Qustodio’s brand new social monitoring feature is here to ensure your kids stay safe in all their online communications. While platforms like WhatsApp and Instagram provide opportunities to connect with friends, they also come with the risk of exposure to cyberbullying, scams, and predators. You can now put your mind at ease with AI-powered alerts that let you know if your child has any concerning conversations on their favorite platforms. Read on for full details.

What is social monitoring?

Qustodio’s social monitoring feature enables you to keep an eye on the messages your child sends via WhatsApp, Line, and Instagram. It does all the work for you: you’ll immediately receive a push notification and an email if your child sends or receives a message you should know about, so you don’t have to look through all their conversations yourself! You’ll be the first to know if they have any discussions related to topics like:

• Bullying
• Violence
• Body image
• Drugs
• Depression
• School absence
• Illegal activity

You’ll also be able to see more details about the conversation in your child’s activity timeline to understand the bigger picture. Keeping an eye on all these topics will help you know what’s on your child’s mind so you can tackle any issues before they become more worrying.

How it works

The apps you can monitor depend on the device your child uses:

• You can receive alerts for WhatsApp and Line if your child uses an Android or iOS device. 
• You can receive alerts for Instagram DMs if your child uses an Android device

Social alerts are automatically enabled if your child has these apps on their device and you are a Premium Complete subscriber. If you want to turn them off – either completely or for a particular app – then head to your child’s Rules page and select Social monitoring. There, you can use the toggles to decide which apps you want to see in your child’s activity timeline, and whether you receive a push notification and email for them.

We’re excited to release this new feature and help you ensure your kids are enjoying healthy social media interactions, while also making it easier for you to open up conversations about staying safe when they’re most needed.

Whether you want screen-free dinner times or distraction-free homework hours, Qustodio’s routines feature will help you set the screen time rules you want throughout the day. It comes with a range of readymade presets so you can create a healthy schedule for your family with ease. Keep reading to see how to activate them.

Create a bedtime schedule

If you’re just getting started, we recommend creating a screen-free bedtime routine first. Switching off devices 30 minutes before going to bed, and keeping them off until the morning, is a great way to help your child get a good night’s sleep. To do so, go to your child’s Rules and then Routines. Select Add routine and then choose Bedtime. Check that the times and days work for you, and save! Your child will now enjoy a screen-free bedtime routine.

Set study time

When devices are taken to school, it can be easy for kids to get distracted. The readymade Study routine blocks access to all apps and websites except for educational ones during school hours. To activate it, select Add routine and choose Study. We’ve suggested 9am-5pm on school days, but you can adjust this if you need before clicking save.

Schedule focus time

It can be handy to set aside some time away from the internet to help your child focus on their evening activities, whether that’s homework, dinner time, or music practice. Just select Add routine and then choose Focus. We’ve suggested scheduling it for 5pm-9pm every week day, but adjust this as you need and click Save routine. 

Allow time for entertainment

If you want to give your child some dedicated time to play games, without the risk of inappropriate content, then you can schedule an Entertainment routine. This allows them to access all of their apps, but continues blocking harmful websites. To do so, select Add routines and choose Entertainment. Adjust the times and days that it applies in the way that suits your family, and save.

Customize your schedule

When you’re just getting started with routines, the presets above will help you get set up quickly. However, if you want to customize further, you can do that too. Select Add routine and then, rather than choosing one of the presets, choose Custom at the end of the list. You can then choose from two types of custom routine: app & website rules, and device blocks. Choose app & website rules if you want to create a routine in which your child has access to their devices, but only to certain types of content. If you want to schedule screen-free time, then choose Device blocks instead. Then, you can follow the steps on screen to create your custom routine. 

Switch routines

If something unexpected happens, such as your child needing to stay home from school, don’t worry – you don’t need to change your whole setup. You can temporarily switch to another routine to give them the device access they need, without affecting your normal schedule. Just go to your child’s Dashboard, select Quick actions, and choose Switch routine. Then, select the routine you want to switch to, set the duration, and confirm. 

Bullies are no longer confined to the school playground: nowadays, 56% of all bullying occurs through texts and messaging apps. Keeping an eye on your kids’ messages is therefore increasingly important, but can be difficult when your kids are sending and receiving so many texts each day. Qustodio’s new message alerts are here to help: they’ll let you know immediately if there’s something you need to be aware of.

About message alerts

This brand new feature will send you an email and a push notification straight away if your child sends or receives a concerning text. Covering SMS and iMessage, Qustodio’s advanced AI technology is able to detect over 20 types of threats, from bullying and self harm to school absences and health worries. As well as being able to tackle any problems as soon as they arise, this also means you can give your child more privacy if you want to, by just checking their concerning texts rather than reading every single one.

How it works

Message alerts are available for all Premium Complete subscribers and activating them is easy. If your child uses an Android device, you just need to make sure that you’ve installed the full version of the Kids App from the Qustodio website (the one from the Google Play Store doesn’t allow SMS monitoring). If your child uses an iPhone, then install the Calls & messages app on your own computer. 

Once you’ve done that, message alerts will  be switched on automatically! To turn the alerts on and off, go to the Alerts section in your child’s calls & messages rules page. Note that turning them off will stop you from receiving notifications, but you’ll continue to see concerning conversations highlighted in your child’s activity timeline.

We hope that this new feature brings you peace of mind when it comes to your child’s texting habits, and helps you open up conversations at the right time.

Daily routines make things run smoothly. From setting aside time for family meals, to having dedicated homework hours, they help to keep your children happy and healthy. We’re therefore excited to announce that Qustodio is now even better at supporting your daily schedules with the brand new feature: Routines. Read on for the full details.

About routines

Routines enable you to set different rules and limits throughout the day to suit your children’s activities. You can set regular screen-free times, block certain apps during school hours, and allow dedicated time for games – all scheduled in advance so you don’t have to constantly change your setup. Whether you just want to create one routine or to plan your family’s whole week, routines are here to suit you.

How it works

The quickest way to get started with routines is to use one of our readymade presets. There are four available for you: Bedtime, Study, Focus, and Entertainment. Each of these presets includes recommended rules and schedules that you just need to activate.

To do so, head to the rules page on your Parents App and go to Routines. Select Add routine, choose the preset you want, confirm the schedule, and that’s it!

If you want to fully customize your setup, then choose Custom instead of one of the presets. You’l then be taken through the steps needed to create your own routine from scratch, choosing which apps and websites your child can access, and when.

Adapt as you need

Routines enable you to create a weekly schedule so you don’t have to update your rules throughout the day. However, we know that plans can change. If your kids have a day off school or finish their homework early, you can switch to another routine at the touch of a button without affecting your normal schedule – all from your child’s dashboard.

We hope that this new feature makes it easier for you to protect your children online in exactly the way you want.

Want to know more? Head to the help center to find more information on setting up and using routines.

Keeping your kids safe online will always be our priority – and today we’re excited to announce that we’ve got a new look so we can do that even better.

Qustodio has a new look

With our new branding, you still get all the same features and multi-device, multi-platform protection that you have already. You can keep monitoring your kids’ screen time, filter the content they see, and much more. Now it’s just easier for you to find the features and information you need to fully support them in building healthy digital habits. 

What’s new

• Keep an eye out for our brand new app icons on your phone. The new purple Kids App and green Qustodio Parents App icons also make it much easier to differentiate between them in the store.
• As well as updating the app icon, we’ve refreshed the Parents App and Qustodio Web. The updated colors and feature explainers make it easier for you to set the rules that you want and monitor your kids’ activity in the way you need.
• Based on your requests, we’ve made the kids’ profile avatars into animal-based illustrations. Now you and your kids can have fun choosing their favorite animal together.
• We’ve given our website a total revamp so you can better support all aspects of your kids’ digital well-being. Head to the new Learning center for parenting tips from leading experts, app safety guides to help you decide which apps are suitable for your kids, and product tips to learn how to make the most of the Qustodio app.

See our plans