The Cupcake would be perfectly happy if half her summer was spent on the soccer field and the other half with her nose in her iPad.
I am a big proponent of her being sporty and digitally savvy, but there should be limits too.
So I bought a Circle. No, it wasn’t sent to me as one of those fabulous blogger perks. I bought it as a parent, who wanted a tool to help me manage the Cupcake’s time online and the content she is exposed to. And after using it for more than a month, I am super excited to share how easy it is to use and the benefits with you. I show you a bit in this video below (pardon my cave like studio setting…) or you can read on.
The Circle is basically a management system for all the wireless devices in your house. The Cupcake hates it, which means it’s working beautifully.
This little box,
syncs to our router. It took about 15 minutes (or less) to get it installed on our wireless system with our devices.
Download this app (it doesn’t work without the Circle) so you can manage everyone’s digital use from your phone (iPad also available here). Yes, everyone’s digital use, even your own.
With the app, you then set up profiles for each family member. You’ll need to use the device ID (instructions are included on how to find this). Don’t be alarmed when you realize HOW MANY devices you actually own!
I set up an adult profile for our wireless that won’t access porn or gambling sites – in case she happens to grab our phones, which happens frequently.
I also set up the default “home” profile to assign to any new visiting devices to our house. The app notifies you when someone accesses your network and you can assign then to one of the established profiles. When the Cupcake had a friend sleepover, her guest got assigned the same limits as the Cupcake.
Do you see that big pause button?
That’s your ultimate control button.
Not listening to me tell her to pick up her clothes? Hit the pause. That’s got her attention. Too absorbed in Minecraft to let the dog out? PAUSE.
It’s like the nuclear launch button for your house.
Husband not paying attention to your question? Hit the master PAUSE button on the home screen and the whole house is on lockdown.
Muaahahahahahahaha.
I’m telling you, this thing is legit.
But it’s so much more than an on-off switch. You can manage your kids time online, filter the websites they have access to, and even how much time they spend on particular websites. Here’s a screen shot of the Cupcake’s limits here.
All can be modified, but we are currently set to 3 hours of screen time a day. Within that limit, I can lock down to one hour on Netflix, for example, or only 30 minutes of Minecraft.
After you’ve been using Circle for a few days, then the insights button is really interesting. Like for example, I know that Big Daddy has spent one hour and 20 minutes on science and technology sites this week.
Another bonus, there’s now also a Circle Go program where you can manage your family while they are mobile too. That’s not a need for us just yet, but it could be in the future and I look forward to testing it.
The only complaint I have with our Circle is that the app is slow to load at times. Once it’s loaded, it’s great but sometimes there is an unusually long delay. DISCLAIMER: It could be our wifi (which is craptastic) so you may not have the same challenge at all.
I love our Circle so much, that I became an ambassador for them. I paid $99 for mine, and you can get that same rate. If you’re interested in purchasing one, I’d love for you to use my link HERE. The price to you is the same as what I bought mine for $99, but I will get a small commission for referring you.
Have a Circle already? I’d love to hear your experience with it!
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