Every generation gets the Internet in the palm of their hands earlier and earlier. Internet access and usage can have a profound effect on your child’s development, from toddlers to adolescents. As a parent, it’s up to you to make sure your child uses the Internet and online apps safely and responsibly as they grow. From screen time management and content filtering to real-time monitoring, parental monitoring apps take that herculean task of managing how your kids use the Internet and make it simple.
In this article, we’ll take a look at the TISD CommandIQ™ app’s extensive parental control features and show you how easy it can be to manage internet usage and ensure safe and controlled online access for your children.
ExperienceIQ™: An iOS and Android Parental Control App You Can Count On
Every TISD customer can use the CommandIQ™ to control their home WiFi right from the palm of their hand. Bundled with CommandIQ™ is ExperienceIQ™, a full suite of parental controls that empowers you to manage your children’s digital boundaries, set screen time limits, check usage, and filter content all at the touch of a button.
To install ExperienceIQ™, first download the CommandIQ™ app for your Android or iOS device. Then, contact us to sign up for ExperienceIQ™.
How to Install ExperienceIQ™
To connect all of ExperienceIQ™’s features to your CommandIQ™ mobile app:
- Go to your CommandIQ™ Dashboard.
- Tap into “My Network” and then “Services.”
- You will see a list of apps you can control with CommandIQ™, including ExperienceIQ™ and ProtectIQ as well as certain third-party apps like Alexa. To enable ExperienceIQ™, simply select it from the list and follow the instructional prompts.
If you ever need to disable ExperienceIQ™, tap into “My Network” and “Services” again, select the app from the list, and swipe to uninstall it from CommandIQ™.
Once you get started with ExperienceIQ™, you’ll find out what makes it the best parental control app for your family. Let’s explore the features of ExperienceIQ™ from top to bottom:
Enhanced Parental Control Profiles
Children of different ages require their own unique approach to monitoring their online experiences. A one-size-fits-all approach might be too lenient for a younger child or too restrictive for an older teen. That’s why, ExperienceIQ™ makes it easy to create separate profiles for every member of your family and use it to set individual rules for your children.
Each profile will show you:
- Statistics for time spent on the Internet and on which platforms
- Whether their Internet access is currently turned on or off
- Time limits
- Restrictions
- Connected devices
To create a new enhanced parental control profile on your parental monitoring app, simply:
- Tap into “People.”
- Tap the Plus sign in the upper right to add a new person.
- Fill out their name and select which WiFi connected devices belong to them from the “Things” list. You can also add a profile picture or icon if you want.
- Once finished, tap “Done.”
Monitoring Internet Usage
Remember setting up individual user profiles in the last section? Now let’s go into those profiles and use your parental monitoring app to see how each member of your family is using the internet.
- Go to your CommandIQ™ Dashboard.
- Tap into “People,” then select the profile you want to monitor from the list.
- You can see information such as:
- Daily, weekly, and monthly stats for time spent online
- Breakdowns of how long the profile spends on specific apps and websites (i.e. Instagram, TikTok, etc.)
Setting Screen Time Limits
It’s easy for children to end up spending too much time on their screens. With CommandIQ™’s parental controls, you can make sure your family doesn’t fall down online rabbit holes by setting strict limits over how much time they can spend on specific platforms or the Internet as a whole.
- Go to your CommandIQ™ Dashboard.
- Tap into “People,” then select the profile you want to limit.
- In the profile, select “Time Limits.”
- In “Time Limits,” you can create a timeline for internet access (i.e. from 8 AM to 8PM). You can set different limits for every day of the week, including placing no limit on specific days (such as the weekend).
- To set a custom limit, tap the “Custom” button, select a day of the week, and tap “Add Time Limit.”
You can set up to five offline blocks of time each day and edit your custom time blocks at any time.
Restricting Apps, Websites, and Content
Effective parental controls include deciding which apps your children can use and which websites they can visit. ExperienceIQ™ makes it easy to enable and disable apps on every device connected to your WiFi at will.
With ExperienceIQ™, you can set restrictions per user profile. Once you’ve selected the profile you want to restrict access for, tap into “Restrictions.” Our parental control app can restrict access to:
- Specific applications
- Specific websites
- Specific content
To block an application, tap into “Applications” and choose the application (like Spotify, TikTok, or Facebook) from a drop-down list. To block a website, do the same in the “Websites” section.
The “Content Restrictions” section can be used to block off entire sections of the internet based on content, i.e. online games, cloud storage, comics and animation, online shopping, etc. You can choose pre-existing age group filters or create your own custom filters.
The “Restrictions” tab also lets you turn on Safe Search for Google and Bing and restrictions for YouTube without leaving the CommandIQ™ app.
Make and Enforce Internet Rules with TISD’s Parental Controls
The Internet is a wide, complex world where you can find almost anything you want to find. But especially for children, the Internet can be a distraction from studying, household chores, and socializing in-person and IRL with family and friends—or a gateway to inappropriate or even harmful material.
You can’t always be right there hovering over your child’s shoulder when they’re online. But When you connect your household to the Internet with TISD, you get more than just fast, reliable WiFi—you get the next best thing: a flexible, user-friendly parental control app that makes managing how your children use the Internet easier than you ever dreamed.
Whether you’re an existing TISD customer or new to our internet services, reach out to us today to get started.