Best way to lock down a teens phone with Android? MetroPCS Fierce XL prepaid minutes?

[Gayle Lynn]

When I had BlackBerry PRIV (5.1.1) it did have option for Guest and a second account.

 

[markm75]

Just recently when going in to Play Store on my phone, they have been advertising "Family Library" that allows you to share apps among up to 5 family members. It's still showing up as one of the ads in Play Store (I just looked). You might click on the "Learn more" link and see if that would work for you.

This is in response to the statement that you would have to buy another set of apps for your teenager's account, not in response to the discussion of multiple user accounts.

Finally revisiting this, as i need to decide on something asap.. i didnt see this family library in the play store unfortunately?

Also.. sounds based on reviews, that family time may be a tad on the yearly expensive side for limited ability.. sounds as if if someone deletes a text you cant track it either..

Basically i want:

To be able to limit the phone to use youtube kids ONLY.. be able to see any search results/history from the browser or other apps (and filter what sites they can hit).. be able to see ALL texts from apps like textnow (not using cellular in this case just yet, only wifi plus apps)..

And maybe be able to add apps i've already paid for somehow without fully logging in my existing gmail account (not as critical as most apps will be free).

My netgear might have some built in parental options from the router standpoint that may help, but that doesnt help when they arent here in the house.. I think microsofts family security had features like this as well, but i dont know that it works on android.

My idea was, sign in to google with their gmail accounts i've created and go from there.

 

[markm75]

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.domobile.applockHere are the apps i was considering at this point.. i'm not finding much in the way of an app for android phones that is free and also includes blocking of apps and tracking usage/messaging etc..

Safe Lagoon
-Has all the standard stuff you would expect, including remote screen viewing
-premium plan is around $5.00 per month for 15 devices/profiles which is the cheapest i've seen with the this amount of features.


MMGuardian
-Similar features but the pricing seems a bit steeper, roughly $8 per month but there are one time family plans that can be had for $139, but those expire after 5 years i think

Kids Zone is another option but its mainly just an allowed list of apps and games that game be ran, more than anything

Family Time appears to be free and do many of things I'm looking for, but the reviews are sketchy, often mentioning, doesnt work etc.

Kids Place was another free one but it has ads and doesnt always block things correctly.

Applock was the other option, but there were some limitations on this one or issues (forget exactly, i think content restrictions for adult content being one it was lacking).

Family Time Parental control was of course another consideration, but the price is steep and some of the reviews said there were issues..

Price wise (if there is no free alternative), it sounds like Safe Lagoon might be the way to go.


I would think when using the first or second one, i can use my own gmail/google store account and also for extra safety set a pin on purchase attempts, this way i'm using one store account on both phones, further restricted/monitored by using the protection app