Ourpact App

As a parent in the digital age, finding ways to keep your kids safe online is a growing concern. From social media to inappropriate content, there are more threats lurking on the internet than ever before. This is where parental control apps like Ourpact prove useful. Offering features that allow you to block content, limit screen time, and track your child’s location, Ourpact aims to give parents peace of mind.

An Introduction to Ourpact Parental Control Apps

Founded in 2013 by tech entrepreneur and father Amir Moussavian, Ourpact is a suite of apps designed to establish trust and safety between parents and children in the digital world. Available for both iOS and Android devices, it serves over 3 million families across 200 countries.

The Ourpact philosophy centers around balancing guidance with encouragement. As their website states: “We help families manage their children’s digital lives with gentle wisdom and insight, rather than with an iron fist.”

With features aimed at promoting better understanding within households, Ourpact departed from traditionally restrictive apps. Instead, their goal was facilitating communication between parents and children around technology use.

This mindset has clearly resonated with families. To date, Ourpact apps have won numerous awards and honors. These include the Mom’s Choice Award, PTPA Award, and recognition as “The Best Parental Control App” by both AppAdvice and Parents Magazine.

But how exactly does Ourpact grant parents oversight while avoiding an authoritarian approach? Let’s explore some key features.

Key Features and Offerings

Ourpact suite of apps includes Parental Control, Screen Time Management, Location Tracking, and Family Locator apps. Across each app is a balance of insight and discretion when monitoring children’s behaviors. Core offerings include:

Cross-Platform Parental Control

A major advantage is Ourpact’s availability across iOS, and Android devices. This allows parents to protect children on multiple devices from one centralized dashboard.

From the Parental Control app, blocking and limiting settings can apply to some or all connected devices. This removes the need to configure each device individually.

Customizable Content Filtering

Of course, restricting inappropriate content is vital for parental control apps. To this end, Ourpact enables blocking websites, apps, games, social media, and more.

Parents can choose from pre-made filters based around age. But for greater precision, custom filters based on specific categories or keywords are available. Filters auto-update as new apps and content emerge as well.

For granting access, parents can easily whitelist sites and apps. Gamified reward systems are also available when children meet daily goals.

Activity Monitoring and Time Management

When used alongside filters, activity monitoring provides further insight into device usage. Ourpact supplies charts showing which sites and apps children access and for how long.

Linking to rewards systems again, screen time limits encourage children to self-regulate. Time extensions require their requests and parent approvals – opening conversation around technology use.

For families sharing devices too, individual profiles split up screen time quotas fairly. This prevents siblings from using up collective allowances.

Peace of Mind with Location Tracking

Smart location tracking has two main benefits. Firstly, parents receive alerts when children enter or leave specified places. Daily location histories also appear in timelines for reviewing later.

Secondly, the Family Locator app allows tracking all members in one view. So families can coordinate meetups or check statuses on-the-go. Of course, children can disable location visibility temporarily for privacy too.

For child safety, geofences trigger notifications if devices enter unfamiliar places without context. So rather than spying, it’s more about openness between parents and children.

Ease of Use and Customization Options

A hallmark of Ourpact is its simplicity and range of configuration options. For parents, the dashboard interface makes setting up filters, limits, and alerts straight-forward. Family-sharing access between parents is available too.

For children, the clean app design promotes engagement with screen time and location tracking. Fun animations and graphics encourage using devices more mindfully rather than resenting restrictions.

In terms of customization, detailed schedules and rules suit households on an individual basis. Parents choose specific limits based around personal allowances like:

• Daily time limits for app categories or overall use
• Bedtimes for disabling devices
• School mode to limit access during classes
• Rewards for completing tasks or chores
• Location alerts for arriving or leaving destinations

Such flexibility allows Ourpact to serve as more of a digital agreement rather than flat-out denying access. An emphasis on moderation helps children build healthy technology habits.

How Much Does Ourpact Cost?

Ourpact uses a freemium pricing model containing both free and paid features. Core functionality like app blocking, screen time scheduling, location tracking, and family location sharing is free.

For power users, Premium and Premium Plus subscriptions unlock additional capabilities.

Ourpact Premium ($6.99 per month, or $69.99 annually) offers:

• Unlimited device connections
• SMS location sharing
• High priority customer support

Ourpact Premium Plus ($9.99 monthly, $99.99 annually) adds:

• Internet filtering across cellular networks and public WiFi
• No Ourpact branding or ads in free version
• 2-year subscription at reduced $149.99

Compared to competitors, Ourpact’s subscription plans are reasonably priced given the feature set. Better yet, new users can test premium features free for one week.

For context, leading parental control competitor Qustodio charges a hefty $54.95 yearly for just 5 device connections. Location history and SMS alerts cost extra too.

Considering most households need 5-10 device licenses, Qustodio gets expensive quickly. Ourpact’s unlimited connections at marginally higher pricing makes it cost-effective by comparison.

Downloading and Installing Ourpact Apps

Getting started with Ourpact across devices is quick and simple. Parents can download the Parental Control app for their smartphones via the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.

Once registered, you’ll gain access to the child app downloads and installation links. Apps are available across:

• Android phones and tablets
• iPhone and iPad

To install on a child’s device:

1. On the parent’s app, tap on the child’s profile.
2. Select “Install App” and choose platform.
3. Tap the installation link for the device type and follow prompts.

For iPhones/iPads, a mobile config profile must be installed first. Android and other devices directly install the child app.

Upon first opening, children sign-in with credentials provided during setup. The app then links remotely to the parent dashboard for managing settings. It’s a seamless process taking just minutes.

From there, parents can start configuring device rules, filters, time limits, and other controls. Ourpact features activate following installation and account creation across registered devices.

What People Like About Ourpact

Judging by reviews, Ourpact services resonate for several key reasons.

For parents:

• Comprehensive oversight and insight into children’s digital habits
• Easy to configure age-appropriate filters and restrictions
• Useful modes like school settings alignment and emergency lockdowns
• Family coordination with shared calendars and locations
• Affordable pricing, especially on unlimited Premium plans

For children:

• Less oppressive restrictions compared to authoritarian apps
• Rewards systems and ability to request time extensions
• Location check-ins feel safer than constant monitoring
• Fun interface promotes willingness to use the app

For both groups:

• Cross-platform support across common mobile and computer devices
• Reliable and intuitive software powering features
• Appealing freemium model with free tier covering core features
• Ongoing refinements and new functionalities with updates

Ourpact also stands out for its optional social component. Children can discover friends, earn rewards through group challenges, and share milestones across the app’s federated network. This fosters healthy competition around goal achievement.

Where Ourpact Could Improve

Despite overwhelmingly positive feedback, some areas for improvement exist across Ourpact apps.

The main complaint from parents is needing better geo-fencing accuracy. Occasionally, location alerts fail to trigger when children enter or exit designated areas. Tying fences to GPS coordinates rather than manually drawn boundaries could help.

Relatedly, background location tracking seems less reliable on Android devices based on reviews. Ourpact states this results from intrinsic software limitations outside their control. Hopefully optimizations address this discrepancy across platforms.

For children, primary gripes center around stability issues and UI inconsistencies – especially on iOS. App crashes and freezes do occur, often relating to notifications and activity logs. Limited customization options on the child app interface could also use enhancement per users.

Finally, a site-wide filter would further strengthen parental controls for Premium Plus subscribers. Currently web filtering only works across cellular networks and public WiFi. Expanding this to filter all web traffic would be sensible.

Ourpact seems actively engaged with addressing such drawbacks though, regularly listing fixed software bugs on app update pages. Overall satisfaction remains high among parents and children alike.

Final Verdict: Are Ourpact’s Apps Worth Using?

In the risky realm of the internet, deciding how to supervise children is no easy task. You want to keep them safe without destroying trust. Ourpact takes a nuanced approach here, promoting openness around technology use rather than banning everything outright.

For parents, Ourpact unquestionably provides comprehensive visibility into children’s digital behaviors across devices. Advanced filters, activity reviewing, and location tracking afford complete yet fair oversight.

What’s more noteworthy is children appreciate using Ourpact too – a rarity for parental control apps. Points and rewards systems incentivize self-monitoring instead of rebelling against restrictions. Kids also like having agreements displaying exactly where matters stand, leading to fewer arguments.

Given the quality of user experience, breadth of features at low pricing, and constantly evolving platform, Ourpact parental control solutions are absolutely worth utilizing. Apps hit the sweet spot between protection and leniency.

If you seek peace of mind amidst digital distractions plus children’s willingness to use controls cooperatively, Ourpact leads the pack. Healthy device habits start here.