How to Protect Your Kid in an Android Environment

Phones and tablets are very attractive for little children as their screens are very colorful, they make captivating sounds, and have lots and lots of buttons. Unfortunately, a lot of parents are afraid to allow their kids to play around with their smartphone as they may call people by mistake, make in-game purchases or unknowingly navigate on websites they shouldn't. The good news is that there are several apps that can help you baby-proof your Android devices, so that your children can play, watch videos or navigate websites in a completely safe environment. Here are some of the best tools to help you out.

Kids Place (Free)

Kids Place

Kids Place is a really handy app to have around for any parent. This tool creates a sandbox where your children can play without any kind of risks. Basically, Kids Place is a launcher which allows your kid to only access the apps that you have previously approved. The only way to get out of it is with the help of a PIN code (which only you will know). Furthermore, the application prevents your children from installing new apps or accessing any kind of in-app purchasing options. Another big advantage is that parents can also set a timer, thus restricting the amount of time that the child can spend playing on the device. Lastly, Kids Place lets you create multiple profiles, so you can create different (appropriate) conditions for each of your kids.

Children TV (Free)

Children TV

Children TV ~ videos for kids is an app that offers a safe environment in which your child can watch his or her favorite cartoons from YouTube. Every video made available by the application has been previewed so you won't find any inappropriate content. The collection is classified into age groups, so you can easily find something suitable for your kids. Moreover, you will be able to find cartoons in a wide variety of languages so your children shouldn't have any trouble understanding the dialogue.

Kid Mode (Free)

Kid Mode

Kid Mode is one of the best apps for parents as well as for their children. This application is very good from a safety standpoint (it locks children inside the app not allowing them to run anything else without your OK) as well as being a successful educational tool. Kid Mode provides its users with a huge collection of curated educational content including thousands of free games (which cover a wide array of subjects) and videos from trusted brands such as Sesame Street or Dora. Furthermore, the application also includes drawing, painting and coloring tools to help your children express their creativity. Parents will also appreciate the fact that the app lets you track your kid's activity and see how well he or she is progressing in each of the fields (ABC, Math, etc).

Safe Browser (Free)

Safe Browser

If your children are old enough to browse the Internet on their own, then you must ensure that they don't end up on websites they shouldn't be. Safe Browser - The Web Filter is an application that can filter the web pages that can be accessed from your device. In simple terms, as long as they're using this app to navigate the web, your children won't be able to accidentally (or not) stumble on websites that contain or promote adult content, drug abuse, gambling, etc. Furthermore, this tool can also keep your kid away from social networks, online games or malware infected websites. What's really cool for the parent is that Safe Browser is very easy to setup: after you install it, simply go to admin mode and set your password (so your kid can't override you), then select the categories you want to weed out and you're done.

Ranger Pro Safe Browser (Free)

Ranger Pro Safe Browser

Ranger Pro Safe Browser is a tool that serves the same purpose as Safe Browser, but with a few differences. Even though it's not as easy to use as the previous entry, what makes this app stand out is the fact that you can limit Internet access to specific days and time intervals, thus making sure that your kid isn't browsing the web instead of doing his or her homework. Another advantage is that you can easily create a whitelist containing the websites which you consider to be safe and block out everything else.

Toddler Lock (Free)

Toddler Lock

If you're looking for the most simple solution, then Toddler Lock might be exactly what you need, but it's not exactly failproof. This app locks your screen (thus ensuring that kids can't accidentally make calls or launch other apps) and keeps the toddlers occupied with colorful drawings and beautiful sounds. However, the unlocking mechanism (touching the four corners of the screen in clockwise order) is very simple and if your kid is old enough to read, he or she can easily break free.

Don't forget that all the apps on this list are only capable of protecting the software part of your phones and tablets. Preserving the structural integrity of your Android devices is entirely your responsibility.