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It’s not possible to keep away from Microsoft if you happen to’ve acquired a household stuffed with tech – with laptops, PCs, smartphones and video games consoles stuffed with Redmond’s software program, they’re all over the place.
However whereas that may sound all-encompassing, it won’t be a nasty thought if you happen to want a parental control app. With options that easily combine along with your present tech and a free value, Microsoft Family Safety may very well be the parental management app that your loved ones wants.
Plans and pricing
There’s not a lot to say right here, as a result of Microsoft Household Security is free – so that you don’t must fork out any money, you don’t want to research totally different product tiers and their various options, and also you don’t must fiddle looking for offers or registering at no cost trials.
Microsoft Household Security can be included with Microsoft 365 subscriptions and Windows 11 operating systems.
Options
Household Security runs on Home windows, Xbox, Android, and Apple gadgets, and fogeys may use Mac OS computer systems to entry the online dashboard and monitor their kids. Keep in mind, although, you could’t set up Household Security on Mac OS gadgets utilized by your kids – on Apple’s desktop and laptop computer OS, it’s a one-way avenue.
It’s simple to get began with Household Security – extra on that later – and when you’re up and working, the app has an honest set of core parental management options, at the very least on paper.
Take net filtering, as an example: whereas it is a core element of any good parental management app and rivals like Qustodio do an amazing job, on Microsoft Household Security you’re solely capable of filter the Microsoft Edge browser. Which may work for Microsoft, which desires to maintain folks utilizing its personal software program, however that’s not sensible in households the place folks wish to use Chrome, Safari or different browsers.
Many various browsers are simply blocked by the app as a substitute, and it’s attainable for folks to dam particular person web sites – and permit favored ones, too.
Frustratingly, Microsoft Household Security doesn’t let dad and mom see the classes of content material it blocks, and customers report frequent points with unsafe web sites not being blocked and never being flagged on the mum or dad dashboard.
Household Security’s display time performance didn’t impress all that a lot, both. Initially, all appears properly: you possibly can set schedules to your kids’s gadgets, save them simply, and customise them for various days. On Android, dad and mom can set limits on a per-app foundation, too.
However a deeper dive by intrepid customers on-line means that system display deadlines don’t work notably properly on Android – some stories recommend that kids may proceed utilizing their gadgets even when contravening their scheduled limits.
Elsewhere, app blocking and whitelisting are supported and fogeys can enable kids app entry if children ship a request from their telephones.
Household Security’s location monitoring options are primary. These options solely work within the dad and mom’ app on Android and iOS gadgets, not the online dashboard. Geofencing is just supported for Microsoft 365 subscribers – so whereas Household Security is free, you’ve acquired to pay for 365 to get entry to that function.
Delve deeper into Household Security’s location performance and you will see one innovation – the Drive Security mode. If a teen prompts the function, dad and mom can see their route, velocity and any abrupt braking. It’s welcome, however apps like Bark present comparable performance.
What’s lacking from Household Security? Sadly, rather a lot. Outdoors of its net filtering, there’s no social media, messaging app or textual content message monitoring, and not one of the digicam and audio options that you simply’ll discover in some extra forward-thinking instruments. You can also’t shut down or take management of kid gadgets utilizing Microsoft Household Security.
Interface and in-use
Household Security may be very simple to make use of: set up the app, grant some primary permissions and construct a household group utilizing folks’s Outlook addresses, telephone numbers or different emails and also you’re good to go.
In a nod in direction of transparency, kids can see the restrictions they’re below on their app’s dashboard.
On Home windows gadgets, performance is comparable – you simply make your kids a brand new account on the system slightly than utilizing their telephone quantity.
When you’re all arrange, Household Security is exceedingly simple to make use of. The interface is clear and spacious with acquainted Microsoft inexperienced accents, and all the pieces is laid out properly – the entire key choices are in apparent locations.
Help
Microsoft Household Security’s web site contains setup guides, FAQs and troubleshooting ideas that ought to remedy most typical points, and Microsoft’s busy discussion board can be out there for extra particular queries.
In-app help and reporting is out there on Android and iOS, and the central Microsoft help web site is out there if you want to get in contact with Microsoft – though that does imply delving into the help performance of one of many world’s largest firms, and which means a possible gradual response.
The competitors
There’s little doubt that Household Security has spectacular rivals. Take Qustodio: it has much better net filtering and monitoring than Microsoft’s device and it’s wonderful for households which have a number of gadgets.
Bark outpaces Microsoft’s device for social media and e mail monitoring, too.
Ultimate verdict
There are definitely some areas the place Microsoft Household Security fights again. It’s free, for starters, and is simpler to make use of for households that already use the Microsoft ecosystem by way of PCs, laptops or video games consoles alongside smartphones.
It’s simple to make use of, too, and has accessible and reasonably efficient filtering, location-tracking, app administration and display time options.
That mentioned, there are severe limitations in all of these departments, the iOS app is extra restricted than the Android model, and its rivals – whereas not free – are way more succesful in each key space.
If you’d like primary parental management with out spending any cash, Microsoft Household Security is straightforward to make use of and already out there for a great deal of households. However if you happen to’re in any respect severe about parental management, look elsewhere.