parents will know when a game contains offers for players to purchase additional content. Moreover, we will be expanding our efforts to educate parents about the controls currently at their disposal to manage in-game spending before their kids press ‘Start’.”

Most games now offer things you can purchase to make your gaming experience better or at least easier. Things like storage upgrades, suits of armor, character “skins,” and weapons can all be purchased and used in-game. These items, while not always necessary to complete a game, are very tempting as they let you customize or even accelerate your experience. Notification of in-game purchases is great, but what’s even better is the new ESRB Parent Tools page.

The Parent Tools page has news updates, rating explanations, and best of all, step by step instructions for setting up parental controls on any current (and some older) gaming systems. There’s also a link to their resource center which contains a wealth of video game rating information that can help you make quality decisions for your children’s gaming adventures.

What Parents Should Know

If your kids play video games, this is great news for you. Countless parents have had purchases charged to their accounts without realizing it because of their kids buying items in-game. It isn’t known when these warnings will begin to show up on gaming packages but you should be on the lookout for it. Talk to your kids about what they should do if they want to purchase something in a game they’re playing. If it’s against your rules, then they should know that and stay away from the in-game store. What are the consequences of spending money you didn’t approve of? All of these things should be discussed and the game shouldn’t be bought until they are clear on your expectations.

The ESRB is offering some great resources on their site. Parents should take advantage of these resources, learn how to set up parental controls, peruse the resource center, and look up your kids’ favorite games to see what their ratings are and why. This is a great way to ensure your kids aren’t seeing content you wouldn’t approve of. Many video games have content as mature or even more mature than some rated R movies. Don’t be caught off guard. With resources like this at your disposal, you don’t have an excuse.

March 5, 2018
Google Has Proof they’re Finally Taking App Store Security Seriously

The Google Play app store has been known to be a bit of the wild wild west. There were copycat apps, apps with adult content, and apps with malware or spyware. Google now has some proof that they’ve been hard at work putting an end to all of the nonsense. In a recent report, Google said they removed more than 700,000 malicious apps last year. That’s 70% more than they removed in 2016. They say that most of the removed apps were copycats and many contained pornography or extreme violence, both of which are against the Play store policies. Most importantly of all, of the apps that were removed, 90% were rejected before they even made it to the store. This means they were never able to deceive users.

This is very good news for Android users. It means that Google’s algorithms, AI, and “machine learning, techniques are working well and keeping apps that could put your security at risk from ever being installed on your phone. The openness of Google’s play store was always a major reason I wouldn’t own an Android phone. This update, as I said, is proof of how serious Google is taking security. There is still, however, a major risk associated with the use of an Android phone. It is a popular reason some folks prefer Android even though it is against their recommended usage policies. No matter how secure the Google Play store becomes, you aren’t protected if you are downloading apps and other files from other sites and apps. “Sideloading” apps is not recommended by Google and can put your security at risk.

What Parents Should Know

I spoke with a mom of a young teenager a few months ago about some strange stats on her monitoring software on his Android phone. It turns out, while she had turned off app downloads to keep him from installing adult apps or time wasters, he had been finding other ways to install apps on his phone. The Google Play Store removing unsecured and malicious apps can keep your kids safe from some of the dangers out there but if they are installing apps in other ways, you’ve lost all confidence that they’re protected. You should have some sort of monitoring software installed. Use something like unGlue, Accountable2You, or Circle to monitor what your kids are doing on their phones and keep an eye out for apps that don’t seem legit.

A good way to know if they are sideloading apps is by looking for the term “APK Installer” in their recent activity. If you have the phone set to ask for permission or to disallow app installation and you see the “APK Installer” running, they may be sideloading. My advice is to keep an eye out for this and if you see it, ask them about what apps they are using. Maybe even have a look at what is installed on their phone. If you don’t recognize the app, do some research and uninstall it if you don’t approve. Most importantly, talk to your child about the importance of only downloading approved apps from the Google Play store. Let them know is as much about internet privacy and security as it is keeping them away from inappropriate content. Google is doing their part by monitoring and managing their app store, you can do yours as a parent by keeping an eye on what your kids are using on their Android device.

January 31, 2018
Google Has Taken Away Chromebook’s Native Parental Control Solution

What is “Supervised User?”

I wrote all about your parental control choices for your kids’ Chromebooks a few months ago:

“Supervised User is an account based system that’s built into the Chrome browser. It allows you to set filters, monitor sites visited, prevent installation of apps, turn on safesearch, and change settings. You do have to use blacklists or whitelists to block websites, there is not an automatic filter built in…”

This wasn’t a foolproof solution but it was something that could give parents a head start on protecting their kids while they use the computers their schools have given them. Supervised User, however, has been discontinued so that they can focus their attention on another “parental control option to be released later this year.” Having received several calls from parents and principles this past year asking me to help them teach parents about the controls available, I know the need for Chromebooks to be safe while kids are online. Unfortunately, the simplest, most obvious solution is no longer available. At least for a while.

From “Google Chrome Help”

But There Are Solutions!

Mobicip

For a full-featured filter option, consider Mobicip. One of the only full-service filter and monitoring apps for Chromebook, Mobicip offers a plugin that you can download from the Chrome app store. Mobicip will give you customizable filters, time limit controls, and usage reports and its pretty easy to set up. You just download the extension from the Chrome app store and then log in. It takes you through the setup steps and lets you set your desired filter levels. Once it’s all set up you can make changes from anywhere using their web-based controls dashboard. Their SUPPORT page has good How-To resources to walk you through the process.

If you want more controls than the Supervised User option gives you then Mobicip is a pretty good choice. It’s $39.99 per year for all of the features mentioned above for up to five devices. If you are going to need to protect more than twenty devices (I’ve met families with upwards of 30) then you’ll have to get a quote for their “Enterprise” option. Mobicip is a good option and will give you quite a bit of control.

Accountable2You

This accountability software doesn’t block content. This software will keep an eye on what’s being viewed and then red flag and report anything that it deems inappropriate. This allows you to more easily see when something questionable has been viewed. Otherwise, you’ll spend time sifting through link after unrecognizable link to find something that may be naughty. You can even set up Accountable2You to send you a text message when an inappropriate site was accessed. The software works across all of your devices including Chromebook and is $6.99 per month for six devices and $9.99 per month for twenty devices. They have easy setup instructions on their SUPPORT page and have excellent customer service. (NOTE: Accountable2You just released their lates iOS app that will cover every browser used on an iPhone or iPad. One of the first accountability solutions of it’s kind.)

Use SOMETHING!

I advise against waiting for Google to release a different option. Please set something up and do it soon. Kids are using their computers for much more than school work and there is more content showing up every day that would prey on your children’s innocence and even their safety. A Chromebook is basically a machine built only to run the internet. It has little to no other use. Pretending that it’s safe just because the school issued it is foolish. Use one of the affiliate links above and set up a solution. I wouldn’t recommend something I don’t or wouldn’t use myself.

January 19, 2018
BecauseFamily Offering a Family Tech Masterclass

Our kids and teens are spending more and more time online. Research continually tells us that the more time our kids spend playing video games, texting, and posting on social media the more dangerous their habits become. As parents, we have three options when it comes to protecting our kids. Option one is to throw up our hands and say that it’s all too much for us to understand, we can just let our kids do as they will and hope for the best. Second, we play the hermit, keeping our children away from anything with a screen until they are old enough to be held responsible for their own mistakes. I am proposing the third option. My suggestion is that we learn everything we can about the digital culture our kids are growing up in. We can and should know what each social media service is mostly used for and what games are recommended for kids’ our ages. We should be able to set up our accounts online and protect them with passwords that aren’t on the “Worst passwords of 2017” list. As parents, we won’t be fooled into thinking we can trust everyone else to protect our kids from danger, why would we assume that about digital society? This is why BecauseFamily has launched Raising Digital Natives.

What is Raising Digital Natives?

Raising Digital Natives is a “masterclass” of family internet safety. The point is to give parents more than just inspiration and basic social media and tech news but to continually educate them on what they can do to protect their kids online. This exclusive content will include past seasons of our podcasts, tutorial videos, live workshop events, live Q&A sessions, and one on one parental control support opportunities. The tools included in Raising Digital Natives will give parents a major advantage to raising kids in this digital culture we’re living in. The live workshops will feature topics such as, “What is a digital native?” “Sexualization and the internet,”Legal ramifications of sexting,” and “Keeping them safe when they’re away.” Workshops will be done online and archived in the member’s section of the website so geography and schedule won’t hinder parents’ ability to learn. Membership costs $4.99 per month and gives 12 months worth of access to anyone who users share their password with.

What are you waiting for?

Content is already available and live meetings begin at the end of January (2018.) Go to BecauseFamily.org/rdn to learn more and to sign up. BecauseFamily is the non-profit that is responsible for all the content of FamilyTechBlog.com.

January 4, 2018
Tools to Monitor Your Own Screen Time in 2018

Happy New Year!

The first of the year has come and we are all trying to make ourselves a little better. Maybe you’re concerned about you and your family’s increased screen time. This is normal, we’re all thinking about what we can change in the new year and spending less time looking at a screen is on the top of many lists. These tools can go a long way to help you identify the amount of time you spend on your device, narrow down what you’re doing that sucks up so much of your time, and even set boundaries to alert you or block access when you’ve reached your desired limits.

Accountable2You

No matter what device you use, Accountable2You can help you keep track of what you’ve been doing online. The online dashboard will give you an App Usage report, complete with a circle graph of how you spend your time online. Whether you use this to keep track of your kids’ devices or your own screen time, it’s an easy to read way to be aware of how you’re spending your days.

Accountable2You is an accountability software at heart. It will notify you if there anything inappropriate has been accessed by those you’re keeping an eye on. It’s easy to set up, affordable (6.99 for 10 devices and 9.99 for 20,) and it works for every device. Even the Chromebook your kid got from school. It’s what I use and the best part is that if you sign up with our link, our non-profit will get a bit of help every month because of your payment.

Android Family Link

Android’s first stab at native parental controls focuses mainly on time management. That is, in fact, almost all it focuses on. Google FamilyLink is designed to allow parents to set time restrictions, time limits, and bedtimes as well as monitor the amount of time spent using the device. This will be accomplished by a complete disabling of the device once time limits or restricted times are reached. A tool like this could easily be used to limit or monitor yourself as well. If you, like me, spend most of your time in front of your computer for work, you may want to be able to set limits on how much time you spend on your phone or tablet for recreation purposes. FamilyLink should be a pretty good way, if you have an Android device, to cause your entire device to shut down when your limit is reached, or even just take a look every few days to see how much time you’ve spent on those devices.

iPhone Battery Meter

For iOS users, Apple has built in a way to keep an eye on what you’re spending your time on while using your device. Your battery meter can be used to monitor your own screen time. It will even sort your time by app used and separate it into “on screen” and “background” time. To use this, simply go to your settings app and open the Battery section. When the usage area loads, tap on the clock icon on the upper right of that section. You can set your timeframe to be 24 hours or 7 days. This gives a pretty good snapshot of how you spend your time on your iOS device. Try it, you may be surprised.

Moment App (iOS only)

The Moment App uses your battery meter to build a nicely laid out report for you to keep track of the time you spend on your phone. Moment is only available for iOS (Android app is in development.) It automatically tracks your usage and allows you to see simple reports that separate your usage by the apps you spend time on. Moment lets you coach yourself on your screen time habits so that you can make changes if you want. You can set up time limits and Moment will notify you if you’ve gone over the time you’ve allowed.

This app works pretty well. I used it for about a month and definitely made some changes to the amount of time I spend on my phone. Since it’s free you can even consider using Moment to install on other devices in your family and setting up limits for them. It will be up to them to put the phone or tablet down when they are notified but there’s something to be said for teaching your older kids to take the responsibility into their own hands. Moment is a free app but there are premium features (including extra family controls) that you can pay for.

UnGlue

UnGlue was created to give the power of screen times to the kids themselves. The website touts a plan to “give kids the power to learn healthier habits – within your boundaries.” UnGlue uses a scheduler to set up your kids’ screen time allowance. You can give them control of how they spend their time by giving the rewards for things like chores and exercise. Unglue works from just an app, no separate device to hook up. The basic UnGlue package gives you access to screen usage reports only. You can use this free feature to keep an eye on the time you spend online. Further features will cost up to $9 per month. UnGlue is fairly new and has been updated quite a bit recently. It will work on iOS or Android and even on your home devices. (With the full-featured service.) Go check out UnGlue and tell them FamilyTechBlog.com sent you.

Circle

I’ve spent a lot of time talking and writing about Circle. I recommend this parental control tool to everyone I speak to and I even use it myself. Circle lets you filter by age and category and limit screen time for your kids but it’s been cool for us to have a profile for ourselves. This profile lets us see, in one glance, how much time we’ve spent on every single one of our devices. When you’ve built your profile, you just add the devices you use to be monitored under your account, this results in a very useful and detailed report on how much time you’ve spent in front of your screens. It even monitors your smart tv, BlueRay, and gaming system usage. Circle is a $99 investment for in-home wifi protection, (with the option to pay $10 monthly for on the go monitoring) but in my experience, it’s an all-in-one parental control system. You can buy circle at Amazon or at Best Buy and Bed Bath and Beyond.

Whatever you do, start.

New Year’s Resolutions are notoriously easy to forget about but my advice is that you just get started. When you begin my tracking how much time you spend on your screens, you’ll find yourself truly motivated to make a change. It worked for me. Using Moment and my battery life meter led to my decision to not start using my phone until I’ve had breakfast with my family. We’ve even started doing some Social Media Free Saturday’s a couple of times per month. Whatever your goals are, you’ll never accomplish it if you never begin so grab hold of one of these tools and get started!

January 1, 2018
Snapchat’s New Filters Can Recognize Items in your Photos

Snapchat’s new camera filters can now identify items in your photo and recommend AR graphics, borders, or stickers for you to add. The action is automatic and will insert recommendations into the filter carousel. To my knowledge you cannot turn off this feature, it is now a stock part of the Snapchat camera. The camera can recognize pets, sports equipment or events, food, and even specific locations.

These are powerful tools for Snapchat users, especially paired with their geofilters which is strictly based on your location data. Besides just making your recommended filters more relevant, these new filters will make it easier for advertisers to target their ads more specifically. Turning off your location information won’t be enough anymore, your camera can now give advertisers clues (automatically based on software and algorithms) as to where you spend your time. This is big news for advertisers and even bigger news for tech safety and security specialists.

What Parents Should Know

My advice is to always turn off the location data on your kid and young teen’s phone. I recommend only sharing location information when you’ve left somewhere, never while you’re there. There are many reasons for that advice, including not alerting people that you aren’t home and not making it easier for predators to figure out where you spend your time. If your camera is using the things in your photos to tag your location then you have lost control over your location data. That, to me, is a problem. Snapchat has been on my uninstall list for a while and this news just strengthens my case against it. Snapchat’s goal is to service financially and they are now making decisions to make their product the best advertising tool available to brands all over the world. This means forsaking the privacy and security of their users and most of their users are your teens. Uninstall Snapchat now. There…I said it.

November 27, 2017
5 Ways to Stay Internet Safe on Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is a time of fun, family, food, and football. Everyone coming together can be super fun for the entire family. There can also be some struggles here and there, especially when it comes to what turns up on the screens in the house. Your younger kids could end up seeing too much social media on their teenage cousin’s smartphone. Uncle so and so can show Youtube videos to some family with adult language and content not noticing the children in the room. Heres a few tips to try and keep your Thanksgiving Holiday internet safe and family friendly.

Protect Your Kids

Encourage a host home internet filter.

Ask the family member or friend who’s hosting your Thanksgiving festivities if they have some sort of content filter on their wifi. Many routers have a basic filter and some folks may even have another filter system in place. If there isn’t an option, recommend one like Circle. If they don’t have kids or aren’t interested in filtering their wifi long term you can recommend a free trial with something like Mobicip or NetNanny. This usually allows you to use the filter for seven days to a month at no cost. Offer to help them set it up and then you can breathe a little easier when your kids are using their wifi.

Keep devices with screens in a common area.

Intentional poor behavior will happen in private. If you keep the screens around everyone else you’re much less likely to have an incident. Make a rule that screens should be kept in the most common area of your Thanksgiving meeting place. The living room full of people or the dining room around a busy table is a great place to let kids spend whatever time on screens you’ve allowed while adult eyes can glance down to see what’s being viewed. This will also keep sneaky cousins from pulling up something age appropriate for their younger family members.

Talk to your kids.

Your kids need a safe place. They need to know that if they see something inappropriate online they can come to you and receive no judgment or criticism. It’s critical that they are allowed to explain what they saw and how it made them feel. Discuss your screen boundaries ahead of time, your kids should know what you expect even if you aren’t able to get the whole extended family onboard with your plan. Tell them if you want them staying off screens completely. Let them know not to look at older kid’s phones or tablets while they play. Think ahead of the likelihood of your kid seeing something they shouldn’t and try to head that off at the pass. Accidents happen but if you and your kids are on guard, you should be able to have fun without too much worry.

Protect Your Privacy

Turn off camera location settings.

Your camera defaults to save your location every time you take a photo. This tags those photos with where you were when you snapped that pic. Then, when you share the image on Instagram, Facebook, or Snapchat your location is uploaded with the image. This means that with the right software your location can be extracted from that photo and used for unseemly reasons.
- Go into your settings app and access your “location” settings.
- Go to the camera app settings under “location” and tell your phone never to use “location” while using your camera.
Changing these settings will keep your location data off of your pictures.

Advise family members not to tag their location on their Thanksgiving posts.

Finally, you’ll want to be careful not to tag your location on your photos. Yes, pictures of the pie, stuffing, turkey, and gravy boat have become as much a part of the holiday tradition as the cornucopia, but when you share it you’ll want to leave the address of the host off of your status update. Sharing your address with public social media posts is never a good idea. This can lead to all kinds of dangers. Imagine the images of all the neat and expensive stuff in the host home. Now imagine you’re a local who likes to break and enter to take things every now and then. What better way to identify a target than creep Instagram holiday posts for the people with the coolest stuff. Then, find the posts with their address tagged on the photo and off you go. Share away, but share with wisdom.

The holidays should be a time of rejoicing and happiness. We should stuff ourselves with food and enjoy being together. Following these steps can help you stay safe and help keep your holiday party guests safe as well.
November 22, 2017
iPhone X Face ID Won’t Keep Your Kids Out of Your Phone

One of the best ways to keep your phone safe is to make sure it’s locked so your kids can’t get into it without you knowing. This allows us, as parents, to have apps or games we wouldn’t let them use without worrying that they’re going to get into them. Maybe you keep your kids off your phone because your filters aren’t as strict, maybe you don’t want them reading all of your messages, maybe you just don’t want them resetting your Mario Run scores. Whatever your reasons for locking down your phone, the new iPhone X’s facial ID feature isn’t your best option. Here’s why.

The statistical probability is different for twins and siblings that look like you and among children under the age of 13, because their distinct facial features may not have fully developed. If you’re concerned about this, we recommend using a passcode to authenticate. – support.apple.com

What Parents Should Know

Apparently, young undeveloped faces can trick the facial recognition software on the iPhone X and let a child get access to your phone. If your phone isn’t locked down then your kids will have access to those in-app purchases, unfiltered searches, and accessing unapproved entertainment or social media you’ve blocked on their devices. Apple recommends you use a passcode if you have small children. This recommendation seems to hint that they’ve just accepted that this will be a limitation of their Face ID feature. My tip is to take Apple’s advice. Use a passcode if you have an iPhone X. If you want an iPhone X mostly because of Face ID then you may reconsider.

November 14, 2017
Digital Tools for Halloween Safety

Halloween is a bit of a crazy holiday. We take our kids out to do all of the things we almost never let them do at any other time. “Let’s go walk around in the cold, talk to strangers, take candy from them, and then eat most of it in one night.” It may sound a bit crazy to let our kids do all that, but we do it. I’m recommending, though, that you don’t throw all of your safety concerns out the window. Use these three “tech guy” tips to help your family be safe during this Halloween.

Get GPS Tracking

First of all, it’s important to know where you are and where your kids have run off to. In the hustle and craziness of Halloween trick or treating it’s easy for our kids to get lost in the fun of it all and get out of sight. Also, your older kids want to head out with friends and enjoy a Halloween party or maybe just go trick or treating but you could be concerned about where they’ll end up going. Technology has you covered. Start tracking their location with the GPS chip that’s already included on their mobile device.

Accountable2You has a great GPS tracking option that you can set up easily within their mobile browser app. It will send location reports and allow you to check in at any time from the dashboard on their site. This feature is available for Android AND iOS.

On your iOS devices, you can use the built-in messaging app to share location as well. You just have to use their phone to set up permissions for that device to share their location with you. When you go to your messaging app you’ll be able to click on the (i) on the upper right-hand corner and it will take you to their information. There will be a map with their current location on it right up top.

Have a Good Flashing Light

Walking around in the dark can be scary at Halloween. Not just because of ghosts and ghouls but cars driving and not paying attention. My advice is to shed some light on the situation. Don’t bother heading to buy some kind of flashing light when a simple app can give you the same effect from the LED in your smartphone. Here is one we found forAndroid and one for iOS.

LED Flashlight Selene & Flash (Android)

Full disclosure, I’m not able to test this app since I don’t have an Android device. It is, however the highest rated strobe app in the Google Play store. This app features adjustable strobe speed. It has simple controls and, according to reviews, just works. GET IT HERE

“Light” LED Flashlight and Strobe (iOS)

I did try this app out and it works well enough to use on Halloween. If you depended on your phone to multitask while you’re using your strobe light, this isn’t the app for you. When you close the app, the light stops. I didn’t find an app that didn’t shut off when closed, though, so this one made my list. I mostly decided to recommend it because the controls are simple, intuitive, and very responsive. You can set the brightness of the light and adjust the speed of the strobe with simple buttons on the right and left of the on-off switch. There are also settings to make the light flash to music and translate type to morse code. This is, overall, a pretty neat app. CHECK IT OUT

Light your nighttime neighborhood trick or treating with some kind of strobe light. This will keep you and your kids visible and safe.

Go “Old School” with a Walkie-Talkie

No, don’t buy some cheap thing that won’t let you communicate unless you’re still in earshot anyway. Get an app. Really, I have one recommendation for this one, it’s Heytell. This app works cross-platform which means you can use your Android phone to send a quick voice message to someone with an iPhone, no problem. A walkie-talkie app is perfect for Halloween because it uses your data connection, so you’re never out of range. It lets you ask for that quick location update or schedule that meeting time with your kids by sending them a notification when you’ve sent a message. The message is then saved until they open the app to listen to it. Just like a voicemail, just without the annoyance of a phone call.

Install HeyTell or the walkie-talkie app of your choice onto your and your kids’ phones and be amazed at how connected you can be while they’re out having fun, getting candy, and talking to strangers. Just make sure they’re visible in the darkness with some sort of flashing lights, and of course, have that GPS connected so you can get an update on their location with a simple glance at your phone.

Have a safe and fun Halloween!

October 31, 2017
VIDEO: Three iOS 11 Features Parents Need to Know

More than half of all iPhone users are now using iOS 11 and there are some major changes. The biggest change is the control center. This has become a lot more useful with the iOS 11 update and there are some features that parents should know so that they can use them to further protect their kids.

Screen Recording

Screen recording hasn’t been built into iPhone until this update. It’s a way to capture what’s happening on your screen and then save it as a video in your photos. This feature is cool and very useful for projects like making this video but there is a bit of a concern with kids sending messages and them being recorded without their knowledge. Keep your eye on this one.

Quick Guided Access Button

Guided access is an awesome way to keep you younger kids safe. The quick access button allows you to get to you GA settings quickly and use the feature to keep your kids safe. Do Not Disturb While Driving

Do Not Disturb While Driving

This is one that’s been needed for a while. The Do Not Disturb While Driving feature lets you just tap a simple button in your control center and not be distracted by texts until you turn it off. Pretty good idea, even if it has been a long time coming.

There are more details and some screen capture of these features in use in the video below:

October 18, 2017