The world’s number one search engine, Google officially launched the Family Link service in Canada to help Canadian parents remotely monitor and manage their kids’ Android devices. Family Link isn’t restricted to android devices, it is also available for iOS devices. The app helps control, track and monitor their kid’s android devices.
Google’s official blog revealed that the company was motivated to introduce ‘Family Link’ services in Canada after research which they found Canada’s Generation Z, estimated to be 5.8 million (aged below 14), to be the most web-savvy, app-friendly generation. The search engine giant found that 76% of Canadian kids aged between 2 and 12 years owned or shared tablet devices and 37% of them owned or shared a smartphone.
Other research found that nearly 25% of all students in Grade 4, over 50% students in Grade 7, and 85% students in Grade 11 own a smartphone.
The blog further reveals that managing the use of smartphone or tablet use by children could prove to be a tricky. However, parents need to have control over how their kids use these devices. This is what motivated Google to introduce Family Link to Canadian Parents.
Now, Canadians can create Google accounts for their children aged under 13 using Family Link and keep an eye on the use of Android devices by their kids. In order to effectively use the Family Link service, parents must create a Google Account for their kids on an android enabled device and then link their child’s Google account to theirs. This linkage provides access to a range of parental control settings on apps they choose to be installed on their kids’ devices.
To use Google’s Family Link, Canadian parents need to ensure the child’s device is powered by Android Nougat (7.0) or a higher version of android.
Google further reveals that ‘Family Link’ can help parents:
- Approve or block apps their kids can download from Google Play Store.
- Get a monthly or weekly report to keep a track of the time their kids spend on different apps. In addition, parents can also set daily screen time limits.
- Set bedtime and control times when the device must be locked remotely to ensure android usage doesn’t interfere with studying, playing or sleeping time.
Google also invited Canadian parents to share their feedback on how the Family Link experience can be improved. Those willing to share their feedback can simply select ‘Help’ and ‘feedback’ from their Family Link app.
Google’s Family Link was launched first in the U.S.A last year. Later, it was offered to users in Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia.
Commenting on the launch of Google’s Family Link, tech experts at Openknock expressed interest in the possibility of Apple allowing parental control for iOS devices to track and monitor their kids’ devices remotely.
