Even though there are so many advantages and positive aspects of using the internet, and still has many negative sides to it. Like any other technological medium, we cannot deny that the internet can never be considered a safe medium.
There’s a saying that, “Anything you post online will always be there even after you delete it”. Hence, the internet is a very unpredictable place. Internet like a spider web, if you fall into that trap, you’ll never be able to get out of it.
It is very important to be extremely cautious while using the internet. But the kids usually don’t care about these things. They are only interested in the fun and appealing side of the web. But as a parent, it is your responsibility to make them aware that the internet is not as easy and uncomplicated as they think.
If used correctly then the internet can change your life for good but if misused then it can destroy your life forever. So, to keep the kids secure from the world of the internet there are parental control apps.
These apps are like a big-time stress reliever for all the parents out there. As a parent, their main concern is their kid’s safety and even more so in this time where no one is safe on the internet especially young and naive kids.
But through the parental control apps, you can keep your kids safe to a certain extent. As you can monitor the kids and their online activities from anywhere and at any time.
In this article, I’m going to talk to you about a very unique kind of parental control app that is Circle Home Plus. Circle home is a round-shaped device that has an ethernet cable that directly connects with your router and a power cord to plug into the USB port.
Features of Circle Home Plus
Another important aspect of this article is to discuss the features of the Circle Home Plus app. As I’ve mentioned earlier, this is a very unique app with lots of amazing features in it. So, let’s start.
Content Filtering
The filtering feature comes with the in-built preset divided into four categories that are kid, teen, adult, and none. Each of the categories has contents as per the requirement of their age group. And the contents inappropriate for their age groups are blocked.
If you select the category teen then all the adult sites and apps are blocked from the device. Instead, there is more educational and creative content for the growing kids.
If you are not happy with the content provided by the app then you can easily block those apps from their device.
Or you can also choose the none option and set all the restrictions, block apps, filter contents, manage app usage all on your own manually on each of your kid’s devices.
Managing Screen Time
The managing screen time feature ensures that the kids are spending the least amount of time on the internet. It helps you to stop your kids from being addicted to the internet. You can easily decide how much time you want to allocate your kids to use the internet.
You can also set different time limits for different apps. For instance, there are apps like Facebook or other social media where your kids can waste a lot of time with pointless scrolling. And there are other apps like Google or any other educational site which can be fruitful for your kids.
So, it is better to add restrictions as per the app. Also, you can extend the time limit for the usage of the internet on weekends because they deserve that reward.
There is also another amazing additional feature that is the bedtime section. You can add a time when the kids are supposed to go to time and they won’t be able to use the internet past that time. However, they can use their devices and continue with offline activities.
Browsing Internet History
Another important feature is to show the internet history of the kids. For today’s kids, the internet is like their human diary. It won’t be wrong to say that you can find out most of the things about a person after looking at their internet history.
So, keeping them in check this feature can be of great importance. However, you can just get a link to the site your kids have been on. You cannot go further and check what they’re doing or watching.
Location Tracking
Today’s kids don’t feel the necessity to inform the parents where they’re going or with whom they’re going. And this has been the biggest concern for most of the parents of teenagers.
So, to solve this problem there is a feature of location tracking in Circle Home Plus. Through this app, you easily find out where your kids are and if they’re lying about their location or not.
But this app is unable to determine the exact location. For instance, there are apps like Facebook or other social media where your kids can waste a lot of time with pointless scrolling. This feature may not be the most perfect one but you can adjust with this.
Pricing
Circle Home Plus has two different pricing methods. One is the basic version and the other one is the premium version. Circle Home Plus comes with software and a device. The price of the device is $129 irrespective of the versions you choose.
If you wish to use the basic version then that is the only cost you have to pay. But if you wish to use the premium version then you have to pay $9.99 per month after the first year of subscription. If you want you can also pay $299.99 to get a lifetime subscription.
There are way more advantages of using the premium version as compared to the basic one. You can set screen time limits, pause the user or even the internet, set bedtimes, use location tracking, etc if you choose the premium version.
Circle Home Plus: Pros And Cons
It is almost certain that every man-made thing comes with its own set of pros and cons. No matter how good a product is it can never be 100% the best product. Likewise, Circle Home Plus also has its own positive and negative sides. let’s have a look.
Pros of Circle Home Plus:
- The installation and setup process is very easy.
- Allows screen time restrictions.
- Supports unlimited devices.
- It has an internet pause feature.
- Block any sites and apps.
Cons of Circle Home Plus:
- Does not support Mac.
- Quite expensive.
- Geofencing is missing.
- Sometimes there may be some vulnerabilities on the physical device.
Installation and Setup
Now you know what Circle Home Plus is, its features, advantages, disadvantages, and what it looks like. Let’s move towards the final stage that is the installation and setup process of the Circle Home Plus which is quite easy. Here are the steps:
- At first plug in the device with a router and a power source.
- Then install the app, Circle Home Plus, on your device.
- You can now scan the QR code to sync it with your phone.
- Start creating profiles for your kids or other family members and customize the settings as per your requirement.
- You can also start installing the app on your kid’s device and connect both the devices together by scanning the QR code.
- If you want you can also assign your other family members to monitor your kid’s device but a single device cannot be assigned to more than one profile.
- Now the device is ready to use.
Conclusion
So, to keep track of any of your family member’s internet details then this can solve all your problems.
If you feel like this app can help you and your family then I’d recommend you to use the one-year subscription first. Then you can judge if this app suits you or not and if it does then you can go ahead with the lifetime subscription one.
With so many features like limiting time screen, age-appropriate filtering, location tracking, I’m quite sure that all the parents are going to love this app.
So, this is it for this article. I hope you got the answers to the queries you’re looking for. If it helped you in any kind way I’d be more than happy to know about your experience in the comment section below.
