So you got your kid a IPad2 ! now what ?

Some of you are probably familiar with my iPad2 saga. Well I have had one for a few days now, and as you can imagine, kids spend a lot more time with it then I will ever. This prompted me to look into how to make it a safer & a fun device. Here are a few things I have thought of. What do you do to make your tech gadets kid friendly ?

1. Turn on the restrictions: Settings -> general -> restriction This is the iPad equivalent of the parental controls. It allows control for things like : Allow purchases (in-App and App store), restrict certain apps, restrict content via ratings etc. I have the ratings all set to “G”, disabled all purchases, and taken away the permissions to delete apps. As iPad is a “me” device rather than a “we” device, the restrictions once set, cannot be overridden. Thus to disable a particular restriction I need to go back to settings, change the restriction and then do my thing. Also once you set the restriction pass code, remember it. if you forget it you will have to either jailbreak your ipad or factory reset it.

2. OpenDns : Kids will soon figure out that TV is much more fun on You tube. And internet in general is much more fun on iPad. Thus the normal “safe browsing” rule apply. I have found OpenDns really good for this. This will ensure that kids are safe at least when browsing from home.

3. Normal computer rules apply: Kids will become very addictive to this. Thus to reign this in, iPad time is counted against the maximum allowable screen time. And the total screen time is subject to reward/penalty system :)

4. Find your iPad: There are times when kids are “immersed” in the ipad and will choose not to listen. “Find your IPad”” is my friend in such times. It allows me to send a message to the iPad so they have to notices. This can be enable by going to iPad Settings-> Mail,contacts,calendars -> accounts -> Mobile me. then go to https://me.com/find/ for the fun.

5. Educational & Fun Games: App store has lots of free and cheap fun games. There are even games that can keep a 1yr old entertained. I have found that most of the free games are ad supported and can cause kids to either accidentally hit the ad and be launched to a website, or see age inappropriate banner. Getting a paid app ( most are 99c) is just hassle free. some of the educational games are a lot of fun! App store makes is easy to either browse via categories Top rated apps, or just search if you already have a game in mind. The app store search is really good.

   Kids will find out about new apps all the time. I am thinking of using this as part of a reward system. They earn a new app each week by doing their homework and being on a good behaviour that week.

6. Use IPad as a digital photo frame. Of course you can just run the slideshow from the photo app, but the screen will lock after a few minutes of inactivity. The right way to do it is via the “flower” icon on the lock screen. The digital frame settings are under settings-> picture frame. This kinda helps keep iPad away from kids and gives it a purpose/alternative use. Plus this gives us a chance of looking at all the cool photos we have taken over the years :)

I would really like to hear about how you are using your ipad and what you like/dont like. I plan to do a blogpost about apps soon!

Find my iPhone

Find me on Iphone is an amazing service. Although it is primarily developed for tracking down your lost iPhone, it can be used in other interesting ways. The official descriptipn of the service is here.

The features that I find most useful are :

• Locating the iPhone Apple locates the iphone on the website, The display is “hot” meaning the pushpin moves in realtime as the iphone is moving, so you can actually see direction & guess the speed of the iphone. This is very useful in tracking where the person is or if they are on the “move”. So rather than calling your partner repeatedly to find out far he/she is, One can simply “findmyiphone” him/her. This is safer than distracting/irritating them with repeated calsl. Looking at how fast the dot the moving we can also figure out if the traffic is slow etc. Of course there are privacy concerns, but I think this should be a good way to keep track of family members. I think parents would definitely find this useful to locate the teenagers.

• Display a Message I basically see this a way to SMS the iPhone user for “free”. With iPhone data plans not including any free sms’s, this becomes a very good option ( findmyIPhone is free). It is a good, easy way to send a quick message one way FYI message to the Iphone.

• Play a tone This is probabely the only “conventional” use of findmyiphone. I have used this a couple of times, to locate my misplaced iphone at home. Its really handy if the iphone is in the garage with the car, or hidden under the sofa cushions!

There are quite a few times when I could locate the iphone and based on the location decide, weather to call or just send a message. If the phone is stationary and at a location, I would usually call. if the phone is moving, I tend to just leave a message.

Of Course findmyiphone is risky, it can options like to “remote wipe” & “play a tone at full volume ” at the fingertips. It can be extremely devasating or annoying to do either. so this has to be used with care.