Secondary user sign in at reboot

[Android Central Question]

I'm currently using a Parental control app on a secondary user account on a Huawei Honor 6x. This phone allows secondary users to log in at reboot without the admin password. This setup helps me avoid my kid using guest accounts to bypass controls. I'm looking to upgrade phones, but newer phones require admin password to login before a secondary user can log in. Should I be looking for older android version? I've read one post online that said tablets changed this feature with android 8. If that's true , do I just look for 7 and earlier versions? Are there any other workarounds to set this up?

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Have you tried using Google Family Link? I think that would prevent logging into any other account on a device, but I haven't tried testing that.

Please register on this forum, which will allow you to engage in discussion more easily, as well as post images. https://forums.androidcentral.com/ask-question/409154-join-android-central-community.html

 

[mustang7757]

Guest accounts shouldn't be able to bypass they have no administrator rights

 

[Mccarthyx6]

Thanks for the replies! No, I haven't used family link yet. I'm referring to the actual user accou't on the phone, not an online login. Currently, when the phone restarts, I can swipe down on the main screen where it asks for password, and select the user to log in with. At this point, there is only access to user accounts that were set up by the admin. Dioes that make sense?.

 

[B. Diddy]

Right -- with Family Link, if you set up a phone with a child's Google account, that device gets locked down in certain ways, so that the child can't bypass the parental control. Isn't that what you're looking for? This way, you don't have to have multiple user accounts on the phone.

 

[mustang7757]

Thanks for the replies! No, I haven't used family link yet. I'm referring to the actual user accou't on the phone, not an online login. Currently, when the phone restarts, I can swipe down on the main screen where it asks for password, and select the user to log in with. At this point, there is only access to user accounts that were set up by the admin. Dioes that make sense?.

That when you swipe down to choose whic account is guest mode

 

[Mccarthyx6]

When I set up the phone, as the admin, I removed the guest account, and created an account for my son. Whenever the phone is turned on, anyone can swipe down from the top, before entering a pin or password, and they can select which account to log in to. He chooses his account and logs in, without the need for me to sign into the admin account. This allows him access to his stuff, and I have parental control app installed on that account.

Newer phones are not operating the same way. When the phone is powered up, the admin must enter the admin password to get access before any other users can log in. If I set him up as the admin, he has full access to settings and guest accounts which can easily bypass parental controls.

If I purchase a phone with an older operating system, can I get the same log in process I have now? If so, what version would I need to look for.

Thanks again, and sorry for any confusion.

 

[B. Diddy]

Sorry, I'm not sure about that. The reason why I mention Family Link is that it could obviate the need for the setup you're used to, although if your child is older than 13, they would have to let you continue to supervise: https://support.google.com/families...e-their-current-parental-supervision-settings

I'll let other members try to answer your question about phones that can do what you're used to.

 

[Mccarthyx6]

I greatly appreciate the information! I'm not sure how family link works, but I'm very willing to learn new options to get the same result. I assumed I had to find a way to disable guest mode to be effective.

 

[VidJunky]

Family link like many other parental control options is an app that can be installed on a device. You would install the parental app and the child's device would install the child app. Once installed you give admin rights to the app and then set-up a few things in the settings of that app, while also connecting it to your parental app. Once linked, based on what your preferences are, you would be able to monitor and limit those items you wish to control. As far as logging in and all of that goes, the child would log-in and use the device just like you use yours, one log-in no muss no fuss, but under the rules you set or control.

There are other alternatives and things you should know. I found this out when I got my children their first smartphones but cheap is not better for control. It sounds weird but on many lower end models it seems that you cannot install some parental apps. Stranger than that, you almost have to go mid range or higher to get devices with built in parental controls. So at the time my $700 phone had all kinds of parental controls built in but their $179 phones had nothing and would not allow me to install the app I wanted to use. If you don't understand why this is strange to me it's because I can't imagine too many parents giving a child an expensive device. It would seem to make more sense that lower end devices would have parental controls or accept parental apps.

Having said that what you really need to do is, if possible, pick up a display model and scroll through the settings to see if the device has parental controls built in and/or research if the device is compatible with any parental apps before you buy. The built in controls do a lot of what the apps can do. I'm not sure how it worked on my HTC but on my $1K+ Samsung S21, sorry, still blows me away that a high end device has this built in but not the low end device someone would be more likely to give a child, the controls actually work with the parental Family Link app right out the box and only needs to be enabled. I'll post a screenshot when I log in to Tapatalk. In the meantime, I had no options on the LG devices I initially bought them. I don't remember what the second device was at the moment but it wasn't compatible either. Well if memory serves I could install the app but the controls were limited and the one thing I wanted didn't work. Anyway just food for thought.

 

[VidJunky]

Since it works with Family Link the description will give you an idea about FL.

 

[mustang7757]

When I set up the phone, as the admin, I removed the guest account, and created an account for my son. Whenever the phone is turned on, anyone can swipe down from the top, before entering a pin or password, and they can select which account to log in to. He chooses his account and logs in, without the need for me to sign into the admin account. This allows him access to his stuff, and I have parental control app installed on that account.

Newer phones are not operating the same way. When the phone is powered up, the admin must enter the admin password to get access before any other users can log in. If I set him up as the admin, he has full access to settings and guest accounts which can easily bypass parental controls.

If I purchase a phone with an older operating system, can I get the same log in process I have now? If so, what version would I need to look for.

Thanks again, and sorry for any confusion.

The way my pixel 4xl , 5 and 1+7 T pro mclaren works , i pull the notification down on the lock screen i can enter biometric/password into the main account or go into guest with just a swipe but guest doesn't have any administrator privileges and can set up another Google account for kids but no access to settings or main account

 

[Mccarthyx6]

Thank you for the information, it's greatly appreciated. I feel so lost. This should be so much simpler. From what you explain it sounds like family link is very similar to Qustodio. I have a parent app on my phone, and a child app on my son's phone. The problem is that if he selects guest mode, the parental control app doesn't monitor it, and there's no way to disable guest mode, unless I set him up as a secondary user. Any idea if family link monitors guest mode?

 

[Mccarthyx6]

Thanks mustang, I appreciate your help! When you set up the account for the kids, does the admin need to enter a password every time the phone powers up, or can they start up and log in on their own?

 

[mustang7757]

Thanks mustang, I appreciate your help! When you set up the account for the kids, does the admin need to enter a password every time the phone powers up, or can they start up and log in on their own?

Admin has to use password but guest you dont

 

[VidJunky]

Not sure what devices the two of you are using but I tried mustang7757's how-to to look for "guest mode" and looked through my settings for a way to enable it but I don't seem to have a guest mode. So that may not be a consideration depending on device and/or manufacturer. TBH I've never had a phone with an alternate sign-in. I think my old tab had multiple options for signing in where one could set up multiple profiles and enable a guest mode.

Sorry if my comment seemed complicated. I tend to get wordy and over explain things but that's just the way I work. If there's a potential snag or something I feel compelled to explain or mention it. Anyway it shouldn't be difficult to find out compatibility or if a device comes with something. I have to imagine that you either have a device in mind or a price range you're looking in so you couple that with parental controls in a search and you should find an answer. I just didn't want what happened to me to happen to you. In my case it wasn't so severe because at the time I wasn't overly worried about my two, they were still pretty young then.

Search this, I got some pretty good results with it.

smartphone $250 to $380 with parental controls

My results were better on the PC than on my device.

 

[mustang7757]

Not sure what devices the two of you are using but I tried mustang7757's how-to to look for "guest mode" and looked through my settings for a way to enable it but I don't seem to have a guest mode. So that may not be a consideration depending on device and/or manufacturer. TBH I've never had a phone with an alternate sign-in. I think my old tab had multiple options for signing in where one could set up multiple profiles and enable a guest mode.

Sorry if my comment seemed complicated. I tend to get wordy and over explain things but that's just the way I work. If there's a potential snag or something I feel compelled to explain or mention it. Anyway it shouldn't be difficult to find out compatibility or if a device comes with something. I have to imagine that you either have a device in mind or a price range you're looking in so you couple that with parental controls in a search and you should find an answer. I just didn't want what happened to me to happen to you. In my case it wasn't so severe because at the time I wasn't overly worried about my two, they were still pretty young then.

Search this, I got some pretty good results with it.

smartphone $250 to $380 with parental controls

My results were better on the PC than on my device.

Yeah not every manufacturer or device has it , Samsung is one of them for phones . Pixels ,One plus and few others do.

 

[TheDevo]

I've had two Motorola phones using Google Family link -- I'm currently using the Motorola One 5G Ace. On both phones, my parent account has been set up as administrator and my kids have their own accounts on the phone, monitored by Family Link. I can confirm that after restarting the phone, I must first sign in as the administrator before any of my kids can sign into their accounts on the phone.

Has anyone found a way around this so that the non-administrator accounts can log in after startup/restart without the administrator having to first sign in?

 

[akincansenol]

Looking for the solution as well. I'm not sure if I was set-up first with kid account and than parent account on the device would help it.

Before doing that (resetting accounts on the device, a hard reset) I would like to know if anyone did that and if it's working that way.