Kaboutjie SA Mommy Blogs by Lynne Huysamen
My kids got their own phones for the first time this year and it was something that I was very nervous about doing due to the dangers of kids being online. Fortunately at the time I was thinking about getting them phones I found out about FYI play it safe.
What is FYI play it safe?
FYI play it safe is a monitoring app for kids. It monitors all your child’s online activities and sends you alerts if there is anything of possible concern so that you can address them with your child. FYI play it safe monitors for harmful apps, depression, cyberbullying, adult content, profanity, grooming, self-harm, depression and more. You can also see an overview of your child’s activity such as time spent online and time spent on different apps.
The app gives your child privacy while monitoring their activity and only sends you an alert when there is any activity of concern.
Setting Up FYI play it safe
Setting up FYI play it safe is easy to do – sign up on the FYI play it safe website and download the app from the website onto your phone and your child’s phone and install it. The next step is to bind the devices.
Take note that the app is not available on Google Play or iStore, it can only be downloaded from the FYI play it safe website at this time.
**Update May 2023 – FYI play it safe is now available on Google Play***
My FYI play it safe Review
The thought of getting my kids their own phones terrified me, there are so many dangers online and I was beyond hesitant to take that step. We have just moved home and my kids will soon be needing to take the school bus so getting them their own phones is a step I’ve had to take.
Installing FYI play it safe on their phones has given me peace of mind and made me so much happier about this huge step. I’ve been using FYI play it safe for a few months and it works like a charm. I check it regularly and go through the alerts.
So far there has only been one thing that has come up that I had to address. My 8 year old son was getting disturbing push notifications of an adult nature, he must have clicked on something while playing a game. I went onto his phone and disabled push notifications, problem solved. I also had a discussion with him about clicking on things and what those notifications were about. I believe it is essential to talk to my kids when things like this happen.
One thing I also love is that the app takes a screenshot as things happen, so even if anything is deleted after the activity happens I have the screenshot to follow up on.
Take note that I also use Google Family Link, which is fantastic. I set how much time they can use their phones for each day and the times they are allowed to use their phones. I’ve also set it so that they need approval for every app that they want to download. The two apps work together beautifully.
I found Setting up the FYI play it safe app and binding the devices was very easy, however since the app is not available on Google Play I had to learn how to download an app and install it, something I have never done before.
I didn’t know that you have to allow your phone to download apps from unknown sources, so I had to temporarily allow that function on my phone and my kids phones. Since I use Google Family Link I had to also take the extra step there to allow my kids phones to allow that option.
The process may be different for different phones but here is how I did it on our Samsung phones.
On Google Family Link go into your child’s profile and click on settings. Then turn on “allow apps from unknown sources”.
Once you have allowed it in Google Family Link go to all the phones and go to Settings, then Apps and click on the menu icon. Go to Special Access and enable “install unknown apps”.
And once you have successfully installed and set up FYI play it safe remember to go back and disable those settings.
FYI play it safe has a 7 day free trial and I highly recommend that you sign up and give it a go. In my eyes it is an absolute must to keep your children safe online.
Get 10% off your FYI play it safe subscription using my coupon code kaboutjie
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this is such an amazing app with so many benefits, i recommend these to moms i know with teens. internet has so many dangers nowadays. so upset i missed your live but ill watch it
There are way too many dangers online to give kids complete freedom, it is so important to have safety measures in place!
This is now so a need now I hav two high-school next year. My one son was bullied from a boy due a girl and its stages but that boy was out of hand and stalk him too for a while.. I need to monitor them entered
It is so important to know when there is something of concern, but also to balance the need for privacy!
this sounds like a great app and a must have for every parent out there especially now we are living in a brutal world because the level of cyberbullying out here is consuming our kids leading them to depression and suicide
I couldn’t agree with you more Sandra! So may dangers online.
This is such an amazing app with, many benefits that can ease parents, thank you for taking your time to compile this lovely article. Protecting your children isn’t just about making sure they’re physically and emotionally safe. Their privacy is under fire every day, and the last thing we want them to feel is that we’re invading that privacy.
Thank you for this article – interesting read and very helpful
great article love it.
Well done I can just imagine the nightmares you must be having I pray that they will have a good experience with their phones.
Thank you for the review.
It’s going well with the phones, I’ve set lots of firm boundaries and they have to stick to them or I take the phones away. They tested the boundaries a few times in the beginning but it did not work out well for them and now they are very good with their phones.
I cannot bind my device the option is greyed out
Have you signed up on the website yet? You won’t be able to bind your devices until you have an FYI play it safe account 🙂 If you have signed up and you are encountering any problems I recommend you contact them here or send an email to admin@fyiplayitsafe.com