Netsanity is a parental control product for iOS and now Samsung devices that offers a significant amount of control and monitoring features. The creators of Netsanity originally focused strictly on iOS products but have recently expanded to the Samsung platform.
Like many parental control products today, Netsanity is subscription-based. Currently, a monthly plan is $6.95 per month per device, making the feature-rich Netsanity a premium product. (Netsanity Pricing page) Going with an annual plan can save parents a significant amount. Parents should take advantage of the 14-day free trial to make sure that the product works well for their family before paying for a subscription. Netsanity often runs specials and usually offers a discount for signing up for their newsletter. See the end of this post for a special SCP discount available from Netsanity as well as a link to their interactive demo.
Whether it is Netsanity or another product, when it comes to setup, the order of the steps vary but the concept is the pretty much the same. Parents set up an account, add their kids and devices to the dashboard or control panel on their account and choose their settings. Additionally, something has to be installed on each child’s device. Parents can control Netsanity remotely from anywhere using a web browser, but their website indicates that a iOS Parent App is in development.
During setup, you will be walked through installing the Netsanity VPN service profile on the device. VPN stands for Virtual Private Network which, in simple terms, is a way to keep the user in a private, controlled network even on the internet. There are cases where a school’s network will not allow the Netsanity VPN because they have their own VPN. In response, Netsanity added the Safe-wifi feature that disables Netsanity while the child is connected to the school’s secure, filtered network.
Netsanity allows parents to block web content based on categories and specific websites without having to give up the convenience of using the Safari. Many safe browsers are good for controls but make it difficult to use some of the iOS features. Netsanity also gives parents the ability to block or allow a large number of the apps and games that parents may not want their child to use. Many of which are featured on the SCP App Watch page. With Netsanity, parents can control the time of day kids can access the internet or impose impromptu restrictions by using the Screen-lock feature. Visit the Netsanity Features page from their website for more details.
One very important aspect of parental control products is product support. While there are quite a few tech-savvy parents using these products, there are just as many who are not. The best companies in this market understand this and offer excellent support, both in the information provided on their website and through email support for specific problems. As of this post, Netsanity has a track record of very prompt responses to support issues. A link to their support page is provided below.
In my opinion, Netsanity is a premium product but offers parents a substantial amount of feature-rich controls for their kids’ iOS and Samsung devices.
Any control or monitoring product recommendations by SCP are solely based on the performance and effectiveness of the product, not on affiliate relationships or other monetary benefits. You can read more here about how I work to inform and empower parents so they are better able to protect their kids online. Please search the SCP website for more information about Parental Controls and remember that no product is full-proof or “set it and forget it”. You need to stay vigilant and frequently monitor the products you use to make sure that they are still installed correctly and working properly.
Netsanity Interactive Demo
Netsanity Support
Netsanity on Facebook
Netsanity on Twitter
25% SCP Discount on Netsanity
2 comments On Netsanity Parental Controls for iOS
In respect to location services only, turning off location service is a non-event for our service. Regarding general disablement, we have ways to prevent both Apple and our Samsung service to be very difficult to remove. For more info specific to disabling location services, see below.
Different devices offer different capabilities. For example, we don’t install an app on the child’s Apple device but do if that device is a Samsung. With us, we can get general location info by triangulating cell towers on Apple and getting GPS precise location if is a Samsung. So if you turn off location for Apple we will still be able to determine general location but location is only 1 out of about 20 features we do. Also, for Apple we recommend that the family adds that device to iCloud which will give you precise location info and you can restrict the iCloud account to be tampered with.
If you have more questions specific to your child’s device and our service please visit us at Netsanity.net
I have Safe Family app installed on my son’s device. He can turn off my controls simply by turning off location services. Would he be able to do the same with netsanity?