Why Choose Qustodio over Google Family Link or Apple Screen Time?

A comparison of leading parental control apps

Parents today know that protecting their children online and creating healthy screen time habits is a must—but they might not know exactly how parental controls can help them keep tabs on their kids or which app is best for their family’s digital safety and wellbeing. Here’s our no headache, easy comparison guide of the top parental control tools in the market to make this important parenting decision easier.

Qustodio vs Google Family Link & Apple Screen Time

Cross-platform

Especially in multi-device households, you want a parental control app that works across operating systems. Qustodio works on iOS, Mac, Android, Windows and Kindle. Google Family Link works on Android (but can manage from Android or iOS). Apple Screen Time works on iOS only.

Time Limits & Downtimes

Parents know that structure is important, but it is often challenging to establish and maintain rules at home. Parental controls help you create digital guardrails and screen time consistency. Qustodio, Google Family Link and Apple Screen Time allow you to set time limits and blackout periods or downtimes by day and by app. They also allow you to give extra or bonus time when time limits expire.

Block Apps

Many apps are designed to be addictive and can give strangers a door into your child’s life. Qustodio allows you to block any of those apps so you don’t have to worry about them. Apple Screen Time allows you to block individual apps and categories such as social media or games. Google Family Link lets you block by app but takes a different approach to categories, allowing filtering by PEGI rating or age.

Activity Report

Information gives you the power to have the right conversations at the right time and make informed screen time decisions for your family. Qustodio provides a full daily and weekly activity report, online and via email, including location history, web browsing and apps. Google Family Link gives a snapshot of app activity for today, yesterday, 7 days and 30 days. Apple Screen Time reports time spent by category and by app, most used apps, times phone was picked up and number of notifications per app, today and over the last 7 days.

Web Filter

Even short time exposure to harmful content can have long term consequences. Qustodio allows you to block by site and by category and has SafeSearch on all platforms and browsers that Qustodio supports (Chrome, Firefox, Silk). Qustodio blocks unsupported browsers by default on Android. Google Family Link filters searches only on the Chrome browser and has a separate adult content blocking option. Apple Screen Time lets you restrict adult websites on any browser as well as whitelist and blacklist sites.

Activity Alerts

Knowing that a parental control app has got your back brings added peace of mind. Qustodio sends you alerts when your child installs a new app, reaches a time limit or visits adult content. Google Family Link notifies you when your child installs a new app or changes a setting. Apple Screen Time has no alerts.

YouTube

YouTube is one of the most popular video platforms in the world. Staying on top of all that content is a huge challenge. Qustodio helps by giving families detailed YouTube reporting and monitoring. Google Family Link allows you to turn on YouTube restricted mode to help screen out potentially mature content, but the filter is not 100% accurate. Apple Screen Time does not have a YouTube feature.

Location Tracking

Parental control isn’t all about online. It can be a great way to know where your family is in the physical world, too. Qustodio uses geolocation to give you a bird’s-eye map view of where members of your family are and where they have been. Google Family Link has various geolocation settings. Apple Screen Time does not provide location tracking, it requires a separate app.

Family Locator

You probably don’t want to be checking your map all day long to know where your family is. That’s where geofencing features come in handy. Qustodio Family Locator notifies you when a family member arrives or leaves a designated place or zone. Google Family Link and Apple Screen Time do not provide location-based alerts.

Panic Button

Though it is no replacement for emergency services, the Qustodio panic button available on Android devices is a quick way for your child to let a list of trusted contacts know their location and that they need help.

Calls & SMS

Cyberbullying and online grooming are on the rise. Qustodio gives parents one more way to spot and stop predators with the ability to read the content of text messages/SMS exchanged, know when they were sent or received and to whom, and block incoming messages. This feature does include messaging on apps.

Note: This table has been prepared on the basis of public information available as of 6 April, 2020 using information from the Google Family Link and Apple Screen Time websites and product testing under similar conditions. No claims, representations or warranties, whether express or implied, are made as to the quality, reliability and performance of any of the referenced products. All third-party trademarks are property of the respective owners and Qustodio’s use of these trademarks and brand names does not indicate any sponsorship, promotion, or endorsement between Qustodio and the owners of these brands. Reference to the trademarks is merely to identify the corresponding third-party products and services and shall be considered nominative fair and legitimate use under trademark and advertising laws. For any queries, or if you believe any of the information is inaccurate, please contact info@qustodio.com

Qustodio provides the most parental control features and extensive reporting for parents who want one app that does it all, across devices and operating systems. Qustodio can also be used in combination with Google Family Link.

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