Nokia Lumia Windows Phone - Parental Controls

Jack – I’m not paid for long answers and am just a concerned party looking for a similar solution so my reply is just in hope that other parents are not misled by the lack of good and accurate information on this topic on the internet:

• I did investigate
• I did reach the account.microsoft.com/family address
• and it does clearly mention blocking internet browsing ONLY works on Windows 10 and using Edge for more specifics (blocking Chrome, Opera et al. really is a non-solution by the way).
• So, your product does not work as a parental filter is expected to, and does not block **** and other harmful websites.

That in itself would have been OK IF I could have found a substitute in the App store, but I can not so my child will not use your product. Period.

I just wish Microsoft be honest and clearly mention what is possible or not and thus avoid users’ waste of valuable time.

Jack - your reply is deliberately misinformative and totally unhelpful: Phil is asking for a WP8.1 solution and there is simply NO way to manage that today with My Family, zero, zilch, nada.

Trying to set this up for My child on My ord Nokia 630, that cannot be upgraded to WP10.

It does not seem to be easily set up. After setting everything up on the family site the phone still show the message that My Family has to be configured when trying to get a free game from the Store.

I agree to that this does not work on WP8. 

If you still claim that it does work, show the difference in configuration between straightforward with WP10 and alternative configuration to get it going with WP8.

This should help. Make sure you follow the steps carefully!

Set up My Family on the Windows Phone website

My Family on the Windows Phone website is the way to turn on app and game downloads for a child's phone. If the child has a Windows Phone 8, you'll also be able to manage their app and game download settings, including game ratings, on the My Family page.

To set up My Family, you'll need to sign in with both the child's and the parent's Microsoft account email address and password. Then you can accept the Windows Phone Store Terms of Use so the child can download apps.

If you want the child to be able to download Xbox games as well, you'll need to go to the Xbox website and accept the Xbox Terms of Use on their behalf. This is separate from the Windows Phone Store Terms of Use.

Running into issues? See My Family FAQ for answers to some common setup questions.

Note

My Family is only available for Windows Phone 8.

To set up My Family so a child can download apps and games

1. On your computer, go to My Family on the Windows Phone website.
2. Sign in using the parent's Microsoft account email address and password. If the parent doesn't have a Windows Phone, that's fine—you can still set up My Family. If the parent doesn't have a Microsoft account, you'll have a chance to create one.
3. On the My Family setup page, click Get started.
4. To add the child to My Family, click Go. On the sign-in page, enter the child's Microsoft account email address and password. If the child doesn't have a Microsoft account, click Sign up to create one.
5. On the My Family home page, next to the child's name, click Fix it and follow the instructions to accept the Windows Phone Store Terms of Use. Now the child can download apps from the Windows Phone Store.
6. To enable the child to download Xbox games as well, go to Xbox.com, sign in with the child's account, and follow the instructions to accept the Xbox Terms of Use.

Tip

You can also add another parent to My Family so both parents can jointly manage kids' settings. Go to the My Family home page and click Add a parent. Parents won't be able to change each other's settings.

To change app download settings for a child

You can set whether or not a child can download apps and games from the Windows Phone Store and which game ratings you want the child to be able to view and download.

1. On your computer, go to windowsphone.com.
2. In the drop-down menu under Explore, click My Family.
3. Sign in using the Microsoft account you use to sign in to your phone.

Note

If you're already signed in to windowsphone.com, you'll see your name, not Explore, at the top of the drop-down menu, and this sign-in step will be skipped. 4. On the My Family home page, next to the child's name, click Change settings, and then do any of the following:

- To allow the child to purchase apps and games, under App+game downloads, select

Allow free and paid. - To allow the child to download only free apps and games, under App+game downloads, select Allow free only. This will also prevent the child from making in-app purchases, even from within free apps. - To prevent the child from downloading any apps or games, under App+game downloads, select Don't allow. - To set the most mature game rating you want the child to be able to browse or download, turn on the Game rating filter. To go to the Microsoft Family Safety website and change the rating, click Change rating. - To allow the child to browse and download unrated games, select the check box next to Allow unrated games. (Some unrated games might have content you'd rather the child not see.)

Note

When the Game rating filter is turned off, the game rating settings are hidden. Turn it on to reveal them

Jack - your reply is deliberately misinformative and totally unhelpful: Phil is asking for a WP8.1 solution and there is simply NO way to manage that today with My Family, zero, zilch, nada.

Thank you for your kind and thoughtful remarks _Pe_.

Of course I know that you investigated and that YOU found that when you click on the 1st link in the article I posted that it brings you to https://account.microsoft.com/family#/. And I know that when you did that and read the page you saw a variety of things (like adding a child) but particularly you saw the last sentence on that page which said:

"We’ve made some changes to family features, and more are on the way. Learn more "

And I'm also sure you clicked on the "Learn more" which brought you to this FAQ (https://account.microsoft.com/family/faq/) page. After you read that I know you found it very interesting and particularly helpful. Particularly if you have younger children, you can make sure they’ll only visit sites you’ve decided are safe. That is after all what the original poster wanted to be able to do when he said: "Is there any way of protecting this phone with parental control app, or internet protection, time limits etc."

Just to refresh your reading _Pe_, I pasted that FAQ below for your reference in case you need to refresh your memory:

Changes to family features

We update this page regularly to keep you informed about new things you can use now and what's coming up next.

Update

Shared Family Calendar

• It’s an Outlook calendar for your Microsoft family.
• Everyone in your family gets automatic access to it, and can view and setup events.
• Access the shared family calendar on any device (Windows, iOS, Android) when you add your Microsoft account to that device.
• If you don't see a family calendar just yet, sit tight. We’re still rolling out this new experience, and we’ll send you an email once we create your family calendar.

One Microsoft family for Windows PC , Windows Phone and Xbox

Manage your family in one place at account.microsoft.com/family. See the settings for each child in your family, and make changes to their settings online.

Screen Time changes

Set multiple screen time limits per day for your kids' devices. You can also view the allowed time in a calendar.

• When your child runs out of screen time on a device, enter your password and give them more screen time on the same device. This works even when you don't have internet access.

Add new members to your family

Instead of sending new email invites to new members, add them directly from account.microsoft.com/family.

Notifications from your kids

When your kid asks permission to browse a blocked website, you'll get a toast notification on your Windows PC and you can give permission right away.

Safer web browsing

• Most commonly used browsers don't have web filtering. To keep your children safer, we'll automatically block these browsers on their devices. You can always choose to allow your child to use other browsers.
• Allow list only for Web browsing : Choose which websites you want you want to allow your kid to visit. They'll be blocked from any other websites not on the allowed list. Turn on website blocking at account.microsoft.com/family.

Activity Reporting

Easily see your kid's activity for the past week. We'll send you an email with your kid's activity info and links to account.microsoft.com/family for more detailed info.

Family friendly Store

• Easily add money to your kid's Microsoft account, and set limits for how much your kids spend in the store on account.microsoft.com/family.
• Review the credit cards on your child’s account.
• When your child is browsing content in the store they'll only be able to see age appropriate content.

So give it a try _Pe_ and you will find that it works well