Internet Filter

The StarTribune.com recently published an interesting article, appropriately titled "Parents: Are you a high-tech snoop?".  The author, Suzanne Ziegler, states: " Parents who are finding themselves outgunned by tech-savvy tweens and teens are looking for ways stay on top of what their kids are doing online. It's daunting for parents, who grew up when snooping was a matter of picking up the other phone line to listen in or finding where a diary had been hidden. Now, a growing number of devices -- including phones and laptops -- let their children access the Internet anywhere, anytime. So, tech companies are responding by developing a growing arsenal of spy gear -- aimed at parents -- that's cheaper and easier to use.

We agree with Suzanne and we appreciate her featuring Mobicip as Spy Gear for Parents. Educators and Parents choose Mobicip's app to ensure their mobile kids use their mobile devices (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, etc) safely and securely.

Education Apps Review (IEAR.org) recently posted a review about Mobicip, their review is below and can be found on the IEAR blog.  In their review, IEAR shares the overall educational value of Mobicip: "This app is very important for education because it allows schools to send the devices home without having to worry about what the student may access."  Thank you IEAR.org!

IEAR Review: 
"Purpose: This app is essential for schools that send the iPod touch home with students.  Mobicip is a safe Internet browser that replaces Safari on the iPods interface.  Instead of Safari, students click on the Mobicip icon to access the Internet.  The functionality is the same as Safari but students now only have access to safe sites.  Teachers and administrators can set the filtering level based upon the age of the student.

In addition to the basic app, teachers also have the ability to subscribe to the premium service ($9.99. annually), which allows for more customization.  Teachers can block or allow websites and categories on the device in order to have more control over what the student sees.  Teachers are also able to login to the Internet and view each device and monitor what sites the students have accessed.   There are also a number of reports that teachers can run that shows what types of sites are blocked and how often they were accessed.

Program Functionality: The navigation of Mobicip is essentially the same as Safari.  It is very easy to use.  Initially the teacher will need to set it up on the iPod so they can enter the login credentials.  This is done only once.  After this, the student can open the Mobicip icon and it will go straight to the Internet.

I especially like the bookmarks that come with Mobicip.  These are all safe and useful websites for the kids to access.

Overall Educational Value: This app is very important for education because it allows schools to send the devices home without having to worry about what the student may access."


 

Scott Meech, the founder of IEAR.org (Education Apps Review), recently featured Mobicip as a resource in an IEAR.org Classroom Live 2.0 Session. You can find his slides below as well as a link to his blog post: http://www.iear.org/iear/2010/8/14/classroom-20-live-session-8142010.html

David Burt, an expert on internet filtering and parental control software, writes on his GetParentalControls blog:

A new survey by BlogHer and Parenting Magazine recently recorded the views of 1,032 moms regarding their attitudes and practices regarding the use of technology by their children.  The survey was fielded on two separate populations:
•568 digitally savvy moms aged 18-49 in the BlogHer Publishing Network
•464 moms aged 18+ on the Parenting Mom Connection panel 

The survey found high levels of involvement from both samples, including a whopping 85 percent using “parental controls for TV, computers, web browsers.”  According to the survey’s author, the digitally savvy moms were slightly less likely to use parental controls, but both used them at very high levels.

Click here for the full article on David's blog.

While the survey covers computers and web browsers, it doesn't dig deeper to ask similar questions about mobile and personal Internet devices like the iPod Touch, iPad or DSi for instance. From our experience, awareness about the Internet access anytime anywhere on these devices is pretty low among moms and parents. We do expect this to change as they become more aware of the time that kids spend on these devices and the content that they are exposed to.

Mobicip Safe Browser was ranked #3 on the Babble Top 50 iPhone App for Moms list!  Mobicip was also ranked #1 in the Creative and Practical category.  Babble is the fastest growing website for moms, with over 4 millions moms visiting the hippest parenting site in the US every month. Here is a link to the review: http://www.babble.com/mom/parenting-top-50/50-best-iphone-apps-for-moms-safe-browser/ 

You can also read the review below:

"The Safe Browser from Mobicip gives you an alternative to Safari on your iPhone. It’s a fabulous way to monitor and restrict what your children are allowed to access on the internet via the phone. You can select a filtering level based on your child’s age, and each filtering level allows different types of content to come through the browser. The Elementary School level is the most restrictive, High School the least. The app uses real-time filtering in a way that doesn’t noticeably slow down the internet response time. Safe Browser comes with preset bookmarks to kid-friendly websites and your children can add in additional bookmarks of their own. They can perform Google searches, but the results are restricted by the safety filters that you have established. These features are all included in the price of the app. For an additional $9.99 a year, you can upgrade to a premium subscription, letting you control the Safe Browser restrictions through a website and monitor multiple users on multiple devices. You can blacklist certain websites and whitelist (permit) others. The premium subscription provides reports on the different users you are monitoring. You can see how long they were on the internet, what websites they visited, which ones were blocked and why they were blocked. Safe Browser gives you the ability to protect your children from the nasty side of the internet."

Mobicip's Safe Browser app has been updated (version 2.5.2) to take advantage of iOS4 features like multi-tasking. The updated app is zippy, instant-on, and makes copy-paste much easier and faster. As usual, the update is free for anyone who has downloaded the app before. Simply launch the App Store on the device and you will be prompted to download the update, or you can always download the update from iTunes.

Our May newsletter (copied below) was sent over the weekend, generating an overwhelming response in referrals, phone calls and emails. Thank you parents for your wonderful feedback!

Schools Choose Mobicip for Safe iPod Touch Use.  Mobicip is most popular among parents as an Internet filtering and parental control service for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. However, the original intent behind Mobicip was to create a safe Internet for K-12 schools for mobile learning. This vision has been borne out by the increasing adoption of the iPod Touch as a mobile learning device by hundreds of schools across the US. In the last few months, we had the unique opportunity to work with pioneering schools, administrators and teachers who are implementing 1:1 learning programs based on the iPod Touch. A 1:1 learning program is where the school provides a learning device with instructional activities and curriculum-aligned content to each student for use in the classroom and at home. That Mobicip has been adopted by these pioneering schools is a testament to how critical filtering is for schools, and to the effectiveness of Mobicip's dynamic filtering engine and Internet activity monitoring. Does your child's school use mobile devices for education?  Let us know so Mobicip can make sure your kids have access to a safe, secure and educational Internet. Email Reports Now Available For Premium Users Premium Mobicip.com subscribers can now opt to receive reports of Internet activity via email. Simply login at www.mobicip.com and navigate to Settings > Email Reports to enable the option. To upgrade to Premium, login at Mobicip.com and click Upgrade Now. Safe Browser Update 2.5.1 - iPad Support! The latest update of Mobicip's Safe Browser is now available for download from the iPhone App Store. The update features Support for the iPad Blazing performance next only to Safari Reorderable bookmarks Bug fixes making the Safe Browser one of the most reliable and fully functional Safari Mobile-alternatives available on the App Store. Yes, the update is absolutely FREE! We have listened to your requests and the next update we are working on includes full-screen browsing, bookmarks syncing, visual bookmarks or weblinks, and the ability to exclude local IP Addresses. If there are other features you want to highlight to us, please send a quick note to support@mobicip.com. Sincerely Mobicip.com Crew become a fan on Facebook follow us on Twitter

Hear'em Say It "Even with the free account, Mobicip offers more than enough protection that parents can rest easy. For a mere $5, you can keep your kids from accidentally (or intentionally) wandering into the Web's red-light districts. I'm sold." Rick Broida - CNET "Mobicip allows us to unleash the web on these (iPod Touch) devices, address parental control wishes and let our students learn in and out of school, both on their terms and parent/educator’s terms." Dr. Brant Myers, Superintendent, Jim Ned Indep. School District "I haven’t the faintest idea how all the technical voodoo works to block/allow websites so I’m grateful they’ve kept the parental account features simple. A fabulous product." The iPhone Mom.com   Mobicip Protects iPods at Comal ISD Mobicip for iPad Useful Links Watch Demo Frequently Asked Questions Need Help / Report Problem User Community Forum   Top Blog Posts How To Setup Parental Controls on iPhone, iPod Touch & iPad Five Must-Have iPhone Apps Mobicip Ensures Safe Student iPod Use in Schools

We are happy to announce that Mobicip's Safe Browser app for iPad is now available. Click here to download it from the iPad App Store. Tutorials, videos and demos for the iPad are coming soon!

Once again, a new update of Mobicip's Safe Browser is now available on the App Store. So what is new in this version? This is an incremental update with a mix of bug-fixes and some new features listed below:

Login Problem Fixed

About a dozen users had run into a rather innocuous bug that was forcing parents to login again. 

It was, strangely enough, tied to the orientation of the device at the moment you close a tab or window inside the Mobicip Safe Browser. It was causing associated data like bookmarks and login information to be erased. We are relieved that the issue is now fixed.

Forward Links by Email

You can now touch the Bookmarks icon and send the current website as a link via email. This is a Safari Mobile feature that has been added to Mobicip's Safe Browser.

Better Handling of Web Forms

A handful of users had reported that certain school and bank websites were not being handled correctly. This has now been fixed, bringing Mobicip's browser closer to Safari in functionality compared to most other browsers on the App Store.

Other Bug Fixes

A few other bug fixes for crashes in corner cases have been included in this update. 

Download

As usual the update is free for anyone who has downloaded Mobicip before from the App Store. Simply use the same iTunes account that you used to download the app before, and you will not be charged for the repurchase.

In summary, this is a minor update in terms of new features, but a major update in terms of bug fixes and improved reliability. Download the update now, try it and let us know what you think.

Wow! This was a Thanksgiving surprise for Mobicip!

It is certainly an honor to be recognized, especially when it is unexpected. Thank you iPhone Apps Plus team. See the original article and review here. 

To the thousands of Mobicip parents and users out there, thank you very much for choosing Mobicip and telling your friends about it, not to mention your continued support and feedback.

Mobicip crew

The iPhone Mom is a popular app review blog run by a real iPhone Mom. The blog was featured recently in ABC News and Tech Crunch and has a big fan following.

The iPhone Mom has published an excellent review of the Mobicip Safe Browser and Premium parental control service. Excerpts below. Read the full article here.

I’m impressed with what they’ve done and the resources they’re using to filter out all the icky stuff. Plus, they’ve done it in a way that doesn’t really slow down the internet access. When I was browsing and using Mobicip I didn’t find much of a noticeable delay in the internet speed.

The app comes with preset bookmarks and the kids can also add their own. They’ll be able to create and use bookmark folders just like you do in Safari. The Google search is also still present at the top of the screen, only when they use it in Mobicip it’s subject to their search restrictions.  I was surprised to find that it offers search suggestions. I tried a search for Hannah Montana and by the time I’d typed in Hannah it had pulled up a list of suggestions for what I might be searching for. Another really cool feature is the ability to use multiple tabs, just like in Safari. The iPhone’s copy/paste feature will also work.

About the Premium service.

The user interface on the parental account is extremely straightforward and user friendly. Exactly what I needed. I haven’t the faintest idea how all the technical voodoo works to block/allow websites so I’m grateful they’ve kept the parental account features simple.

In conclusion

The icky possibilities of the internet are endless and if Santa manages to put an iPod Touch on his sleigh for my kids this will be one of the first apps that I install.

Thanks iPhone Mom, for an excellent and thorough review!

We are happy to announce that the latest version (2.1.0) of Mobicip Safe Browser for iPhone and iPod Touch has been approved by Apple and is now available on the App Store. This is a major update and we have worked hard to make this version clean and stable. The new version has several new features, from the superficial to the internals.

New Icon - Believe it or not, this was the top requested change from parents. Older kids found the icon with smiley faces patronizing, while younger kids loved the eye candy. So we agonized over a replacement icon and finally settled on a generic one. Hope everyone likes it this time.

Tabs / Windows - Anyone who has used Safari Mobile would have grown to love the tabs or windows. Now you can have multiple tabs open at your fingertips and switch between them with ease. Sites like Google News will automatically launch in another tab, hold down any link to open it in a new tab, and you can always use the New Tab button to open one.

Save Images - Press and hold any image and these buttons should pop up, allowing you to copy the image and paste it elsewhere or email it. 

Persistent Cookies - Login at your favorite websites and the Mobicip browser will remember the login information between sessions so you don't have to login again. 

Copy & Paste - Have fun with the new copy and paste features in iPhone OS 3.0 within the Mobicip browser. Copy links from emails and paste it in the Mobicip Browser's URL bar. Select and copy content, and paste it in your email.

Blazing Performance - Ignoring all the features, the most valuable update in this version is subtle and will be perceived rather than seen. The Mobicip browser should now be as fast, if not faster, than Safari Mobile in terms of speed.

Please update the app and let us know what you think. Your feedback helps shape our solution. Thanks especially to the beta users, especially Dylan and Eric, for your enthusiastic feedback and participation.

Blurb from an article written by Mobicip CEO , Suren Ramasubbu, for Huffington Post:

Internet filtering and parental control products may not be preferred by every parent. Many parents choose to simply discuss appropriate usage with their children; many others use Internet filtering products as training wheels until they feel confident. While the decision makers who purchase and setup the software are parents or school administrators, the actual end users whose browsing behavior is being monitored are children -- a highly targeted demographic for marketers and companies that want to sell products to them.

At Mobicip.com, a parental control and Internet filtering service for the iPhone and iPod Touch, we have stayed away from using data on our user behavior for any purpose, mainly due to the arguably ethical and potential PR issues associated with it. This is not a new controversy.

To read the entire article, click here.