The Latest Technology Product Reviews, News, Tips, and Deals - Review 2022

In that location'southward a wide range of beliefs amidst parental control and monitoring programs. Some install in stealth mode and spy on your kids, which is but creepy. Symantec Norton Family Premier, on the other hand, encourages parents to engage with their children and brand them aware of exactly what rules are in identify. Norton offers supervision across an unlimited number of devices and lets you monitor all of your kids' activity from either its revamped web portal or a standalone companion app. It doesn't work on Macs and has some browser- and encryption-based limitations, only its like shooting fish in a barrel setup and variety of capabilities brand it a solid choice.

Pricing and Platforms

Pricing tiers vary widely in this field, but Norton's plan is pretty unproblematic. Paying $49.99 per year gets you a Norton Family unit Premier subscription, which includes capabilities such equally web filtering, time usage restrictions, and location tracking. It keeps 30 days of activity history and has some extras similar instant locking and SMS logging. Norton used to offer a freemium version of the software, albeit with some limitations, but it no longer offers that business relationship tier. Yous can try out the software for yourself via a free, 30-day trial, however.

There aren't any limitations on the number of children or devices you can add to an business relationship, which is ideal for the always-connected generation and for large families. It's an indisputably skillful bargain when considered alongside its competitors. By comparing, a unmarried license for Internet Nanny runs $39.99 per yr, while a $79.99 almanac subscription gets y'all a ten-license Family Protection Pass. Qustodio costs $54.95 per year for utilize on up to 5 phones, tablets, PCs, or Macs.

Norton mainly handles configuration and reporting via an online panel, though you lot can brand changes from the Android app. A local amanuensis app enforces the rules and monitors activity. You lot tin install Norton'southward tracker to monitor and control action on Windows, merely Macs are beyond its power. That said, you can still access the web portal on a Mac to set up upwardly parameters, view your child'due south activity, and manage other child profiles. To prepare Norton Family on either an Android or an iPhone, simply caput over to the Google Play store or the App Store to download the app.

We installed Norton Family on an HP EliteBook 8460 running Windows x to evaluate the desktop monitoring. For mobile, we did most of our testing on a Google Pixel and a Nexus 5X running Android 8.0, though we also set it up on an iPhone 8 running iOS 11.

Getting Started

The first thing you exercise with this service is to create a Norton Family unit business relationship and sign in online. To add together a child, specify a name, gender, and birth twelvemonth, and either select an avatar or upload a contour photo. Norton sets up the initial configuration based on the birth year you specify, but yous can change information technology after. When you click on any child, you lot tin can manage their settings and customize the blazon of notifications the app sends.

You also need to download the Norton Family agent on each Windows, Android, or iOS device your kids use. But log in to the console and click the Download Norton Family link—this gives you lot the correct download. Each time you lot install the app, Norton asks which child uses it. For PCs, you connect each child profile to a specific Windows business relationship. To prevent your child from uninstalling or circumventing these apps, Norton recommends y'all rescind any administrative rights and remove all generic guest accounts.

Setup on mobile is slightly more than involved than on a desktop. For Android, you demand to give Norton a few dissimilar permissions, including usage and accessibility access, and you lot need to add it as a device admin app. On iOS, you need to enable location access and install a mobile device direction (MDM) contour for all the features to piece of work.

As mentioned earlier, Norton emphasizes that parents should communicate with their kids, instead of attempting to secretly monitor and command them. There is no silent install option; if y'all apply Norton Family to monitor your kids, they will be aware of it. The configuration settings you make online get boiled down to a set of house rules the kids will see and can easily understand. The Norton mobile app and notification tray icon explain the rules with such clear letters as, "Web sites that I visit can be monitored" and "My time on the figurer can exist restricted."

Spider web Interface

Norton Family's web interface benefits from a significant contempo redesign. All the elements are separated past aplenty white space and use big tabs and icons. The trademark Norton yellow is used sparingly, while secondary colors announced consistently across other elements. Information technology's a vast improvement over the old, left-rails card organisation. One annoying thing, nevertheless, is that the dashboard logs y'all out automatically afterwards just a few minutes of inactivity, and at that place's no fashion to change that. In general, automatic logouts are good for security, but you ought to be able to adjust them.

The main page has three tabs, Children, Device, and Parents. The default tab (Children) shows a list of all your child profiles. If y'all click on a profile, Activity and House Rules tabs appear below it. The Action section shows an overview of each of the viii supervision categories: Location, Mobile App, Search Social Network, Text Bulletin, Time, Video, and Web. Clicking on individual tabs lets you drill down for more detail. With the other tab, House Rules, you customize restrictions beyond the categories.

The next tab across the top, Devices, lets you manage your children's existing phones or tablets or add new ones. You tin can filter the list to show everything or just those PCs, phones and tablets assigned to detail children, only there's no filter for age range, which could be useful for large families. Each has an appropriate icon and an editable name then information technology'due south easy to distinguish them, which helps. For PCs, y'all can specify which login accounts apply to which children from this section.

The rightmost tab, Parents, is where you tin edit your own profile and add other authoritative accounts. To invite a parent, just click the Plus sign at the upper left. Keep in mind that anyone yous add will accept full access to your business relationship settings and all of each child's activities, then be sure to only invite people you trust completely.

Web Filtering

The central feature of most parental command systems is the content filter, the component that keeps kids from accidentally (or deliberately) visiting inappropriate websites. Norton'south content filter offers corking customization options but sometimes falters in its implementation.

To go started, click Web Supervision from the Business firm Rules tab. Get-go, y'all need to select what level of supervision to enable, ranging from High (cake the website completely) to Moderate (give a warning, but allow access) to Low (monitor, merely don't block anything). Net Nanny also lets you choose to warn instead of blocking, but it lets yous configure that pick separately for each of its categories, whereas with Norton this setting applies beyond the board.

Below that, you can manage access to Norton's 48 content categories. You can block categories manually, or use preset collections based on the kid's age group. Hovering with the mouse over whatever category displays an explanatory tooltip, which is helpful if you decide to select a custom set of sites to block. If those 48 categories don't offer enough customization for y'all, there are also dedicated sections for blocking or allowing specific sites.

When Norton blocks access to a site, it explains why. The child can optionally ship parents a message requesting access or click a link to written report that the site was incorrectly categorized. By default, you get an email notification when your child ignores a warning or tries to visit a blocked site. You tin too view a log of web visits on the Activity page online. The listing tin can be massive, then Norton lets you limit the brandish to questionable action, select a specific category, or specify a time range.

Clicking an item in the list opens up a highly detailed brandish that includes a thumbnail of the page, categories assigned to the site, and the number of visits. From the detailed display, yous tin also cull to dispute the categorization, whitelist the site for the child'due south access, or allow access to the entire category. It's much more than a static report.

Advanced web tracking features on Windows, such as social networking, video, and web and search supervision for HTTPS sites requires an extension that is currently only available for Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer. One serious issue is that a kid can simply disable this plugin at volition and browse to their middle's content. They could then access whatever HTTPS-encrypted sites, including anonymizing proxies, so all bets are off. Norton seriously needs to improve how this works.

We tested Norton out in various browsers past trying to access Twitter, a site with HTTPS encryption. We did this later on blocking the social media category in the House Rules and setting supervision to the highest level. On Chrome, with the extension enabled, Norton blocked the site, reported the action and threw up a red flag. On Opera and Microsoft Border, it allowed us to access the site without any warning. We even tried explicitly blocking Twitter but got the same results. Nonetheless, Norton did block admission to unencrypted sites, such every bit CNN, on both Edge and Opera, when nosotros blocked the relevant category or added it to the exception list.

We confirmed multiple times that even if the broad content category is blocked or y'all add together a site to the Restricted Website list, your kid tin can still use a not-supported browser to admission whatsoever HTTPS-encrypted sites. These are serious shortcomings and a child can easily take advantage of these workarounds.

Restrictions are applied locally on the device, then a child cannot get around these blocks past using a VPN, and it will likewise alert you if your child attempts to apply an anonymizing spider web proxy unless your child uses an unsupported browser. If you want broader control, use OpenDNS Home VIP or SafeDNS for whole-network filtering.

On Android and iOS, Norton recommends that kids utilise the integrated Norton Browser. On Android, parents tin just cake every other browser app to ensure that a kid uses a monitored browser. On iOS, the MDM disables Safari and yous just demand to toggle the Installing Apps choice in the Restrictions section of the primary settings app to prevent them from getting around the rules. The Norton Browser is fine; it blocks both HTTPS and non-encrypted sites reliably and is reasonably quick.

Fourth dimension Supervision

Norton also helps parents manage when children apply their hardware—if the time allowance is upwardly or the schedule doesn't allow it, they can't apply it. Net Nanny limits the corporeality of time a kid tin can spend on the internet simply does not lock down their hardware. With Qustodio , parents can schedule hardware use and internet use, or fifty-fifty limit the time spent on specific programs. Norton's time supervision works on Android and Windows, but it isn't bachelor for iOS.

Every bit with content filtering, time supervision is automatically configured based on the child'due south age. The preset age ranges don't touch how many hours a child tin use their smartphone, but they practice alter the hours in which it is operable. If y'all want to change the schedule or daily limit, you need to do so separately for each day of the week, in ether hour or half-hour increments. We adopt the grid-style schedule used by many competing products, every bit information technology's like shooting fish in a barrel to cake out a fourth dimension range on every solar day of the week with a single mouse-drag.

You set time limits and supervision levels individually. The Loftier supervision option completely blocks the child once time is upward, while Depression but continues to monitor the activity after the fourth dimension limit is reached. You can set up a PIN as well, for access in case of emergency.

The time allowance in Net Nanny covers all devices; a kid who runs out of internet fourth dimension on the iPad can't merely switch to the PC and proceed surfing. Qustodio swings both ways, letting you choose between an overall time allowance or individual settings.

On the Time tab of the Action page, parents tin view a calendar that shows how much fourth dimension the child used on a given day. Each phone, tablet, and PC is tracked separately. The page also lists occasions when the child ran out of fourth dimension or disregarded a timeout alarm.

Facebook Monitoring

On Windows and with supported browsers, Norton can monitor Facebook activity. If your child creates an account using a false age, you get a notification. You besides become notified any time the kid posts personal information (more about personal data protection shortly). You tin can opt to block admission to other social media sites entirely, or disable the mobile apps in question.

It'south mutual for products that monitor social media to require the installation of an app. That means the parent needs the child's login credentials; it also ways the child tin can uninstall the app at any fourth dimension. Qustodio takes a novel arroyo—if the app isn't enabled, it blocks admission to the site. Qustodio tracks all social activity, including posts, pictures, and comments, regardless of the hardware used.

Norton simply watches the browser and notes when the kid is using Facebook. One trouble with this approach is that Facebook'southward frequent changes tin disable it until Symantec'due south engineers push button out a fix.

Extra Features

Turning on Search Supervision tells Norton to force Prophylactic Search on Google, Enquire, YouTube, and Yahoo. If the kids attempt to turn it off, Norton turns it right back on. You can also run across a list of what kids are searching for in the Search tab on the Activity page. The site also claims to force-enable it on Bing, but in testing, it did non lock down Safe Search.

Here's an uncommon feature—Norton tin monitor what videos your child watches on YouTube and Hulu. On the Action page's Video tab you can see a list of all the videos your child has watched. Each item includes the date and time of viewing along with the video's category. Opening an detail gets y'all the full description, a thumbnail image, and a link so yous can view the clip yourself. We wish that this functionality applied to video streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video as well.

Kids tin can be too forthcoming when information technology comes to sharing personal information. You lot tin can record your child's SSN, telephone number, and email address, along with ane gratuitous-form field for other personal information. A child who tries to share this information gets a alert that information technology's not allowed, and yous receive an email notification. However, this feature tin't track data sent on secure (HTTPS) pages, so its usefulness is somewhat limited.

Norton recently added an Instant Lock feature. On Windows and Android, this renders the device temporarily unusable and locks down any action. On Android, your child can nonetheless make calls to approved contacts, but apps won't launch. This feature is usable on iOS, just it is controlled by the MDM. This profile can be uninstalled without triggering whatever notification, however, so long as your kid first enables airplane mode.

Apps and Messaging

Kids these days are only as likely to use a smartphone or tablet as a clunky old computer. Norton recognizes that fact with a number of features that are specific to mobile platforms. Go along in listen that many features are not available on iOS at all, as we've mentioned.

On the App tab of the Firm Rules folio, you tin can see a complete list of all the installed apps. But cheque the box for any app yous want to block. The folio does point out that new apps will always be allowed until you block them. Merely a quick look at the App tab on the Activity page reveals whatsoever new installations.

Norton can too monitor your child's SMS messages and contacts on Android. Parents can view the child's mobile friends and assign either a monitored (messaging is allowed, but conversations are logged) or unmonitored (messaging is allowed and chat logs are not recorded) status. On the latest versions of Android, y'all tin can no longer outright block a contact. In testing, information technology recorded incoming and outgoing messages without an issue and notified united states of america that Norton logged the activity. Go along in mind that for MMS messages, it does not save the content, but rather just the case of the activeness. This office is limited to SMS message types and doesn't apply to services like WhatsApp, Point, or Line, but you could just block these other apps entirely. Like app supervision, this characteristic is Android-just.

Location

In addition to keeping your kids condom online, Norton can assistance you brand certain that your kids are at a condom location in the real world. On both Android and iOS, Norton uses all the standard methods of determining location, including monitoring GPS and Wi-Fi utilize, besides as by tracking the SIM bill of fare. On the Activity page'south location tab, you can view a map with pins for contempo locations, and a timeline that identifies when each pin was dropped. Clicking a pin gets an address and an accuracy estimate.

Keep in heed that the app does not include geo-fencing functionality, so y'all can't ready information technology up to alarm you when your child leaves certain geographical boundaries. It also can't even automatically notify you when a child's location changes, though it will refresh every 15 minutes. Both Boomerang and Locategy offering first-class geofencing capabilities.

Norton Family for Android

Kids aren't the only ones going mobile. The Parent Mode on Android lets you lot gear up rules and view activeness and alerts for the devices you monitor. All of the functionality of the web console is here, but unfortunately, its excellent interface did non make the jump to mobile. The app uses the same mix of white and grey elements, with the occasional splash of color, but the layout is non virtually as clean and a lot of the text looks a chip pocket-sized. Further, the app'due south look suffers from poorly aligned checkboxes, artificial shadows, and inconsistently spaced elements.

It displays tabs for Alerts, Activity, and Rules across the pinnacle with individual options organized nether each section. All the rules and activity tracking work as reported above, regardless of whether you lot configure them on the desktop or on via the parent app on Android.

In Kid Mode, the app simply opens the Norton Browser. It does let the child access the House Rules from a left-mitt menu, but that'south pretty much it. If a device is gear up upwardly in Child mode, parents tin can sign in from this menu as well to make changes as needed. Just be sure to switch back to Child Fashion earlier handing it dorsum to your kid!

Norton Family for iPhone

Norton used to offering a Parental Control app for iOS that let parents control and monitor activity, merely now, the app tin can just be used to gear up a phone or tablet for monitoring. The child app on iOS is just the Norton Browser. There are no options for parents to sign in and make changes to House Rules. This lack of a presence on iOS is frustrating, given that near every other competitor lets you lot make such changes from an iOS app.

To reiterate, the post-obit features practise not work on iOS: time supervision, social network supervision, mobile app supervision, and text message supervision. It is worth noting that iOS comes with a built-in set of app blocking tools in the Restrictions section in the Settings app. From hither yous can cake apps, such as Safari, Camera, FaceTime, and Siri. Y'all can also use this tool to block admission to the iTunes and iBooks store, as well as forbid children from installing/deleting apps and making in-app purchases. Rounding out the built-in features are content filtering by age and maturity ratings for pretty much any content types, such equally music, movies, Television set Shows, Books, and Apps. You can as well customize any number of privacy settings and prevent features in the Game Heart. Basically, this Restrictions section does a better job at protecting your child's rubber and privacy than Norton Family unit.

A Good Choice

Symantec Norton Family Premier offers an impressive range of parental control and monitoring features for parents of today'south hyper-connected kids. It tin track an unlimited number of devices, has an intuitive web interface, and logs lots of usage information. On the other mitt, nonetheless, its web filtering is weakly enforced, a lot of mobile features are platform dependent, and it does not back up Macs at all. If yous demand more than flexibility, consider using Qustodio, our Editors' Choice selection, for your parental control needs.

Source: https://sea.pcmag.com/security/10556/the-latest-technology-product-reviews-news-tips-and-deals

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