Family tablets, Google+, kids, etc.

**oldpueblo** · 08-06-2012, 04:49 PM

I've been away from Android and missed the whole Google+ thing and whatever their ecosystem has morphed in to. I'm picking up a couple Nexus 7's to be family tablets and as a parent I obviously want to protect my kids from social dangers (within reason, I trust them and we're a bit open). I am currently trying to figure out whether or not to set them all up on their own accounts, or just have them use my one account to share app purchases, etc. If there are cool things they could do with each other that involve Google+ and individual accounts, then what are they? Can it all be kept private? If they have my account on their tablet can they screw me up really even though I don't use my gmail account for anything important? What would the best longterm thing here be? They are 8 and 11 and I'd love for them to share things between each other and their parents in the ecosystem if it all pans out. NFC slammin' all day, messaging each other, etc. I also wonder if I should lie about their ages on their accounts because in the past that's been a pain when I want them to use content that I'm okay with that's above their age.

I'm looking for parents in similar situations who have already gone through trial and error and have settled on a working system. Privacy in terms of random people contacting them and random people being shoved in their faces like Facebook does would be my primary concern. Everything being so interconnected, how much of a barrier is there to the outside world, I realize I'm probably not describing this well but hopefully you get what I mean. They're generally smart enough to not go looking for trouble, but I expect a little exploration since they're kids. For those wondering, I'll be monitoring Internet traffic via the router, disabling it per MAC address when necessary, etc.

**still1** · 08-06-2012, 08:45 PM

google plus has a cool hangout feature that your kids will love... also, there is parental control for underage kids. check this out

obviously you can control the account so i would create a new account for them and monitor it...
go here to see google plus setting on "Who can interact with you and your posts" and restrict them.

I would use your account on one tablet and create a new account for other tablet. The reason is you need two account to share and hangout.

fyi: you can always disable the apps if you dont want them to use it.

they can purchase apps but there is a settings to ask for password in playstore for paid purchases.
also in play store settings there is "content filtering".. restrict adult contents so they wont appear on app searches

**oldpueblo** · 08-07-2012, 12:09 AM

Well that experiment didn't last long.

I logged in my son with his new account, launched G+ on the tablet and this was basically right there under nearby. Is there any way to say "No I don't want to see random people's just those in my circles"?

Maybe it's not even worth doing G+ with them? If I put in their actual birth year (well I guess I'll lie up to 13) am I going to lose any real functionality on the tablet? I haven't given them to the kids yet so I have time to figure this out. Interestingly enough setting up a new account via the N7 didn't ask for a birthdate at all or anything.

**still1** · 08-07-2012, 08:55 PM

not sure if you can disable that... i would just let them not use it....

**umpirerob** · 08-07-2012, 09:39 PM

I set my son's tablet up with my account for purchases, but added his Gmail account as well. He has his own e-mail and all my purchases, however, he doesn't use G+, so I haven't tried that.

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