Random Posted March 23, 2019 Share Posted March 23, 2019 I need to install something on two home PCs (bonus points if I can install it on two Android phones as well). I need this program/app/whatever it might be to not necessarily filter content, though that would be fine. What I really need is to shut down/block the internet except for school-related websites during school hours. I searched and found a lot of options for filtering and tracking and monitoring internet usage, but not so much for blocking only for certain times of the day. Does this program exist? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 Do you need to have some computers access the internet during this time? Or will they all be cut off? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Random Posted March 24, 2019 Author Share Posted March 24, 2019 14 hours ago, Mergath said: Do you need to have some computers access the internet during this time? Or will they all be cut off? Ideally, none of the computers in the house would be able to go to a nonschool website. For instance, we could go the Potter's School website to access an online class, but not to craigslist or ebay or Amazon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 If you find it, I would love to know! I want a similar sort of thing. Unfortunately, I haven't found something that will allow X but not Y during certain hours, whether that's a website or a program. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 I haven't used it, but have you looked at this? It looks like it's very customizable. https://freedom.to/features Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
City Mouse Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 I haven't used it, but I have heard good thing about https://www.netnanny.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Random Posted March 25, 2019 Author Share Posted March 25, 2019 On 3/24/2019 at 10:57 AM, Mergath said: I haven't used it, but have you looked at this? It looks like it's very customizable. https://freedom.to/features 23 hours ago, City Mouse said: I haven't used it, but I have heard good thing about https://www.netnanny.com/ These both look awesome! Thank you! I'm going to research them both. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted March 29, 2019 Share Posted March 29, 2019 I just came across Habyts, and it looks pretty good. Haven't tried it yet though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted April 2, 2019 Share Posted April 2, 2019 So I have been testing Habyts on my one kid's tablet and on his account on my PC, and I'm quite impressed. It doesn't do everything I would like it to do, sigh, but it does a lot. It lets you set Play Time and Study Time, and there is customization within that as well. If a site or app is set to "only Play Time," they can't use it if they don't go to the Habyts dashboard and click "start Play Time." You can tell it if they have specific hours that are Study Time hours, where they can't leave it and enter Play Time. It's also easy to pause Play Time or add more. It will even let you set a list of things to do before Play Time is available, so you can use that for personal accountability or outside (Mom has to check off the list). My son really likes the checklist being right there; he isn't one to sneak but will forget that chores come before play, so that is great. I also have it set so that at a certain time of day, Play Time pauses for evening chores, but once those are done, they can click that they did them. My kids are pretty good about doing schoolwork before playing screens, but they tend to gravitate toward games, even though there are so many cool, educational screen activities nowadays. So I can throw DuoLingo, Stop Motion, the Kindle app, typing.com, librivox, etc. into the "always allowed" part, and games and YouTube into Play Time, without locking the entire device. It seems to work seamlessly between PC and tablet. Downsides: It isn't cheap. It doesn't work with XBox (but I have the option to enter stuff like that manually if I choose to, and it'll subtract that from their Play Time). They can play offline tablet games but only if they enter the Habyts dashboard before we leave the house, but then they can't pause their Play Time. It looks a tad juvenile, and since it's installed on my PC under the email I used for my own PC account, I have to sign in to the dashboard to use my PC, but I can live with that. The hours given don't actually kick them off the device but do keep them from playing games. So they could read at 2 am but not play games; we have other programs that will lock the devices completely at bedtime, so NBD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted April 6, 2019 Share Posted April 6, 2019 (edited) 9 hours ago, kand said: @happypamama are you still using Habyts? Still like it? Which plan are you on? I’m thinking of trying it, but I’m not sure what to make of it having been removed from the App Store. iOS versions have to be installed from the website instead, and I’ve never encountered that. We just started using it about a week ago, so our free trial isn't up yet, but I am planning to install it this weekend on other devices. I'm impressed with it. It was easy to put my son's tablet into free play (unlimited) mode when he went to hang out with a buddy the other day. It hasn't seemed glitchy at all thus far, which is more than I can say for any of the other programs we've tried. I have not tested the filters to see if porn gets through, but we have a whole house WiFi filter through OpenDNS to help with that. We have lots of kids and several devices/user accounts, so I will need the most expensive Habyts plan, but honestly, I think it will be really helpful for me. I'm all for discussion and supervision, but with six kids, multiple computers/tablets/etc., and kid ADHD issues that make focusing hard, it is a ton of mental energy to keep tabs on who has had enough and all, so I feel not at all apologetic about using the software to make my life a little easier. I also love that it actively tries to build the habits in the kids too, rather than only blocking things. My 10yo has been loving the little morning checklist (never mind that I wrote the list on paper for him -- like me, he appreciates the electronic list), and also, every day at a certain time, the program reminds him to go do his afternoon chores and won't let him play more until he checks those off. I feel like it helps take emotion and nagging out of necessary chores, if that makes sense. Also, that is interesting about the iOS thing. We don't have any Apple devices currently, so I can't comment on that, but it works very well on the Android tablet. The parent app is very easy to use and customize. Edited April 6, 2019 by happypamama Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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