A safe browser is not included by default on Android and iOS devices. And the built-in filters do not always go as far as parents would like them to when it comes to keeping their child’s browsing experience safe. Here are few differences on the available options today.
Mobile Devices
Apple iOS: Built-in with Screen Time features of recent iOS updates, parents can now enable a filter for Adult Content. In our experience, it does a good job and will filter all web related content across the whole device (iPhone or iPad). This means other installed web browsers on the device will also get filtered. Where it comes up short is filtering the grey areas of websites and doesn’t enforce any strict safe search results on Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo and others.
Android: All Android devices come with Chrome as their default browser. Similar to iOS, Chrome is an unfiltered web browser unless you enable Google’s Family Link. Similarly to the Screen Time features of iOS, the web filtering doesn’t go as far as others options. What Google’s Family Link offers is just a control of the built-in filtering in apps like Search, Chrome and YouTube (learn more about YouTube Restricted Mode and Boomerang Parental Control). An additional privacy concern is Google requires a Google Account for your child in order to get managed via Family Link. This is not always a great option when your child is younger or you’re looking to keep their online privacy as locked down as possible.
Dedicated Solution via SPIN Safe Browser
Our SPIN Safe Browser blocks all of the nuances that exist with the ever changing content we have to filter and block. Not a single filter today is perfect – it is a constant game of whack-a-mole; web filters will over block good sites and will miss blocking bad websites. What’s important is to work as a community in building an amazing database that can be consistent for the most popular things so kids are not falling onto content by accident. For example:
Prone to Bad Content
Most web filters will not block or filter content within social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram and others. Many of these contain nudity and other inappropriate content that can show up based on who your follow or recommendations and via the built-in search. We categorize these as Prone to Bad Content and block them automatically when visited with SPIN Safe Browser or via the Chrome Browser (exclusive for Android devices when used with Boomerang Parental Control).
Enforced Strict Safe Search on Google search results
SPIN Safe Browser enforces the highest level of filtering for search results and users cannot bypass it. Best of all, your child doesn’t require a Google Account for their searches to be filtered by Google’s strict safe search setting – we enforce it automatically across search results from text, images, videos, news, etc.
In summary, a dedicated safe browser and some training wheels like apps like Boomerang Parental Control, are a great combination to help your child build good online habits and have conversation starters based on their app usage and web history.
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