Google’s new app Allows Parents to Manage Kid’s Accounts

By Krisana Estaura / 1489679035
(Photo : Flickr) Google just built an app for parents to monitor their kids' Android apps

Google has just built an Android-based app that enables parents in the United States to create a Google account for their kids under 13.

The company announced on Thursday, March 16 that it has just built a Family Link app for parents who wish to control and monitor the apps their kids use, establish screen time limits, and set a bedtime on their devices. Parents can lock their kids' devices remotely when it's time to eat, study, and sleep.

Mercury News reported that to set up an account, parents should have a Google account to begin with. They would need a phone running on Kit Kat 4.4 or higher while their kids would need a device running Android Nougat 7.0. The service may soon be available to iOs devices.

The app requires a 30-cent verification fee payable via a valid credit or debit card. The small fee is not for Google to gain profits but to ensure that a credit card owner or an adult has approved the child's account.

The app, which is currently on a limited testing phase, also suggests that the parent's and the child's phones are placed side-by-side during the set-up process.

According to CNET, Google is planning to launch the app this summer in the U.S. and later this year in other countries.

CNET also clarified that while parents can see what Android apps their kids used, there are some limitations. Parents cannot see what websites their kids have visited or e-books they have read. They cannot also see who they sent messages to.

Saurabh Sharma, Family Link's product manager, tweeted "We don't want kids thinking Google has built spyware."

Restrictions made are removed at age 13, when kids are now allowed by law to set up their Google accounts.