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Parental controls mac os x

The Mac's Parental Controls feature maintains an activity log that can help you keep track of how a managed user is using the computer. You can see which websites were visited, which websites were blocked, and which applications were used, as well as view any instant messages that were exchanged. The Parental Controls feature is fairly easy to set up, but it's up to you to manage its parameters. If you're using Parental Controls to filter websites, don't assume that Apple knows what's best for your family.

You need to diligently monitor the sites your family is visiting by reviewing the Parental Controls logs. The same holds true for the Mail and iChat access lists. Kids have an ever-changing circle of friends, so the contact lists must be updated in order for the filtering to be effective. The 'send permission request' option can help strike a balance between giving kids a little freedom and keeping on top of their activities. Share Pin Email.


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Tom Nelson has written hundreds of articles, tutorials, and reviews for Other World Computing and About. He is the president of Coyote Moon, Inc.


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OS X These instructions are specific to OS X One or more managed user accounts. An administrator account. You will either need to log on as an administrator or provide an administrator password to set up and manage an account that uses Parental Controls. About ten minutes of your time. Setting up Parental Controls is very straightforward.

The Parental Controls preferences window will open. Click the lock icon in the bottom left-hand corner. You will need to provide an administrator user name and password before you can continue.

Enabling Parental Controls on an account

Enter the administrator name and password in the appropriate fields. Select the managed account you wish to set up with Parental Controls from the list pane on the left. Click the 'System' tab. Parental Controls lists the available options for controlling access to system functions and applications. Use Simple Finder.

Set up parental controls on Mac

Simple Finder is a Finder replacement that has a simplified user interface. The user is allowed to access a selected list of applications, and create and edit documents in their home folder, and prevented from accessing or modifying most system settings. Only allow selected applications. With dangers lurking in every corner and tons of raw, unfiltered content on the Net, how can you not be worried about what your children is doing online?

Sure, you may already have the built-in Parental Controls on your Mac, but are you sure that these present features are enough to keep your child safe from cyber bullies , adult websites, online predators and scammers. We got your back.

5 Useful Ways to Utilize Your Mac's Parental Controls

Read also: Norton compiles a report displaying a list of the websites visited or attempted by your child, which you can filter, then allow or block access to. Additionally, you can also keep an eye on the information your child is sharing on social networking sites, and the keywords they are searching for online. KidLogger is a key logger, activity monitor and automatic screen capture — all in one free application.

How to Access Parental Controls

The application logs every keystroke your child types, the applications he or she opened, website history and even specific details like clipboard text. There is also the option to capture screenshots periodically, a clever workaround with kids who are savvy enough to clear their tracks. The saved logs and screenshots in HTML format are then delivered to your kidlogger.

K9 Web Protection has three notable features: The "Safe Search" function, which block results for explicit or offensive topics, can also be customized so that it is a compulsory option regardless of the browser used.

How to set up a parental controls on an Apple Mac

And that's just what was mentioned the most; the list goes on. Parents trust parental controls to be a reliable tool to help out, and when their child's safety is concerned, they seek only the best solution. Apple's macOS comes with built-in Parental Controls, but is it your best option?

The Mac security experts at Intego also offer parental controls, so what's the difference between macOS parental controls and Intego ContentBarrier? Now that I have an actual use for parental controls, I was very excited to compare these two products and write the article you're reading now, and I had a lot of fun doing it! One of the most important aspects of parental controls is setting it up.

As with most software and even the macOS itself, it needs to be configured properly to provide the best user experience. This includes the administrator account if you want to have some content filtering as well. If you're not sure which protection level is the best starting point, click the "Details" button provided by each field and ContentBarrier will tell you. The next step is configuring the notifications. Set up an email address that will send you a detailed report every day, week or month, and simply click a checkbox to make sure you receive creditor alerts immediately. That concludes the setup assistant, and you will be taken into the configuration window.

Walk through all the tabs and make the final adjustments. The content filtering feature is meant to monitor web browsing, email and chat for offensive, dangerous or otherwise preset contents. Apple's approach to content filtering is very straightforward.

For web, you can select "unrestricted access," or "try to limit access to adult websites," or "only allow access to these websites" where you can enter your own list.

Set Up Parental Controls on Your Mac

You can enter some of your own sites to be always allowed exceptions or always blocked blacklist regardless of contents. That's it! Overall it does a pretty good job at keeping adult content out. Intego's approach to content filtering is different and much broader than what Apple offers. Two of the three options are the same; unrestricted access and a whitelist of accessible websites, but the option that matters most is "Block selected categories of websites.

If you want to block adult content, both Apple and Intego will get the job done; however, if you want to block gambling, profanity, web mail, social networks or anything else, only Intego ContentBarrier can do that for you. In my testing, I found the categories to be very thorough and every site I pulled up to try and trick ContentBarrier failed to load. The website that informs the user a website was blocked can be the default ContentBarrier page, another website or a custom local webpage.

Apple can limit the contacts a user is allowed to email. Unfortunately, that's all I can say about it as that's all there is.

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No content filtering is done on emails. As long as the email is to or from an approved contact, the contents don't matter. ContentBarrier can allow all email, block all email or allow email with an AntiPredator filter on it to filter inappropriate content.

If any of the words or phrases are found in an incoming or outgoing email, it will be blocked. Content filtering does not apply to chats as far as Apple is concerned.