Everybody's, including kids', texting and talking options continue to multiply like rabbits. First there was texting from your mobile carrier, then phone-based texting like Apple's iMessage and voice via computers (later adding in phones) as with Google Voice and Skype. Along came texting apps too, such as the simple and spare WhatsApp now owned by Facebook and the something-for-everybody, … [Read more...] about Texting options multiplying like rabbits (even more now)
Apple
Apple’s newest smartphone ‘parental control’
Apple unveiled a whole slew of features coming in the next iterations of its operating systems for the iPhone (iOS 8) and Macs (OS X Yosemite), coming to a device near you in the fall. Among them was an iOS 8 feature called "Family Sharing," a little bundle of convenience and control. The feature will "let up to six users share any apps or media content they buy using the same credit card. … [Read more...] about Apple’s newest smartphone ‘parental control’
Apple’s settlement with parents
Interesting: On the one hand, I hear a Nickelodeon executive saying kids are hard-pressed to spend $10 in the Apple App Store, and on the other I read that Apple reached a settlement with an untold number of "parents who sued the company for making it too easy for kids to rack up charges by buying add-ons to games and other apps." That's according to the Washington Post. Parents won't be able to … [Read more...] about Apple’s settlement with parents
To keep advertisers from tracking your kids’ phones
A lot of people find targeted advertising creepy – and just plain wrong if targeted at kids, especially little ones. Well, if your kids have iPhones and they have the latest operating-system software, iOS 6, then you can help them turn off apps' ability to "learn" their interests and target ads at them. Apple calls the setting "Limit Ad Tracking." My ConnectSafely co-director Larry Magid explains … [Read more...] about To keep advertisers from tracking your kids’ phones
Parenting & the mobile app ratings in the works
As mobile apps multiply like rabbits and the number of kids downloading and playing with them seems to keep growing, the usefulness of app ratings to parents seems to be growing too. CTIA – the mobile phone industry trade association – gets this. It recently announced an app rating system it has been working on since 2010, Investors.com reports. The system, which CTIA worked on with the … [Read more...] about Parenting & the mobile app ratings in the works