Meet McAfee® Safe Family: we take a look at the app

A key part of the Optus Family Plan, the McAfee® Safe Family app helps you keep tabs on your family’s online safety.

One of the most common questions parents of teen kids ask themselves is ‘are my kids spending too much time online?’. A recent McAfee study shows that almost half of Aussie parents surveyed say their children spend 3-4 hours online each day. Whether that time is intended for online learning, creating dance videos, or playing Minecraft, we all know how easy it for our children to take a detour down the rabbit hole of the online world.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a little peace of mind with some control over the content your child is viewing and the amount of time they spend online.

McAfee® Safe Family is a comprehensive parental controls solution that lets you monitor and block apps and websites, manage screen time, see where your kid’s devices are at all times, and more.

Set custom rules and time limits

Too much time spent online can negatively impact our kids mental, social and physical health where they miss out on the benefits of exercise, imaginary play, real life games etc. Safe Family can help you track, control and limit screen time before it gets out of hand.

Safe Family starts you off with basic rules and restrictions for your child’s online activity based on their age, which can then be customised simply with the Safe Family app. You can also set usage schedules (weekdays, weekends, etc.) for multiple devices based on your family’s needs, and even set time limits for individual websites and apps as well (i.e. allow only 30 minutes of Minecraft a day).

For every rule there is the option for an exception – a happy family is one that talks and negotiates. Collaborate with your children to set custom rules and time limits that meet individual needs – or put them in digital time-out until they finish their homework. Safe Family also allows them to request extra screen time and access blocked apps or websites.

See what your kids see

Kids today are getting access to digital devices at an earlier age and it’s easy to lack visibility and awareness into what your kids are really using them for. Cyberbullying, excessive screen time and access to inappropriate content are some of the big issues parents are dealing with in the online world. Safe Family allows you to view your kids’ activity via activity reports, view time stamps of when they’ve used apps or accessed URLs, and learn about apps you are unfamiliar with via descriptions directly available on the app.

Know where you kids are

As an added bonus, with Safe Family you can stop worrying about your kids when they’re away from home and check in on their location in a moment’s notice with its location alerts and live tracking features. With Safe Family, you can locate them on a map in real-time, receive automated notifications the moment they enter or leave familiar places like a school or the library, or get notified when they check in manually to a location.

Available for Andorid, iOS and Windows PC, McAfee® Safe Family helps build good habits for your kids and gives parents this much-needed visibility. So, get back in control and keep your kids safe online.

Explore our Family Hub for more great advice and information. Or, if you’re looking for a way to keep connected and bring your family together, explore our Family Plans for generous data and amazing value. 

This article has been produced in conjunction with our friends at McAfee.

You might also like to read work from Alex Merton-McCann. She’s McAfee's Australian Cybermum, helping to guide parents and their kids through the ins and outs of online life.