Help ! How do you set up a Ipod touch for a child ?

deanos

I have got my 10yr old Daughter a Ipod Touch for her birthday.

How can i set it up to block bad apps and websites etc , do i set up an account in my name and restrict it , or do i set it up in my daughters name and restrict it somehow ?

Any help appreciated :j

chrisw

I st up my son's ipod in his name but didn't tell him the password and used my email address. If he wants to download stuff then he has to come to me to put the password in. Not just being mean, it also stops him accidentally running up bills with in-app purchases.

Having said that, all apps are vetted by Apple and I don't think I've come across one yet which I would deem 'bad'.

Websites are another matter though and I'm not sure how you block those. I don't have any filters on our pc either so I'm trying to educate him into using the internet safely.

deanos

cheers, we have family safety on the kids logon on the PC, bad apps i mean non child friendly , vilent games etc

missimaxo

Also somewhere in the settings (sorry cant remember where) is an option to turn off in-app purchases - I highly recommend you do this! If you put the password in to buy an app, it stays in for a length of time afterwards (15mins?) and in that time they could buy things in-app by accident/ on purpose. Disabling the setting means that this is prevented.

googler

Posters above have shown you how to control app purchases.

As far as I know, there's no filtering options available for the installed web browser (Safari).

Shouldn't you have researched this before buying it?

Mista_C

I have done the same as ChrisW but also activated restrictions under Settings > General > Restrictions. In there you can set all manner of restrictions including things like ability to change account settings and volume limitation.

As for web browsing I have a content filter set up for the kids laptops. I have used the same content filter as a proxy for the iPods which can be set for the wireless settings. The only thing is if the kids find it they can switch it off because there's no ability to restrict it (that I can find). Thankfully our kids haven't bothered to go looking for it... yet.

googler

Mista_C wrote: »

As for web browsing I have a content filter set up for the kids laptops. I have used the same content filter as a proxy for the iPods which can be set for the wireless settings.

Do I take this to mean that it will only be effective when the kids are using their iPods within range of your network, and that it won't be effective if they take them out of the house and access another WiFi hotspot?

[Deleted User]

When you set the 'Restrictions' - remember to disable in-app purchases

Ideally, setup an account that is not linked to a 'real' debit/credit card also

The best bet in restricting web-access is to change the DNS on your home router (e.g. use OpenDNS). Yes, out the house this will mean nothing

securityguy

ringo_24601 wrote: »

When you set the 'Restrictions' - remember to disable in-app purchases

Ideally, setup an account that is not linked to a 'real' debit/credit card also

The best bet in restricting web-access is to change the DNS on your home router (e.g. use OpenDNS). Yes, out the house this will mean nothing

Someone who has access to the Settings menu on an iPod or iPhone can bypass that in the house as well. How to do this appears to be common knowledge amongst children. There are countermeasures but they are probably not "man in the street" options and don't work on all routers.

chrisw

deanos wrote: »

cheers, we have family safety on the kids logon on the PC, bad apps i mean non child friendly , vilent games etc

Apple don't allow adult-themed apps and none of the games are particularly violent, unless you count things like Ant Smasher where you have to squash the ants!

It's not so much via the browser much of the unsuitable stuff comes, although it's there if searched, but via children's must-have apps such as Youtube and Facebook. Not as bad as some of things on the internet but it's very difficult to avoid all exposure.

Mista_C

googler wrote: »

Do I take this to mean that it will only be effective when the kids are using their iPods within range of your network, and that it won't be effective if they take them out of the house and access another WiFi hotspot?

I set it up as a forward proxy, which means it points out to the internet so applies to them wherever they connect to wifi which I have to connect for them, entering the details of the proxy, as it is set to not connect automatically.

To be fair this could be a lot of hassle if not for the fact I had it all set up before their had iPods. Originally it was put in place to make things more straight forward for my autistic daughter. It allowed her some freedom to browse from a set/managed list of sites in order to offer her a bit of independence.
I only mentioned the proxy because there are online services which offer the facility but, as I said earlier, it's only as good as the child not switching it off under the network settings.