Google Brings Family Link to All Parents in the United States
Google has done a great job at getting Android into the hands of your average smartphone customer. From there, they needed to work on expanding this outreach to those who may not be able to just walk out and purchase a new smartphone. Back in March of this year they introduced a new program for kids called Family Link. It was originally available to only those who were given an invitation, but today the company is making it available to all parents in the United States.
When Google announced Family Link earlier this year, it sparked the interest of a lot of people because it’s something that Android has needed for a long time. We’re in an age when people joke about smartphones and tablets being given to kids when they’re born. Where we used to have complaints about parents letting their kids watch too much TV, we’re now seeing children spending a lot of time with a smartphone or tablet in their hands. This can be worrisome to some parents since they generally have unfettered access to the internet, and the content found in the Play Store.
So Google introduced Family Link as a way for parents to let their children use a smartphone or tablet, while being able to limit the type and amount of content they can access. Family Link comes with all sorts of features including being able to be notified about pending application downloads, a way to see and limit the amount of time they’re using the device, and a way to actually remotely lock the device via your own smartphone or tablet.
Today’s announcement means that any parent in the United States can use Family Link without an invitation. Sadly, we’re still at a point where Google is unable to roll this feature out worldwide at this time. This could be because they want to use the U.S. as a trial market and see how that goes, but it could also mean that Google needs to get around regulatory hurdles in other countries too. This could put them in a spot where they decide to either delay the launch until other countries are allowed to use it, or test it out in a market that it can be released in quickly.
Source: The Keyword
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