Internet Nanny Parental Control Software Review

Net Nanny

3 out of 5 stars

3

  • Device interruption button
  • Location tracking
  • No social media monitoring
  • Plans starting time at $39.99/yr.

Cyberspace Nanny is a great tool to control my kids' screen time, merely information technology's a hurting to set up—and the holes in its content filters made me question its effectiveness.

Cyberspace Nanny pros and cons

Pro Heading

Pros

Pro Bullet Interruption push

Pro Bullet Website blocking

Pro Bullet Location tracking

Pro Bullet Screen fourth dimension limits

Con Heading

Cons

Con Bullet Confusing installation

Con Bullet No social media monitoring

Con Bullet Weak content filters

How we tested Internet Nanny

To exam Net Nanny, we signed up for the five-device plan. We downloaded the Net Nanny child app to a Moto4 and an Android 6, and we used a Google Chrome browser on a MacBook Pro to control the online parent dashboard.

Over the course of several days, nosotros saw how Net Nanny performed with normal device utilise and nosotros besides actively tested specific control features.

Our total methodology gives more than details about how we test and review products like Net Nanny.

Net Nanny Pricing

1-Device Desktop Programme

5-Device Family Protection Pass

20-Device Family unit Protection Pass

Full Yearly Cost
Yearly Price Per Device $39.99

$11.00

$4.50

Trial Period None

None

None

Return Policy

fourteen days

14 days

fourteen days

Contract Length

i year

ane year

one twelvemonth

Learn More

Data effective 8/xiv/2019. Offers and availability subject to change.

Unlike similar software products that base plan pricing on the number of features offered, the only divergence between the various Net Nanny packages is the number of devices covered. All packages come with the same protection features, so you don't accept to trade more than money for more control.

The average family unit with two to v children will get the best bargain by purchasing the five-Device Family Protection Pass, but a larger family volition benefit from the savings offered by the twenty-Device Laissez passer.

Tech and equipment

Net Nanny software works with Windows PCs, Macs, Kindle Fire tablets, and iOS and Android devices, but older operating systems may not support information technology.

I couldn't install Net Nanny on my youngest daughter's device because it'southward my onetime iPhone 4S. If you're like me and your kids go electronic hand-me-downs, be certain to cheque the Products tab on the Internet Nanny site for compatibility before yous commit.

Many parental control software products utilize a website'southward history to determine whether information technology's safe for kids, but Net Nanny really analyzes website activity in real time with its Dynamic Contextual Assay. It's kind of similar the difference between reading a Yelp review to notice out what a restaurant is similar versus sending someone to the eating house to observe out in person.

We like that Internet Nanny is gathering up-to-engagement info based on what's on the website at any given time, not just what category the website is in.

Despite its real-fourth dimension web filtering technology, Cyberspace Nanny caused no noticeable filibuster on my kids' devices afterwards installation. Also, adjusting a control on the Parent Dashboard translated to their phones almost instantly.

girl sitting on couch using a tablet

Net Nanny features

Screen time limits and scheduling

Internet Nanny offers both time limits and schedules, so you can control the amount of time kids spend on their devices each day and what times they're immune to use them.

Similar parental control devices similar Circle Abode limit merely net activity, but Internet Nanny really pauses the smartphone or tablet itself, which is exactly what I hoped for.

Net Nanny also notifies the child with a full-screen message that they've used upward their screen time or that their scheduled screen time has ended. In all of my tests, the screen time limits worked perfectly, and I like how easy it was to control them from the user profiles on the dashboard. I also loved the instant pause push button.

Content filtering

I'g not impressed with Net Nanny's content command filters.

I blocked my daughter's phone from content related to suicide, but in testing I was yet able to access graphic scenes on YouTube from a popular show most suicide.

On the flip side, when my daughter tried to access a video about doll refurbishing, Cyberspace Nanny blocked information technology, and I got a detect that she was beingness blocked from "mature content." I watched the video in question and saw nothing in it that could be considered mature.

Net Nanny'south filters might provide more than inconvenience than protection.

App and website blocking

Net Nanny lets you lot block specific websites and apps, and while website blocking worked well, the app blocking was glitchy.

A give-and-take game continued to work for several minutes after I'd blocked it, then Net Nanny told me an app I hadn't blocked was blocked. I also wish that the app blocking characteristic had an alert option like the website blocker does, rather than just a total block pick.

Location tracking

Cyberspace Nanny'southward location tracking is a nice bonus for this kind of software. Information technology volition update your child'southward phone's location on a map every infinitesimal so you always know where they are—or at least where their phone is. In our tests the location tracking worked perfectly.

mother using smart phone and helping daughter with homework

Installation and setup

Installing and setting up Net Nanny on my kids' devices took most an hr and it was a hassle.

The parent page instructs you to install the software on your children'due south devices by using your children's devices to go to a website. But when I entered in the web address I came to a webpage that was not optimized for mobile users, and I couldn't employ it to install the mobile app.

I finally searched for the Cyberspace Nanny child app in the Google Play shop. Fortunately, once I establish information technology, downloading and installing it was easy. I used the same technique for my oldest girl'south newer Android.

Because this is an app that tracks your kid's phone usage, most of the setup was the app asking me to say yes to all the permissions it asked for. As a security-minded parent, I was nervous handing over all that admission to an app, but without information technology, the app tin't do its job.

To learn more about what the visitor does with the information gathered from the app, you can check out Net Nanny's privacy policy.

Parent dashboard

The Parent Dashboard was tricky to effigy out at first.

It was merely by run a risk that I realized one of the icons on the dashboard was the aforementioned equally the icon I click in my photo editing plan when I desire to edit an image. When I clicked on it, sure enough it opened up the parental control options and let me edit each child'south filters, blocks, and screen time.

The diction is as well confusing on the dashboard. For example, "Paused from Schedule" doesn't mean that Net Nanny is pausing the schedule. It means that the device has been paused because of the schedule yous've set.

"Electric current Rule: Standard, Applied Manually" ways that the device's current condition is standard, significant no screen time restrictions, and that it'due south on that setting because you lot manually fix it to standard (non because it's scheduled).

It took me awhile to decode Net Nanny'due south jargon, but in one case I did, it fabricated sense and was easier to navigate the various tools and options.

One matter I liked about the Parent Dashboard was the family feed that showed all of my children's activity. I could come across their internet browser searches and view notifications if they tried to access whatsoever blocked content. Clicking on the content took me correct to the blocked site so I could evaluate it for myself.

How Net Nanny stacks upwards

Data effective 8/fourteen/2019. Offers and availability subject field to modify.

Net Nanny FAQs

Yes, Zift parental control software recently "married" Net Nanny software, and together they became Internet Nanny 10.

Zift subscribers retain the same features and control they had with Zift, only with a name alter and additional Net Nanny features like the Parent Dashboard.

Also, Net Nanny adopted some Zift features, similar the App Advisor that informs parents nigh the prophylactic of different popular apps.

Yes, Net Nanny works with the Google Chrome browser. But yous may need to configure the browser to ensure Net Nanny works properly. See the full listing of troubleshooting steps on the Net Nanny support folio.

Yes. Unlike other parental control programs, Net Nanny does not offer a stealth fashion for parents.

Conclusion

In one case I got through some installation roadblocks and spent some time using the tools on Net Nanny'due south Parent Dashboard, I constitute information technology like shooting fish in a barrel to apply.

I loved the screen time controls, simply the inappropriate content that snuck through the web content filters was troubling, and the app blocking wasn't always reliable.

I might be willing to give Net Nanny another shot just for the screen time control and handy pause button, but I wouldn't trust it to protect my kids online.

Related pages on SafeWise

Sources:

Kasey Tross

Written by

Kasey Tross

Kasey is a trained Customs Emergency Response Team (CERT) member and a freelance author with expertise in emergency preparedness and security. As the mother of four kids, including two teens, Kasey knows the safety concerns parents face equally they raise tech-savvy kids in a connected world, and she loves to research the latest security options for her ain family and for SafeWise readers.

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