While this feature is integrated into the App Management section of Net Nanny, it is also available for free on the Zift website, along with a number of articles on digital parenting. I also worked at CNN International, where I did field producing and reporting on sports that are popular with worldwide audiences. Qustodio is our Editors' Choice pick for parental control software, thanks to its excellent apps and customizable features. Net Nanny again redirected us from the native YouTube app on our Android test device to YouTube's mobile website. You get the same monitoring options: Allow, Alert, and Block for each of your custom categories. Gone are the days when a single parental control utility on the family PC was sufficient for keeping your kids safe and productive. Essentially, some URLs it picks up are not true web pages and may just carry advertising data or be used for tracking. These software and hardware solutions let you block unwanted web content, limit screen time, restrict the use of risky applications, and more. That's it. In addition, it has a feature Net Nanny lacks . The Best Parental Control Software for 2023 - PCMag UK With that in mind, these are the top parental control and monitoring utilities we've tested, along with information on what to look for to best protect your family. On Windows, the schedule took effect quickly and switching the time zone was not enough to skirt Net Nanny's restrictions. All these subscription fees are supposedly 30% off regular pricing, but this discount has remained static for years and according to representatives from Net Nanny, there are no planned price increases on the way. Net Nanny supports multiple operating systems: Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, and Kindle Fire. Note that Net Nanny's filtering technology recognizes context. To help parents avoid any confusion as to which app they should download, we would prefer Net Nanny to offer a single app with a child or parent mode you select during setup. This kind of companion app is particularly useful for responding to access or time-extension requests on the go. When you get beyond the basics, parental control systems start to diverge, with many advanced features to help them stand out from the crowd. Just download the installer, launch the app, and sign in. The Profile Settings button to the left of that module with the gear icons is where you configure the rules. On Windows, we tried both the pause and block internet settings. You can only set up a geofence for an address that appears in the child's location history. The five-device plan costs $54.99 per year and the 20-device plan costs $89.99 per year. In the center of the page, there's a map with pinpoints marking the current location of each monitored child. For comparison, Qustodio costs $54.99 for a five-device planthe same as Net Nannyand Mobicip costs $49.99. Allow lets a child access the site and does not record the instance. Besides, some parents may not even know what additional categories they need to block manually. We've tested the top services to help you choose the right one for your family. This is really putting the strength of its live page analysis on display, as it covers over profanity in text with the "#" symbol. The Circle Home device costs $129 on its own and you need to pay $10 per month thereafter to maintain all its monitoring capabilities. Net Nanny's screen time feature allows you to either set an overall cap on device usage for the current day or for multiple days of the week. With Net Nanny , you can: Set specific times of the day when your child can use the Internet. 1 Method 1: Bypassing Net Nanny Using the Software Itself. The parental control services in this roundup don't cover consoles, but we can help you learn how to enable parental controls on gaming consoles. In the years since that fateful meeting, Ive become PCMags expert on security, privacy, and identity protection, putting antivirus tools, security suites, and all kinds of security software through their paces. You can block the DuckDuckGo site if this is an issue. Net Nanny Review 2023 Is It Good Enough for Your Family? Kaspersky Safe Kids was on this list for quite some time. Circle's joint hardware and software solution is easy to set up and a quality solution for parents who want to monitor their children's internet activity. As noted, Net Nanny offers separate child and parent apps. Sure, if their friends come over in person, you can at least meet them, but what about friends on social media and other contacts your child never mentions? Initially, we thought that the Filter name was the word that we wanted to filter. Net Nanny VS. Qustodio | Parental Control Now! We tested Net Nanny's web-blocking capabilities primarily on a Windows 10 desktop using Chrome, Edge, and Tor. Net Nanny does support a multi-user setup though, so a parent can maintain an unrestricted account for themselves while monitoring their child's account on the same device. Net Nanny has built out this function considerably in the last couple of years, and it now offers a very comprehensive set of location-tracking features. Has Multi-Factor Authentication Failed Us. Some elements and menus have moved around since the time of our last review, which helps it feel less cramped. Before PCMag, I worked at Neowin.net, Toms Guide, and Laptop Mag. The app lives as an icon in the notification tray area. If your kids are strictly smartphone users, take a look at our roundup of mobile parental control apps. Net Nanny needs to consolidate its time limit and time scheduling tools in one place. Recent versions of both Android and iOS don't let you grant permanent location privileges to an app during installation. One other limitation is that there is not an easy way to see which apps you've blocked. As a PCMag security analyst, I report on security solutions such as password managers and parental control software, as well as privacy tools such as VPNs. One final filtering extra from Net Nanny is the ability to mask profanity on the web. When you hit the Create a New Filter Button, the top field is for the name of the custom filter, not the term you want to filter. Net Nanny is the #1-rated Internet filter and the most trusted parental control solution for families since 1996. Net Nanny is the most complete solution offering the following essential . For one, you can only block iOS apps that appear in the predefined list. Norton 360 Deluxe. Parental Controls | Net Nanny Geofencing: Yes When we searched for lyrics to the same song on the Firefox Focus app, Net Nanny only blocked the profanity on some of the sites we checked.