If you thought being a parent in the ’80s was hard, being a parent in the 21st century is next to impossible. The war on drugs and satanic panics have nothing to do with the depression fueled by conspiracy theories on Instagram and YouTube. Suddenly, the question of when to give your kids their own cell phone has a lot more to do with protection than cost. Troomi, a children’s wireless service, recognizes this and is attacking the problem head-on.
Is that how it works
Troomi bills itself as a holistic solution that takes care of everything from carrier service to devices and security measures. When you sign up for Troomi’s wireless service, you buy into their ecosystem 100%, and that’s a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your perspective. All Troomi wireless plans come with unlimited talk and text, but those talk and text are limited to parent-approved contacts. No one else can send messages with this device.
Either you agree with Troomi’s philosophy or you don’t.
Speaking of devices, the service is limited to the Samsung Galaxy A12 or Galaxy A32. They sent me a Galaxy A12 to test. These are the only devices that will work with Troomi and you must purchase them directly from Troomi. The reason for this is that Troomi has created its own mobile device management (MDM) service (think MobileIron, but for kids), which allows parents to lock down devices. This is where things get a little tricky.
Apps are locked
Troomi has a curated selection of apps and services that have been verified as safe for children. The company’s mission is to provide kids with all the apps they need and none they don’t. This specifically leaves out social networking and addictive gaming, which basically includes everything. Troomi’s approved list at the time of publication consists of 53 apps. That increases to 61 apps if you include the eight basic apps that come with each plan.
Along with basic features like calculator, calendar, clock, camera, and gallery, notable apps on the list include Google Maps, angry BirdsAmazon Music, Spotify, GroupMe, tap buildersand Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides. A full list of apps is available on the Troomi website. What you won’t find on the list is any type of social network, except for video streaming services and some messaging services.
Adam Doud/Digital Trends
Troomi reviews every app that is curated on the app store, paying special attention to educational value and lack of “hotspots for predators or stalkers.” Apps like GroupMe can restrict contacts to parent-approved lists. Telegram will therefore not be disapproved. Non-ecosystem apps can be submitted to Troomi for approval, but must go through the same vetting process to be allowed.
Most apps can only be used while connected to Wi-Fi. The idea here is that when you’re on Wi-Fi, you’re in a safe space, so your child will have unrestricted access to their apps. On the go, access is limited to a few apps, like Google Maps and Camera.
go up or down
Either you agree with Troomi’s philosophy or you don’t. This is really the crux of Troomi’s argument. There is no way to allow apps outside of the Troomi ecosystem. I even tried using the APK extractor and transferring it to the phone via nearby sharing. It didn’t work out and I was a little disappointed, but also glad I didn’t find a way to torpedo all of Troomi’s hard work.
As a parent, I use Family Link by Google to manage my children’s devices. Family Link can be as restrictive as you like, but you have to do your own homework. You must be wondering, “What is Snapchat and how does it work?” With millions of apps on the app store, it’s daunting to say the least. Troomi does all that work for you, which is a very good thing. The bad thing is that it is the way to Troomi or the highway. So, let’s get into the experience of using the phone.
Adam Doud/Digital Trends
How does it work for parents?
On the parent side, there’s a parent portal where you can add contacts your child can communicate with, websites they can visit, and apps they can use. In the future, you’ll be able to control things like screen time. You can also get weekly airtime updates by day, including the number of phone calls, texts sent, and texts blocked, but there’s no way to see which texts are blocked or who they’re from.
Review of an 11 year old boy.
As for the phone, I turned on all the available apps and gave it to my 11-year-old daughter to use for an hour. Note that my daughter has had her own smartphone for two years, and by the time she was 2, she could open Netflix on four different smartphone platforms. She didn’t develop the sense of touch as much as I would have liked, but let’s just say her opinion was not favorable after an hour of use. I asked him to elaborate.
Setting aside the reality that my daughter basically lives on YouTube and TikTok, neither of those apps are allowed on the phone, she said that most of the things you’d do for fun are geared toward younger kids. She estimates that a 5-7 year old would have a lot of fun with this phone, but there’s really nothing for older children. pointed angry Birds, and he admitted that the game could be fun for older kids too, but it’s just a game. He also pointed out that it malfunctioned on the Samsung A12. Touch.
She would love those games. tap builders and Shooting Star when she was young and immature, but now that she’s turned 11, she has much more sophisticated taste. So I reached out to all my friends who also have kids to see if I could get an opinion from a kid who doesn’t have a smartphone yet. I couldn’t find any. The fact is that by the time you have 10-year-olds, most of them will already have smartphones, and that opens up another hurdle.
Especially during a pandemic, kids need ways to communicate with each other, and unfortunately for seniors, it’s not through texting.
Especially during a pandemic, kids need ways to communicate with each other, and unfortunately with seniors, that isn’t through texting. By the way, when I say “older people” in this context, I mean you who are over 20 years old. People don’t use SMS these days. They use iMessage, WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook Messenger, etc. GroupMe, not so much. Sure, you can give your teen a Trooma smartphone, but they won’t be able to communicate effectively with their friends.
too many obstacles
Overall, Troomi has some really great ideas here. Creating your own security software and manually scanning for apps that can access the ecosystem are time-consuming tasks that most parents simply can’t do. Screening alone can be a full-time job when it comes to approving or disapproving applications. That way I appreciate what Troomi has to offer here. If you agree with Troomi’s values and limitations, you’ll find the service valuable and easy to use.
But if you want something more flexible, Google’s Family Link is also a good option. Google Family Link provides much more granular control over the apps and services your child can use and offers many of the same benefits, including location services, so you know where your child is. The main reason I gave my daughter the phone in the first place was so she could go out and explore her neighborhood on her own, and I could see where she was and search for her if necessary.
Adam Doud/Digital Trends
Should you have paid more attention to the apps you can install? Probably. I haven’t even begun to deal with the problems that apps like Instagram and TikTok can bring to tweens, and I don’t really want to. I’m not going to tell you how to raise your child either. It’s a minefield that we all have to negotiate on our own. Troomi can offer you protection against that minefield, but mainly by not letting you into the minefield.
Troomi understands that this is very restrictive and is perfectly fine with it. As well as parents who signed up for Troomi. The company is also quick to point out that its list of available apps is growing by the day, with apps like Duolingo, Google Drive, and world of life touches coming soon. This will help, but in my opinion it still needs a lot of growth before we can recommend Troomi to anyone with children over the age of 9. Boundaries are good for a kid, but the best answer probably lies between Family Link and Troomi.
editor’s recommendations
Categories: GAMING
Source: newstars.edu.vn