Your Guide to Childproofing an Android Device

You don’t want your child sending off gibberish emails to your co-workers again, right? You only want your young child playing with your phone some of the time, to keep him or her busy, perhaps. Click below to keep your children — and everyone else — out of your favorite or more sensitive apps.

DFNDR’s Applock feature lets you lock sensitive apps with a password, even if your phone’s home screen is unlocked. You don’t have to lock down every app, either, meaning that you can keep your child-approved apps running. But that’s not all you can do. The following will explain how you can further childproof your phone.

Read More: The 6 Best Apps to Keep Toddlers Busy

Lock Your Screen

Add a screen lock to your phone so your child can’t get into it if you leave it somewhere. To add a lock screen, go to “Settings.” Here, choose “Security” and then “Screen Lock.” You can then choose to add a PIN or a pattern to lock your phone settings. Your child would have to be a genius in order to figure out how to get through those.

Restrict Access to the Google Play Store

One of the biggest worries about your child getting into your phone is buying anything from the Google Play store. But Android comes already-equipped with restrictions. To turn these on, tap “Settings” on the Play Store side menu. Click the option to always require a password when making in-app purchases.

Set Web Browser Limits

The Mobicip app lets you set controls for how long your child can browse the Internet. To use, you first set up a parental account that lets you set, monitor, and change browsing length controls. You can also block out websites that you don’t want your child accessing.

Separate Your User Profiles

The most current Android devices (due to a function on the Lollipop operating system and up) lets you create separate user profiles for different family members. As part of this feature, you can create restricted profiles for your kids. This profile lets you lock down apps and set parental restrictions on what might be unsuitable content.

To create a new profile, navigate to “Settings.” Next, click on “Users” and “Add user or profile.” After that, click “Restricted profile.” Once there, click “New profile” to change it to your child’s name. In the profile, you’ll see every app downloaded to your phone. You can block or unblock apps based on your intended level of restriction.