Palm has a handful of options to make it a kid-friendly device that parents can trust.
- Google Family Link allows you to control which apps and features are available to your child.
- Bark monitors, detects, and alerts you when there are any suspicious text messages, emails, and social activity.
See below to learn how to set them up!
Google Family Link
Through the Google Family Link app, parents are able to supervise and set limits on their child's phone usage. See below for a walkthrough of setting up a Google account for a child and learn what a parent can do to manage their child's usage.
For detailed instructions and troubleshooting from Google Family Link, visit their support site at https://support.google.com/families. Be sure to carefully review and understand the Google Family Link Disclosure for Parents of Children under 13 before setup. Also note that the controls set up by Google Family Link will not be 100% accurate in filtering inappropriate websites and apps.
If a child is under the age of 13, their device can be set up with a Google account with the highest level of supervision. If a child is over 13, Google Family Link can be set up for them, but they can disable supervision at any time. To set up a Google account for a child under 13, follow these steps when you reach the Google sign-in portion of device setup.
1. Sign-in with an existing child account or create a new account. This tutorial will show how to create a new account.
2. Overview: learn how a parent can manage child’s usage remotely.
3. Enter basic info for child.
4. Create child Gmail account.
5. Overview of Family Link app tools.
6. Review Google parental control settings and make sure you are comfortable with them.
7. Download the Family Link app on both child and parent devices. Parental controls will not work until this is done.
8. Select and review the apps that will be preloaded onto the child's device.
9. Note the Google Search settings. You can turn Search off, or leave it on and enable SafeSearch in the app. As stated in the Family Link Disclosure for Parents, Google may not catch all sites, videos, etc. and it is up to a parent's discretion to manage this on the child's device.
9. On a child account, YouTube can't be downloaded, but the YouTube Kids app can be downloaded through the Play Store on request.
9. Finish the rest of device setup. Once you reach the end, you will land on the device launcher, or home screen. Make sure apps are finished downloading and updated through the Google Play Store. Also make sure that the child and parent accounts are linked through the Google Family Link app.
Web and app controls
Parents have the ability to remotely disable certain apps and features such as Chrome, Google Search, and YouTube. There are toggles for filters that can be enabled in each of these apps, but these filters may not catch all inappropriate sites, videos, and other content. It is up to a parent's discretion to manage this on the child's device. A parent should carefully review each setting to understand what their child can see and use.
For more information on setting up Google Family Link parental controls, visit their support site at https://support.google.com/families.
Bark
We also recommend using Bark. Bark proactively monitors text messages, YouTube, emails and many social networks for potential safety concerns. You’ll get automatic alerts to signs of cyberbullying, depression, online predators, adult content and more.
Visit bark.us to learn more.
A few things to note:
- Make sure to have parental control apps turned on in both the Notification menu and Life Mode Advanced menu, or these apps may not behave properly.
- If your child's device is in Life Mode, location services will not work when the child's screen is turned off. To keep location services constantly running, Life Mode must be off.
For tips on maximizing battery life, visit the Battery Life Saving Tips article.