Norton Family Review 2024: Is It Good & Safe to Use?

Norton Family streamlines parental monitoring by grouping all children’s devices together. It provides reports and the ability to block websites or apps.

Concerned about your kids’ online activities and screen time? Norton Family is your solution. It’s a parental control program for real-time monitoring. In this Norton Family review, we’ll explore Norton Family’s features and how to use it for online safety.

Norton Family includes an iOS app that uses Apple’s Screen Time for tracking, allowing parents to set limits and monitor app usage.

How Much Does the Norton Family Cost?

Parental control service pricing structures can vary significantly, but Norton Family keeps it simple. A Norton Family subscription costs $49.99 annually, offering features like web filtering, time limits, and location tracking. It retains 30 days of activity history and includes extras such as the ability to instantly lock devices. There’s also a free 30-day trial for you to evaluate the software before committing to an annual subscription.

How to Use the Norton Family?

1. Create an Account: Visit the Norton website and create an account.
2. Add Children and Devices: Once your account is set up, you can add your children and their devices to your family group.
3. Configure Settings: Customize settings for each child, including web filtering, time limits, and location tracking.
4. Monitoring Begins: After configuring the settings, Norton Family will start monitoring your children’s device activities.

By following these steps, you can effectively use Norton Family to ensure your children’s online safety.

What Platforms Does Norton Family Support?

Norton Family provides the flexibility to set rules and monitor your child’s activity through a web console, along with parental apps for Android and iOS. To enforce rules and track activity, you install a dedicated child app on each monitored device. Norton Family supports monitoring of Windows (except Windows 10 in S mode), Android, and iOS devices. However, it doesn’t extend support to Macs, unlike competitors like Qustodio and Kaspersky Safe Kids, which cover both Macs and Windows devices. Nevertheless, you can still access the online interface on a Mac to set up rules, monitor your children’s activities, and manage their profiles.

Time Supervision

This feature is crucial as it enables you to regulate your children’s overall screen time. It can also serve as a tool to limit internet usage during study or family time. For instance, you can designate a device for schoolwork only, restricting its use from Monday to Thursday, between noon and 5 pm. This ensures the child stays focused and minimizes distractions. Additionally, you can set specific internet access times, such as no phone usage after bedtime or during Sunday family time. Overall, this feature is highly effective in managing your child’s screen time and preventing excessive digital engagement.

Location Tracking

Norton Family not only protects your children online but also offers geofencing capabilities. Geofencing creates virtual boundaries using GPS, sending alerts when your child enters or exits a designated area, enhancing both safety and monitoring. Whether it’s ensuring their route home from school or tracking their location when they’re not with you, Norton Family’s geofencing is a valuable feature. It’s optional and can be managed from the Parental Controls dashboard after setting up your child’s device. Simply create an account, add the device, and set up geofences to receive real-time alerts.

Applications and Messaging

Norton Family doesn’t provide the capability to restrict individual games or applications on PCs, but it does offer this feature for Android and iOS devices. If you seek more control over the games and apps your child uses on their Windows PC, MacOS, or smartphone, consider exploring Apple’s free parental controls, Google’s Play Protect subscription service, or Microsoft’s Family Safety program.

Video Monitoring

Norton Family can track the videos your child watches on YouTube and Hulu’s websites, but it doesn’t cover their apps. In the Video section, you can access a list of all the movies your child has viewed, complete with details like viewing date and time, video category, and a link to watch the video. It proved effective during testing, accurately recording our activities on YouTube’s mobile site. The software also logs Hulu usage.

Conclusion

Overall, Norton Family is an excellent tool for parents to monitor their children’s device activity. It’s user-friendly and compatible with multiple devices. However, there are a few downsides, such as its lack of support for Macs and its reliance on Screen Time for the iOS app. Despite these drawbacks, Norton Family remains one of the best options for parents looking to supervise their children’s device usage.