What restrictions do you put on iPad usage?

[RegGuheert]

Right now we have two iPads: DS13 has one and I have one which is shared with the youngest four children. DS13 is pretty responsible with his, but I currently have the following restrictions in place:

 

- I have put a restriction code on his iPad that he does not know (I hope) and I have In-App Purchases set to Off. This restriction is also on my iPad. I am pretty much opposed to those with very rare exceptions. So far I do not think we have made any such purchases.

- I also restrict content to PG13 (or equivalent) for Music, Movies, TV and Apps. Maybe lower.

- DS13 knows my AppleID and password so that he is able to do updates and download free games if he likes.

 

So far all has gone well. I'm glad I have In-App Purchases turned off on my iPad, since it seems clear that one of my children would be purchasing Fish Bucks right-and-left without the restriction.

 

But we are getting more iPads for Christmas. This will change things quite a bit, since the younger children will not be sharing their iPad with me anymore. And I *really* do not want to do all the maintenance and updates on their iPads. OTOH, I also do NOT want to give them my AppleID and password (except for DS12). The aforementioned child (not DS12) would likely drain our retirement savings if I did that! :glare:

 

I think I will give DS12 the same level of freedom as DS13, but I'm trying to decide what restrictions to put on the younger three children. Here is what I am thinking right now:

 

- Lock out Safari and YouTube.

- Disallow changes to Location and Accounts.

- Restrict content to PG13 (or equivalent) for Music, Movies, TV and Apps. Maybe lower.

- Lock out Game Center.

 

So my questions are these:

- Is it possible to create a restriction that would allow them to *only* purchase FREE applications or books? I'm thinking this can be accomplished by allowing them to only get apps, movies and books from my iTunes installation by transferring them to their computers over the network and then syncing them to their iPads? I don't think that requires any password, but perhaps I am missing somthing?

- Are there any restrictions I can place on books? Some of the books out there are pretty bad. (I guess if I avoid giving out the AppleID and password that will not be not an issue...)

- Is there any way to effectively limit screen time? I do not want these to completely destroy MomsintheGarden's school environment. Currently it is only a minor issue since they have to share the one device. But I expect that will change after Christmas. Before the novelty wears off, I expect there may be some issues. Perhaps we could have them all stack their iPads together in a common location until school is done for the day?

- Have you made other restrictions for your younger (below 12) children that you find effective? If so, please share that.

- I know these iPads can be incorporated into their schooling since I have seen quite a few threads about that. That said, I will say that MomsintheGarden is pretty adamant about limiting the use of computers for school. I'm not about to oppose that, since I'm very pleased with how things are going. Still, I am wondering if there are areas in which you have found the iPad to be *indispensable* in your homeschool? If so, please let us know what those are and how it works. For instance, we have all the old classics on the iPads. Do you find they can read successfully on the iPad, or do they simply get distracted by all the other stuff they can do? Perhaps there is an excellent language program or something you use for drilling on multiplication tables that has no equal? Or maybe you find having the children work with PDFs on the iPad is much more convenient somehow than using paper, please share that.

 

Any other thoughts on this subject?

 

TIA!

Edited November 9, 2011 by RegGuheert

[RegGuheert]

- Is it possible to create a restriction that would allow them to *only* purchase FREE applications or books? I'm thinking this can be accomplished by allowing them to only get apps, movies and books from my iTunes installation by transferring them to their computers over the network and then syncing them to their iPads? I don't think that requires any password, but perhaps I am missing somthing?

I just tested this with DS13 and it works! Yea!! I don't have to give anyone the password for my AppleID.

 

Here is what they need to do to get apps: Go to their laptop and start iTunes. Browse to my iTunes folder and copy any apps, books or movies they want to their folder. Once the copy is complete, then they can copy them up to their iPad the next time they sync. No password is involved.

 

Now I'm wondering if they use the automatic WiFi syncing which is available in iOS 5 if that last step just goes away. I cannot test that since both of our iPads have iCloud turned on, so WiFi syncing is disabled. I'll test this on Friday when DS12 gets his iPad for his birthday.

[RegGuheert]

Now I'm wondering if they use the automatic WiFi syncing which is available in iOS 5 if that last step just goes away. I cannot test that since both of our iPads have iCloud turned on, so WiFi syncing is disabled. I'll test this on Friday when DS12 gets his iPad for his birthday.

I was wrong. You CAN turn on WiFi syncing even if you use iCloud for backup. To do this, you need to connect the iPad to the computer with iTunes and then click the name of the iPad. In the center pane, scroll down to the Options section and click the option that says: "Sync with this iPad over Wi-Fi".

 

So to get an application using WiFi syncing, all the children need to do is go to iTunes on their computer and first copy the application from my iTunes to their iTunes. Then they can copy it from their iTunes to their iPad. (They cannot copy it directly from my iTunes to their iPad.) But there is now no need to connect the iPad to the computer and the application just show up. Amazing!

 

Boy, this stuff is confusing!! :tongue_smilie:

[acurtis75]

Right now we are sharing but I intend to get dd6 her own before Christmas. I will set hers up with the purchase restrictions you mentioned. For right now, we are on the honor system and it's working fine. I don't let her download anything, even free apps or books. I'm not sure that I will after she gets her own. I think I'll let her make a list for me and I'll do it. I know she will read on hers because she loves to read on the ereader we have.

 

Having witnessed the children of a dear friend skip over the educational apps and dive straight in to angry birds and some other game where you make grotesque looking monsters dh & I agreed not to download any games that weren't educational. I then organized the apps in to folders and dd knows she can only go in to the learning apps folder. We allow very little screen time period and other than playing wii with mom & dad occasionally she's had very little exposure to video games so stack the states is pretty darn exciting to her.

 

If we use the iPad for school it's usually together. When we learn a new concept we do math problems on the doodle app because she thinks it's cool. We listen to our latin chants & Greek songs because she can do so without taking over my computer. There are some learning apps that aren't as fun for her so I will schedule them. Geo master plus is one I use for geography. It's a puzzle for countries inside each continent. you have to place them by shape. That would be hard to duplicate on paper. I also have an sat question of the day app we do together and a sat flashcard app that pronounces the word and uses it in a sentence that I instruct her to "play" with once a week or so. She watches the free brain pop video every day. When she gets her own I might subscribe to that instead of Netflix for her. You probably couldn't get away with that for that 12 year old. I will also load it with a few of her favorite movies.

 

In general I consider all screen time together the same when placing limits. She doesn't use the computer alone yet so for her it's just tv & the iPad. I try to limit it to one hour per day. I don't usually let her have screen time early in the day because I want her to read and focus on schoolwork first. When we took a road trip this weekend I let her use it for 2 hours. She put it down on her own and read the hobbit for the rest of the trip. I can tell you that since we bought the iPad she's asking to watch the tv less. She would rather play scrabble or trivial pursuit as a family or rocket math or math bingo by herself than watch tv.

[pamela&claire]

Once you have an Apple ID set up you can take your credit card off the account then no one will be able to purchase anything.

[LidiyaDawn]

 

Boy, this stuff is confusing!! :tongue_smilie:

 

You don't say….

 

We have an iPad2 and a macbook pro ~ and I have very little idea what you're talking about. :laugh:

 

I'm not concerned with "restrictions" because dd14 is the only one using it alone aside from dh and I (ds13 uses it, but with help - special needs) but I do wish that I understood all this syncing and iclouds (??) and all that stuff. We hook the iPad to the laptop with the cord and figured out how to move music over.. I think… it seems to do it itself… and we buy apps right ON the iPad in the "app store"…. that's about all we know. Heck, this macbook prolly does a bazillion things that I haven't figured out. There's programs on it that I've never even clicked. :p

[Carrie12345]

I don't think we have any restricted settings on ours, but it's only to be used in our family area, so I'm not too concerned. Once in a while, they're allowed to watch a movie, together, in one of the bedrooms, but we'd hear the arguing over titles if they were attempting to start a new one without asking first, lol. plus, Netflix tells us what's been played.

[StephanieF]

Since my apple a/c was hacked I remove my cc details and enter them every time I buy something. That way no one could buy anything without me! When my a/c was hacked I had to get a new cc since someone was buying through i tunes all over the world! Therefore I would never again leave the details in apple's hands as their systems are not robust enough.

Stephanie

[cougarmom4]

I then organized the apps in to folders and dd knows she can only go in to the learning apps folder.

 

Not to hijack the thread, but will you tell me how to create folders? I'm a new iPad owner...still figuring things out...but this is what I am wanting to do and I'd love some guidance!!! What I'd really like to do is create a folder for each of my children and put the apps geared to their age/need to study/etc inside that folder. You know, the preschooler would have the phonics, the high-schooler would have ACT prep stuff, etc.

 

We also only have educational games/apps on our iPad for the kids. (Although, I kind of view Angry Birds as educational (physics...yes?!?) and don't mind that one.) But I know that if I had a ton of FUN games, they'd only play those instead of the ones I want them to play.

[misidawnrn]

Not to hijack the thread, but will you tell me how to create folders? I'm a new iPad owner...still figuring things out...but this is what I am wanting to do and I'd love some guidance!!! What I'd really like to do is create a folder for each of my children and put the apps geared to their age/need to study/etc inside that folder. You know, the preschooler would have the phonics, the high-schooler would have ACT prep stuff, etc.

 

We also only have educational games/apps on our iPad for the kids. (Although, I kind of view Angry Birds as educational (physics...yes?!?) and don't mind that one.) But I know that if I had a ton of FUN games, they'd only play those instead of the ones I want them to play.

Hold your finger on one app until it starts to jiggle. Then you can slide one app onto another app and it will make a folder. It will automatically name them something like education or entertainment. You can rename them. When you are done scooting apps hit the home button.

[Samiam]

DS13 has his own. We don't really have any restrictions on it,

pretty much same rules as laptop use...ie nothing naughty, and know that we do check.

 

As far as iTunes purchases, he has his own account. To set it up, he had to use my credit card, but once it is set up, you can remove the credit card. So he has to purchase his own iTunes gift cards, with his own $$ and enter that into his iTunes account for any purchases. So go at it, purchase anything you want, it's your money.

 

Thankfully, he's generally a frugal guy, and usually buys a $15 iTunes gift card every 2-3 months. If it became a problem, I would have to crack down, doesn't need to be wasting all of his $$ that way, but so far, not an issue for us.

[RegGuheert]

So to get an application using WiFi syncing, all the children need to do is go to iTunes on their computer and first copy the application from my iTunes to their iTunes. Then they can copy it from their iTunes to their iPad. (They cannot copy it directly from my iTunes to their iPad.) But there is now no need to connect the iPad to the computer and the application just shows up. Amazing!

O.K. We gave DS12 his iPad two days early since he is off of school until Monday. So I have implemented my plan of not enabling any purchases from his iPad, instead allowing him to only copy from my iTunes account. This works fine except for two snags which I did not foresee:

 

1) DS12's iPad holds 64 GB. Unfortunately, he only has 48 GB of free space on his computer. So there is no way for him to fill up his iPad unless I upgrade the hard drive in his computer. I think I might have one around here somewhere, so I will probably upgrade it over Thanksgiving.

2) While Apple permits 10 devices on a single AppleID, they only allow 5 computers to have iTunes associated with one account. The result is that if I maintain my iTunes installation as the gatekeeper not all of the kids can have an iTunes associated with this AppleID. Given this, I probably will have DD9 use iTunes on her twin's computer since her computer also does not have sufficient space. The wireless syncing makes this more workable. She will only need to access his computer to get games that are not already loaded.

Right now we are sharing but I intend to get dd6 her own before Christmas. I will set hers up with the purchase restrictions you mentioned. For right now, we are on the honor system and it's working fine. I don't let her download anything, even free apps or books. I'm not sure that I will after she gets her own. I think I'll let her make a list for me and I'll do it. I know she will read on hers because she loves to read on the ereader we have.

The honor system would work with some of our children, but not others. As such, I keep them partially locked down. I have decided to not allow any purchases from the new iPads. If they want it, it has to go through my iTunes first. In other words, I am the gatekeeper. I think this will be quite workable. One question here: Is there any way to "unbuy" something? Suppose I grab something that I don't like or the kids show that they have a problem with some game: can I give it back or somehow make it unavailable to them?

Having witnessed the children of a dear friend skip over the educational apps and dive straight in to angry birds and some other game where you make grotesque looking monsters dh & I agreed not to download any games that weren't educational. I then organized the apps in to folders and dd knows she can only go in to the learning apps folder. We allow very little screen time period and other than playing wii with mom & dad occasionally she's had very little exposure to video games so stack the states is pretty darn exciting to her.

No doubt kids go for the games first. While I am not preventing games on their iPads, I like the idea of creating a folder or folders that they must stay within during certain periods. Again, some of our children would obey this and others would not.

If we use the iPad for school it's usually together. When we learn a new concept we do math problems on the doodle app because she thinks it's cool. We listen to our latin chants & Greek songs because she can do so without taking over my computer. There are some learning apps that aren't as fun for her so I will schedule them. Geo master plus is one I use for geography. It's a puzzle for countries inside each continent. you have to place them by shape. That would be hard to duplicate on paper. I also have an sat question of the day app we do together and a sat flashcard app that pronounces the word and uses it in a sentence that I instruct her to "play" with once a week or so. She watches the free brain pop video every day. When she gets her own I might subscribe to that instead of Netflix for her. You probably couldn't get away with that for that 12 year old. I will also load it with a few of her favorite movies.

Thanks for the list of apps! We don't have streaming video on our iPads and I don't plan to let them do that. We currently have 24 digital copies of movies which they can download and watch if they like.

In general I consider all screen time together the same when placing limits. She doesn't use the computer alone yet so for her it's just tv & the iPad. I try to limit it to one hour per day. I don't usually let her have screen time early in the day because I want her to read and focus on schoolwork first. When we took a road trip this weekend I let her use it for 2 hours. She put it down on her own and read the hobbit for the rest of the trip. I can tell you that since we bought the iPad she's asking to watch the tv less. She would rather play scrabble or trivial pursuit as a family or rocket math or math bingo by herself than watch tv.

The main restrictions here are that they must do their chores and school first when they get up. They lose privileges if they disobey this rule.

Once you have an Apple ID set up you can take your credit card off the account then no one will be able to purchase anything.

I guess that is a restriction you could have, but that seems like a major inconvenience! Can you still purchase free apps if you do this?

I'm not concerned with "restrictions" because dd14 is the only one using it alone aside from dh and I (ds13 uses it, but with help - special needs) but I do wish that I understood all this syncing and iclouds (??) and all that stuff. We hook the iPad to the laptop with the cord and figured out how to move music over.. I think… it seems to do it itself… and we buy apps right ON the iPad in the "app store"…. that's about all we know.

We only have Windows PCs, but with iOS5, we no longer need to connect the iPads to the PCs. Nearly everything can be done wirelessly. That's a big convenience, since they only need to find a place to plug in their iPads for charging.

I don't think we have any restricted settings on ours, but it's only to be used in our family area, so I'm not too concerned. Once in a while, they're allowed to watch a movie, together, in one of the bedrooms, but we'd hear the arguing over titles if they were attempting to start a new one without asking first, lol. plus, Netflix tells us what's been played.

I'm waiting to see how our children will manage to argue over content even when they all have independent access to the same stuff. I'm sure they will find a way! :tongue_smilie:

Since my apple a/c was hacked I remove my cc details and enter them every time I buy something. That way no one could buy anything without me! When my a/c was hacked I had to get a new cc since someone was buying through i tunes all over the world! Therefore I would never again leave the details in apple's hands as their systems are not robust enough.

Stephanie

Uggh! I've heard that this can happen. That's another reason to not let the children have the password. They might not be careful with it when others might be watching.

We also only have educational games/apps on our iPad for the kids. (Although, I kind of view Angry Birds as educational (physics...yes?!?) and don't mind that one.) But I know that if I had a ton of FUN games, they'd only play those instead of the ones I want them to play.

So that's the second vote for only educational apps! We definitely have our "line" of what apps are allowable, but it goes somewhat beyond educational. We definitely view these as entertainment devices. Sort of like expensive Nintendo DSes.

DS13 has his own. We don't really have any restrictions on it,

pretty much same rules as laptop use...ie nothing naughty, and know that we do check.

 

As far as iTunes purchases, he has his own account. To set it up, he had to use my credit card, but once it is set up, you can remove the credit card. So he has to purchase his own iTunes gift cards, with his own $$ and enter that into his iTunes account for any purchases. So go at it, purchase anything you want, it's your money.

 

Thankfully, he's generally a frugal guy, and usually buys a $15 iTunes gift card every 2-3 months. If it became a problem, I would have to crack down, doesn't need to be wasting all of his $$ that way, but so far, not an issue for us.

What do you plan to do when your younger children get older and possibly get iOS devices? Do you intend to have them repay for paid content, even though you really only need to purchase it once for your household?

 

With six iPads, we save quite a bit of money by sharing the applications. I estimate that we have purchased about $100 worth of apps so far plus the cost of the 24 digital copies of movies (which are cheap if you get them with Blu-ray movies, but very expensive if you buy them directly from Apple). These apps and movies will likely get used on all six devices, so I feel like we have already either saved $500 for the apps and many $1000s for the movies or conversely that we have enabled the children to have more access to material.

 

The same discussion would apply to ebooks, but we only have free ebooks from Apple. We are in the Amazon camp for paid ebooks, so we have to work that out. We probably will just use Cloud Book Reader.

[cougarmom4]

Hold your finger on one app until it starts to jiggle. Then you can slide one app onto another app and it will make a folder. It will automatically name them something like education or entertainment. You can rename them. When you are done scooting apps hit the home button.

 

Thanks! I'm going to have fun with this!

[acurtis75]

The same discussion would apply to ebooks, but we only have free ebooks from Apple. We are in the Amazon camp for paid ebooks, so we have to work that out. We probably will just use Cloud Book Reader.

 

I put the Kindle app on my ipad and android phone so I can read my amazon content on either one and they auto-sync.When I open a book in either location I am prompted to move to the furthest page if I want to.

 

I'm not too good at the multi-quote thing but on the subject of deleting apps. There were a few I deleted on the ipad because I didn't use them and they showed back up. I guess the cloud sent them back or something. I then deleted the same app on the device & in itunes on my computer and it didn't come back even though I didn't connect to the computer. I have no explanation for this but it happened.:)

 

A question for you on the movies. If you didn't buy them from apple how to you get them on the devices? When we get dd hers I plan to load it with some movies but I'm not sure how. Also, if you buy it in Itunes does it show up on all your devices? So far I've only rented movies and will have to figure all this out.

[RegGuheert]

 

I put the Kindle app on my ipad and android phone so I can read my amazon content on either one and they auto-sync.When I open a book in either location I am prompted to move to the furthest page if I want to.

Yes, I have that, too. It's nice, but the books take up space. The Kindle Cloud Reader is nice and it lets you purchase books, as well. You can even place it on your iPad desktop just like a normal app even though it is just a Safari thing. Pretty cool!

I'm not too good at the multi-quote thing but on the subject of deleting apps. There were a few I deleted on the ipad because I didn't use them and they showed back up. I guess the cloud sent them back or something. I then deleted the same app on the device & in itunes on my computer and it didn't come back even though I didn't connect to the computer. I have no explanation for this but it happened.:)

That makes sense and I guess it would work. I could still redownload for free later, but the apps wouldn't be available for the kids to grab. That would suffice. Thanks!

A question for you on the movies. If you didn't buy them from apple how to you get them on the devices? When we get dd hers I plan to load it with some movies but I'm not sure how. Also, if you buy it in Itunes does it show up on all your devices? So far I've only rented movies and will have to figure all this out.

Amazon has a nice page explaining Digital Copies.