I’ve been a kid my self 
, thou i didn’t grew up/changed to be a naive adult, maybe you just “missed” the point in my “essay” , even thou one doesn’t have to be a “programming expert” to understand it.
btw, im not a programming expert either, in fact far from
Both those features already exist on the HA companion app. You get a GPS location and can see your kids on the map card if they have HA installed and running on their phones.
All that is already built in without going through a dodgy looking third party site who charges a subscription for this service.
The HA Companion is more than enough to track my daughter’s location and much more (ie, when she’s using the phone under the blanket after bed time). The iOS built-in parental controls also suffice to restrict apps, websites and other settings as deemed appropriate.
This misses the point the OP is not just talking about single devices from one vendor.
They are taking about multiple interaction channels and devices across multiple platforms.
Xbox, Nintendo, PlayStation, TV OSs, Browser, Social Media Apps, Game Types.
Norton Family does operate to an extent across platform and device with a certain level of granularity but it’s not a silver bullet. You can consider apps such as Bark, not available in the EU but can be made to work, for more invasive Social Media monitoring.
I think, hopefully, global government pressure driven by parents will push for a common interface for technology vendors to produce an open monitoring layer for children’s digital access and safety.
However children’s / people’s rights need to be considered as we are bordering on GDPR / Rights to Privacy on the Bark end of the scale.
Is HA the right place for this? Probably not but it does have the ability to provide rule engines.
For example I have a Helper Toggle that allows me to prohibit TV access. When a TV in the house is turned on then it turns itself off after 20 seconds. Also a YouTube Toggle that switches the TVs source back to Netflix when the Toggle is set to Off.
Everything is possible but a simple solution would be wonderful.
The OP couldn’t say what apps he/she wanted monitoring. If for example, you want to monitor how long your kid has been on Xbox today, create a sensor to do that.
Rinse and repeat for every thing you want to monitor.
The rest cannot be done without this basic information.
If you just want to stop them using the internet after x hours then that is simpler.
I get what the OP is asking for. These devices or services have parental features. For instance there is Microsoft Family Safety, which will allow a parent to monitor and/or limit device time for kids. Google has an app for Android and I believe Sony has one for Playstation, etc, etc.
What OP is asking is for integrations with these different services if at all possible so that there can be sensors, switches, etc and possibly a parental feature in HA.
This does seem like a good fit as HA is supposed to be a central “hub” for other devices and services.
I would love to see this feature in H as well.
I am a parent so I am allowed to speak, and I know enough about these systems to know it cannot be done. Systems like Nintendo do not provide API’s for it. Youtube can be accessed in so many ways you cannot count. So it is indeed like the Holy Grail. Microsoft did try to span its reach to Android phones, Bitdefender does some effort to span multiple devices. But Apple too is not easy to get hooks into.
And then my kids school started using computers for school work, and any parental controls I had went out the window, because it would cut them off from doing homework. Even those that limit internet access time. So you’re down to good old oldfashioned parenting skills.
And this is coming from someone who has integrated so much I could be called Big Brother if I wanted to make use of it all.
1 Like
Exactly.
Not that I have those in spades, but I try
I use a Fritz box as router and there is a integration for ha. There is the possibility to control the internet access for the different devices registered in the Fritz box. It works well, I tried it. With this I can use a schedule helper to control the devices internet access.
I can configure this in my Fritz box gui too and I use this for my kids. It’s better than nothing but not the best way. The kids are using mobile data if they don’t have WiFi e.g. so the best is to get the devices if the time is over.
I also think it’s not possible to make an “all in one” solution because of the different platforms and API. The only thing is to lock the internet connection.
One thing I use continously is Norton Family Supervision Button and Instant Lock functionality.
Having this in HA would be good, but I’m unsure if Norton Family has an API.
Yes, I have 3 kinds, one of them is mentally disabled due due epilepsy.
II talk more with my kids than you write comments on things you have no idea about. No offence - but you absolutely do.
Parenting is a task that takes many years, and is a job you do each day besides your other chores, like a 50h job, home-chores, homework with kids, repairing everything all the time, playing with kids (if there is time), driving the to and from sport etc.
But even if you “talk to your kids” - that does not always have the predicible result you think it might have.
I do not descide that.
But as a parent I am the one desiding on penalties on breaking the rules we have set-together. One of these penalties could be “no Gaming” - or no ditigal media for some time alltogether.
Well, it’s really really hard to juggle a family and everything else you have to do - time wise.
More often than I’d like I still have to work at night.
More often than I’d like I have to do some private paperwork keeping me from watching kids in a cadence I’d like.
Or other chores (washing, cleaning, repairing etc.).
My house if full of tech-gadets (that is my last and only hobby besides jogging each day). We have alexas in every corner, smart-kiosk screens, every light and shade works through voice commands, as well as starting the dishwasher, the vacuum or the extractor hood. My washing mashine starts when the PV systems produces enough exess power, and tells me when it’s finished.
I am a tech nerd - and my kinds grow up with tech (it’s my fault).
Thus I use Home Assistant massively (that’s why I am in this forum).
Now - Home Assistant is not the only solution I use to parent my kids.
(You seem to think that)
But it would be a timesaver for me, one more tool to reign in the beehive I am living in (not always - but sometimes).
I am a prgrammer - but also a Projekt-manager - thus I absolutely know, that not every problem can be solved by Tech - Tech is a suplement - and addition to a set of solutions.
Could you please let me know what exactly is to be done to “Get a grip of the situation”?
Again - from what you have written in your “essay”, it’s obvious you have only experienced parenting from the child’s perspective.
Please also know - that raising one one child, two, three and then more can also be vastly different in the “effort and stress level” for parent - so not every parental situation is similar (there are VAST differences).
But I KNOW you cannot relate.
I appreciate your feedback - but would like to object, and again ask for a solution in home assistant to help with a “one digital media time account” solution, which would greatly help me to manage the different accouts (*3 kids) I have to manage, and to be able to set one timesplan for a day (in COLLABORAITON and AGREEMENT with MY KIDS) across all devices.
1 Like