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Looking for an App to Help With Tracking Kids? Here Are a Few Options!

track kids app

Global positioning satellite (GPS) technology is making smartphone based monitoring an exciting new option for many parents. There are dozens of apps and options that can be used for parents to track kids. With the explosion of smartphone usage, multiple tracking and parenting apps are being released frequently. Here are a few apps for tracking kids, and some information on each of them.

MamaBear Child Tracking:

Pros: MamaBear was developed as an all in one solution to child tracking and monitoring. MamaBear offers GPS tracking and numerous options for location based alerts, including when a child enters specified restricted areas, or leaves designated areas early. MamaBear also monitors driving speed and taps into social media, offering parents even more information. It’s also cross-platform so a child can be on an Android device and a parent on a iOS device or vice versa.

Cons: MamaBear is relatively new and still in the public beta testing. Users may experience occasional bugs. However, with every new update, which is rather frequently, the MamaBear team is working to correct all known issues with the app on Android and iPhone devices. Because the MamaBear app is in beta testing, it is free to download and use. This makes it a favorite for many parents. We will continue improving and updating the functionality of the app, making it the #1 choice for parents who want to worry less about their children!

 

Amber Alert GPS:

Pros: Amber Alert was one of the first child tracking GPS services available to parents. The original Amber Alert locator used a GPS fob to communicate to a parent’s phone.

Cons: Amber Alert has released only offers parents basic location tracking services. In addition, when using the GPS fob, the child can easily lose the fob.

 

Footprints:

Pros: Footprints uses a wide range of iPhone functionality and includes specific location alerts. Footprints can alert a parent when a child leaves a designated location, or when a child goes on the move. It can also save a record of locations to give a parent an overall view of a child’s movements for the day.

Cons: Footprints is only available on iOS and requires a yearly subscription fee.

 

GPS Tracking Pro:

Pros: GPS Tracking Pro does an effective job of phone tracking via GPS. Parents can track a child via a web site and can use the site to find a lost or stolen phone.

Cons: GPS Tracking Pro is only available for Android phones and only offers basic GPS location services.

 

NQ Family Guardian:

Pros: NQ Family Guardian is an Android app that is still in the testing stages. NQ Family Guardian tracks the child’s location, online activities and offers several device filters and controls. Currently NQ Family guardian is free for 30 days and then requires a subscription fee.

Cons: It is only available for Android phones, and user reviews suggest it does not work on the newest model Samsung phones running Android Jellybean.

 

SecuraPhone:

Pros: SecuraPhone claims to use real time GPS monitoring and tracking to issue alerts on location and speed. A unique feature on the Android version of SecuraPhone prevents children from texting while driving.

Cons: At almost $10.00 monthly, SecuraPhone is not cheap, and many of the options are more suited to business monitoring than children.

 

If you are looking for an app to help track your kids, the apps listed above should meet your needs.

The MamaBear child tracker app is available free on Android and Iphone devices.

Download the app at the links below:

MamaBear child tracker app for Android

MamaBear child tracker app for Iphone

 

New GPS technology is making smartphone based monitoring an exciting new option for parents. There are dozens of apps that can be used to track kids. Here are a few.
Track Kids Apps
Date Published: 02/04/2013
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New Phones – Happy Kids – Anxious Parents

social media tracking

I’m sure you experienced pure delight on your child’s face when they unwrapped their new phone! Now it’s time to decide what parenting measures you need to protect them while they have a new, very powerful piece of technology. Many parents turn to monitoring apps, also known as parental control apps, as well as measures to keep the child from tampering with the monitoring tools. Follow this quick and easy advice on setting up and choosing the right parenting restrictions and monitoring for a child’s new phone.

Device Restrictions:

On iPhones:

– Go to the “Settings” app on the phone and click “General”
– Scroll down to select “Restrictions”
– After clicking “Enable Restrictions” and entering a private passcode, parents can set up restrictions for usage, content, location and more.
– Switch the button off for “Deleting Apps” to prevent the child from tampering with any apps meant for monitoring, like the MamaBear App.

On Android supported devices:

– Go to the Google Play store and click on “Settings”
– Select content filtering to allow your preferred maturity level
– Lock the settings, by touching ‘Set or Change PIN’ in the Google Play “Settings” area
– Unlike device settings on Apple, you’ll need to turn to the App Store to install apps to provide similar device restrictions
– For instance, the Kid’s Place app sets what apps you want your child to be able to open, limiting device features.

Content:

On an iPhone in the restrictions area described above you can restrict content of music, movies, shows, and apps based on the child’s age.

On Android devices they allow filtering by maturity level. You can see how they define maturity level here: http://support.google.com/googleplay/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1075738
Using the MamaBear App can bring to parent’s attention use of “restricted” words deemed by the parent on Facebook and Instagram.

Usage:

Typically usage restrictions, like limiting text messaging, phone calls and data is best done by contacting the service carrier for the individual device. There are also apps available that can restrict phone usage while driving like the DriveSmart app.

Location:

For many parents a useful feature of their kid’s GPS enabled smartphone is knowing where they are and where they’ve been. The MamaBear App parenting app is invaluable in this regard, offering real time monitoring and location alerts. Parents can access all of the alerts functions through the settings menu. Driving alerts use a simple on or off interface and allows parents to choose a maximum speed. Though you may want some apps to use your child’s location to take advantage of specific features, not all apps need to know your child’s location.

On iPhone go to “Settings” then “General” and then “Privacy.” Tap on location services to see all the apps that are using the location of the phone. If it’s necessary for the app to have location services leave it on. If not, you can turn off location services for particular apps.

On Android, go to “Settings” and click “Apps.” You’ll need to click each app to see if they have location permission.

Using these simple tips will help parents keep their new smartphone users safe and give their kids some freedom with their new best friends. I promise they won’t be leaving home without it.

MamaBear is available on the Google Play store for Android phones and in the Apple App Store for iOS enabled phones and devices.

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Step-By-Step Guide To Getting Started With The MamaBear App

Child Tracking

MamaBear installs easily and parents can begin monitoring a child’s location, driving speed and social media activity immediately. Here is a step-by-step guide to getting started with the MamaBear app for iPhone and Android.

1. Download the App on the primary parent’s phone

The MamaBear child monitoring app is available in the Google Play Store and Apple App Store. Just search for MamaBear and click install. The Android or iOS web enabled smartphone or device will do the rest.

2. Sign Up

Once the app is downloaded on the parent’s phone, click on the icon from your home screen to open the app and then click “Sign Up” to create an account and add your family members.
*Note: add the phone number and/or e-mail address you want to monitor as the child. Added guardians will have the same parental view as the main account holder. The main account holder and guardians will only be able to view children’s location and alerts, not each others.

3. Download the MamaBear App on the child’s phone

Download MamaBear from google play or the iTunes App Store on your child’s phone. Select Log In. DO NOT select sign up. Log In with your child’s phone number and your password. The child will see three safety features on their view of the MamaBear App – Check In, Come Get Me, Emergency buttons for a discreet way of getting in touch with you.

4. Ensure the MamaBear App stays put

If your child closes MamaBear out of memory or deletes the app on their phone, you won’t receive location points. You will receive a notification if this happens and a check-in request button will appear when you tap your child’s icon if we haven’t received a location point from their phone in a while.

Here’s a video to help set up parental restrictions on iphone to prevent deleting apps:  Click Here To Watch

You can monitor Facebook and Instagram activity without your child logging in to the app. You’ll simply need their log in and password for each social site.

5. Set Up location, driving and social media alerts

On the parent’s phone MamaBear version, click on “Settings” (it’s the button that looks like a gear on the top right). Select your child under the “Family” tab. You will see the easy-to-follow options for setting up alerts for location, social media driving. Location alerts include a school alert, a safe places alert or a restricted places alert. Monitor Facebook and Instagram activity including restricted words alerts. Lastly set the driving sped you’d like to be alerted to if your child drives or rides over. Once opened, each of these alerts menu options has more in depth options for parents to use.

Child Tracker setup

6. Choose alert delivery type

Once the alerts are set up, it is just a matter of choosing your notification preference. In the “Settings” menu simply click “Edit Profile.” Scroll down to “Alert Type” to choose your preferred notification. Email alerts are delivered via email while Push based notification delivers alerts directly to the phone’s notification center. Push notification is the default alert types for MamaBear.

With these easy steps, parents are prepared with information and insight using the MamaBear child monitoring app. If you ever have any questions about using MamaBear, don’t hesitate to email us at info@localhost.

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The Smart Phone Gift Giving Guide for Your Kids

android and iphones for kids

The holidays are coming.  For many families, that means new cellphones and smart phones for the kids. When choosing the best cell phones for kids, there are several qualifiers that parents can look to before making a final decision. Price and functionality tend to be the most important considerations. Finding a balance of the first two options and a phone that meets the requirements the parents and child have in mind is usually going to result in the best cell phones for kids.

Affordability is a pretty important factor in choosing the phone for a child. Finding a phone that won’t break the family’s gift budget is important. Finding a budgeted phone that works effectively and has all the features the parents feel the child needs is also important. Typically one or two year old models fall neatly into a low or median price range while still offering full functionality, making them solid choices. Phones from providers who offer a family plan for calls and information are good choices for affordability as well.

Functionality is an issue with many modern phones. Call reliability is extremely important to parents who expect to use the phone to talk to the child regularly. A phone that is going to be used as information or learning tool will need a strong network card to ensure uninterrupted data.  Strong text functionality is typically important to modern kids and parents who use texts to communicate. Reasonably modern phones offer all of this functionality while avoiding the cost of brand new models. This makes slightly older but still modern phones some of the best cell phones for kids.

Many parents find that ensuring the child has a phone with a strong GPS system is the most important factor in functionality in a new phone. This typically means a more modern phone with a functional GPS tracker is ideal. Apps like MamaBear use this modern GPS functionality to track and monitor children, not just lost and stolen phones. Modern GPS is available in many phones, both brand new from lines within a few years old. The Samsung Galaxy SII and the IPhone 4s for example are not new to market but offer full modern GPS functionality.

Another important part of functionality for a child’s phone is parental control. Restricting the ability of the child to surf the web or watch videos is important to many parents. Preventing the child from deleting or modifying controls or parenting related apps is important. In this regard newer models of iPhone do tend of offer better functionality.

The best cellphones for kids fall squarely into a few areas. Affordability, both in terms of purchase and monthly costs, is an important consideration for parents. The phone doing what it is intended for is important for both parents and children. Functionality in certain areas, like GPS and parental restriction, is typically very important to parents. Recently produced, but not brand new, models tend to meet all of these criteria effectively. When loaded with a child monitoring app like MamaBear, they can also help a parent quietly observe more and worry less.