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Keep Your Car in Tip-Top Shape With Deals on Auto Accessories From Fanttik
Keep Your Car in Tip-Top Shape With Deals on Auto Accessories From Fanttik
Want to make sure your car is always up and running? Knowing how to make small fixes to your vehicle when problems arise could save you tons of money before minor issues become major ones. Having the right tools to do that makes it all the easier. Right now, Amazon is having a sale on auto accessories from Fanttik, where you can save up to 51% on different tools and products.
Prices start as low as $25 for 14-piece screwdriver kits and go up to $210 for a portable 299 watt-hour power station. What I like the most about these tools is how compact they are; you can grab a few of them and be able to fit them all in the trunk of your car if you want to. Here are some of the best deals during this sale. These deals will expire today though, so hurry and grab what you need.
Amazon
With a 150-PSI output, this tire inflator is also another good buy. It's wireless as well, and right now it's $40 off. Weighing just 1.2 pounds, this tire inflator is just like a power bank. It's compact and can be stored in your pocket, bicycle rack, car or backpack.
Amazon
This two-way charger is basically a power bank that can give your car a jolt and give your laptops, phones and other devices a charge. With this device, you'll never have to worry about a dead car battery again. You save $77 with this deal.
Amazon
This rechargeable cordless screwdriver kit has six gears and 14 attachments. It's incredibly compact and handy, making it easy to get into small nooks and crannies without manual labor. It's equipped with LED rings to illuminate dark areas.
Amazon
This precision screwdriver set has 24 magnetic steel bits and two gears torque. You can set it on high or low, in forward and reverse and it will work continuously for 2 hours. This is perfect for tablet computers, mobile phones, watches, electronic bracelets and cameras. It's now 22% off, so you'll save $11.
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Rent Prices Continue to Surge, Alongside Mortgage Rates
Rent Prices Continue to Surge, Alongside Mortgage Rates
Rents continue to climb across the country, with prices up by 14% this April compared to last year. According to data firm Corelogic's Single-Family Rent Index, which analyzes rent prices nationwide, April marked the 13th consecutive month that rents increased at a record-breaking pace.
Rental prices in April 2022 were more than six times higher than they were in 2020, when rents stagnated at the height of the pandemic, and more than double year over year. Low rental unit inventory and a strong job market are two of the biggest contributing factors to sky-high rents right now.
"Single-family rents continue to increase at record-level rates," said Molly Boesel, principal economist at CoreLogic, in the release. "In April, rent growth provided upward pressure on inflation, which rose at rates not seen in nearly 40 years. We expect single-family rent growth to continue to increase at a rapid pace throughout 2022."
Rising rent contributes to inflation by keeping housing prices high overall, and rental prices become even more unaffordable for the average household. Meanwhile, increased spending on food, energy, transportation and other essentials could cause households to fall further behind, especially as inflation continues to rise faster than income. With mortgage rates shooting up -- which makes taking out a home loan even more expensive -- the housing market is showing signs of cooling off -- but rental growth remains steady.
In New York City, the median rent hit $4,000 for the first time this May. Some of the most exorbitant rent growth was seen in Miami, where rents increased 40.8% year over year this April, or seven times faster than 2021. Places with especially low unemployment and strong wage growth like Phoenix, which has an unemployment rate of just 2.7%, also saw record-breaking rent growth at 17.8% -- the third highest increase compared to this time last year.
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9 Great Reads From CNET This Week: Antarctica, Nvidia, Star Wars and More
9 Great Reads From CNET This Week: Antarctica, Nvidia, Star Wars and More
Antarctica: It's cold, it's got penguins and it's a long, long way from wherever you live. All true, but there's a whole lot more to it than that. Starting with: It's a lot closer to you than you think, given how the effects of climate change there will impact places around the world.
Plus, it's just plain fascinating. CNET's Jackson Ryan traveled there for more than a month over the winter (Antarctica's summer), and came back with lots of stories to tell, focused on the science being done and the scientists doing that good work. You can read about ice core drilling, traveling on an icebreaker, studying sea life, unlocking the secrets of a meteorite and keeping non-native species at bay.
Those stories are among the many in-depth features and thought-provoking commentaries that appeared on CNET this week. So here you go. These are the stories you don't want to miss.
An ambitious experiment to drill into the ice sheet and travel a million years into the past.
Robert Rodriguez/CNET
Exclusive: The new chip helps cement Nvidia's lead in technology that's revolutionizing computing challenges like language and self-driving cars.
Stephen Shankland/CNET
Help us, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're our only hope.
Star Wars/Disney Plus
Traveling to the bottom of the planet inside a new, world-class icebreaker, the RSV Nuyina.
Pete Harmsen/AAD
A few laps around a rallycross course in Sardinia show me the pros and cons of Audi's gasoline-electric off-road racer.
Audi
Shopping lifts your mood, but impulse buying and even addiction can hurt your wallet.
Getty Images
As the world warms, non-native species threaten Earth's last great wilderness.
Naomi Antonino/CNET
For the athletes of SailGP, hydrofoil racing involves facing hurricane-strength winds while sitting in a "carbon fiber missile."
Ricardo Pinto for SailGP
Along For the Ride isn't just another Netflix young adult flop. I should know -- I'm in it.
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Photoshop and Lightroom Super Resolution: How to quadruple your photo size
Photoshop and Lightroom Super Resolution: How to quadruple your photo size
Adobe's Super Resolution feature in Lightroom and Photoshop is remarkable technology that uses artificial intelligence to quadruple the size of your photos. It's not perfect, but it's a great way to breathe new life into older shots and to print photos larger with twice the number of pixels in both width and height. Here's what it is and how to use it.
To build the Super Resolution feature, Adobe trained its Sensei artificial intelligence technology on millions of real photos. It compared originals with quarter-size versions so the system could learn the best way to blow them back up again. It applies that behavior to your own photos, making very well-informed guesses about how to increase their resolution.
Yes, Photoshop is fabricating pixels that weren't there in the first place, and no, it's not going to magically add detail the way Rick Deckard does with "enhance" commands in the sci-fi movie Blade Runner. Those caveats aside, I find it works well on many images, particularly when expanding edges, where it often does so without adding artifacts like mushiness or jaggy pixelization. Even faces -- the parts of images that we're often most concerned about -- come out well.
Super Resolution works through the Adobe Camera Raw tool in Photoshop. Adobe trained the feature to work on raw photos, the format that photo enthusiasts and pros prefer for editing flexibility and image quality. But Super Resolution can work on conventional images, like the JPEGs and HEICs your phone probably captures.
With that said, let's jump in. I'll explain first how to use Super Resolution on its own, then how to apply it to JPEGs, and finally how use it in Adobe's Lightroom software for editing and cataloging photos.
How to use Super Resolution in Photoshop's Adobe Camera Raw
Begin the Super Resolution process by opening a raw file. Photoshop will open raw files in the Adobe Camera Raw tool directly.
Next, right-click the photo and select the Enhance option. You can also use the keyboard shortcut Command-Shift-D on MacOS and Control-Shift-D on Windows.
Screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET
You'll see an Enhanced Preview dialog box with a couple of options to control the process. First, the Raw Details option Adobe added in 2019 improves how raw files are rendered. Below that, make sure you've checked the Super Resolution checkbox. To see the expected results, click and drag to pan around the preview image, or click on the magnifying glass icon to zoom out and then click again on the patch you want to scrutinize.
Screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET
Next, click the Enhance button and wait. Photoshop shows its estimate for how long the process will take -- several minutes in some cases -- but often it gets done faster in my testing, sometimes just a few seconds to turn 12 megapixel photos into 48 megapixels.
If you want to bypass the Enhanced Preview dialog box, hold down Option on MacOS or Alt on Windows as you click the Enhance option.
After that comes the fine tuning. I recommend zooming in closely to edit details like sharpness, texture and noise reduction using the sliders on the right edge of the tool.
Screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET
Last, click either the Done button, which will save the new version next to the original with "-Enhanced" added to its filename, or Open, which opens the image in Photoshop.
How to use Super Resolution on a JPEG
To apply Super Resolution to JPEG, HEIC or TIFF, you'll first have to change Photoshop's preferences to open those file formats in Adobe Camera Raw by default. Unfortunately, you can't just use the Filter menu's Camera Raw Filter menu command.
First, open Photoshop preferences, go to the File Handling section, then click Camera Raw Preferences. In the next dialog box that appears, click the File Handling section. Change the JPEG/HEIC dropdown to "Automatically open all supported" images, and do the same with TIFF images if you want that, too.
Screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET
Note that this will mean these images will open in Adobe Camera Raw even if you don't want to use Super Resolution and the rest of the Adobe Camera Raw editing options. Personally, I like them, since I do most of my photo editing in Lightroom -- a close relative to Adobe Camera Raw. But if you want Photoshop's regular behavior, you'll have to switch it off in Photoshop's preferences again.
DSLRs and mirrorless cameras from Sony, Nikon, Canon and other camera makers all have the option to shoot raw, but smartphones are getting better at it too, with Apple's ProRaw and Google's computational raw technology.
How to use Super Resolution from Adobe Lightroom
For a few months there, it was tough to use Super Resolution if you use Lightroom for cataloging and editing your photos. Happily, with the June 2021 Lightroom release, the feature is built in.
Using it is simple, but it's a step off the beaten track from your usual editing and catalog operations. Select the photo in Lightroom's Library mode, then choose "Enhance" from the Photo menu. You can also right-click on the image to get the option in a pop-up menu.
Screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET Screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET
After a moment to generate a preview, you'll see a dialog box that lets you pan around the preview, zoom and out, click to compare before-and-after previews, and check Lightroom's estimate for how long the job will take. Click "Enhance" when you're ready.
As with Photoshop, it's best to pixel peep to check your detailed edits zoomed in. You might want to turn down sharpness, particularly in areas like hair, where Super Resolution can make mistakes, or to crank up noise reduction. I've also found that manually adjusting purple and green fringing problems in the Lens Corrections panel can be useful to reduce color artifacts.
Screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET
Note that the keyboard shortcut for Enhance is different for Lightroom and Lightroom Classic, Adobe's two very different versions of Lightroom. For Lightroom Classic (which stores photos on your computer's storage system) it's Ctrl-Alt-I on Windows and Ctrl-Opt-I on MacOS. For Lightroom (which stores photos in the cloud and syncs them across your computer, phone and other devices) the shortcut is Ctrl-Alt-E on Windows Cmd-Opt-E on MacOS.
Also, in Lightroom Classic, you can skip the Enhance dialog box and just kick off a Super Resolution expansion with Shift-Ctrl-Alt-I on Windows and Shift-Ctrl-Option-I on MacOS. It'll apply the previous Enhance settings, so if you unchecked Super Resolution before, you'll have to reselect it through the dialog box first.
Super resolution in Lightroom can handle JPEGs as well as raw images, though it'll turn the JPEG into a DNG file. As with all DNG files, you'll have to export a JPEG for easy sharing.
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OnePlus 6T: Six features we're dying to see
OnePlus 6T: Six features we're dying to see
The red OnePlus 6 makes a statement.
James Martin/CNET
The OnePlus 6T has been officially announced and here's our review.
CNET was first to report that the OnePlus 6T will arrive in October for $550, sold exclusively by T-Mobile in the US.
The OnePlus 6T is the next iteration of OnePlus' successful franchise of "affordable high-end" Android phones. They typically sell at a fraction of the price of premium flagship phones, like the iPhone X and Galaxy Note 9. With both those phones starting at $1,000, the OnePlus 6T is further poised to capture the interest of deal-seeking holiday shoppers who are more concerned about value-for-price than sticking with their favorite brand.
For its part, OnePlus must struggle between keeping the price down while marching out top-of-the-line features matching other flagships.
We already have a good idea what the OnePlus 6T may look like, thanks to the release of the Oppo R17 -- both phone companies, along with Vivo, are subsidiaries of parent company BKK Electronics. It's no coincidence that their latest phones are released at the same time with similar designs.
Read this: Sorry, your Android phone and iPhone will only get more expensive
We're expecting the OnePlus 6T design to mostly look like the OnePlus 6, an excellent phone with a notched screen, fast processor, great camera and gesture support. But we're keeping hope alive that OnePlus will give its more expensive 6T these most-wanted features:
Underscreen fingerprint scanner, because that's cutting edge
OnePlus sister brands Vivo and Oppo have done it, and it wouldn't surprise me one bit if the OnePlus 6T also comes with an underscreen fingerprint scanner. While the tech is cool, there are some drawbacks, including a slower unlocking speed since the scanner needs to shine a light at your finger through the screen before it can read the fingerprint.
OnePlus giving the 6T a fingerprint reader would make it the first phone in the US to launch with the technology, beating out the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S10. That is, assuming that Apple's 2018 iPhones stick with FaceID and Google's upcoming Pixel 3 keeps its standard fingerprint reader.
Could we see an underscreen fingerprint scanner like the one found on the Oppo R17?
Aloysius Low/CNET
Return of the microSD card slot, because everyone wants more storage
The microSD card slot used to be a common feature on Android phones, but it's been missing on OnePlus phones since its appearance on the OnePlus X. There are good reasons for leaving the microSD card slot out -- licensing fees, security loopholes, performance or an even simpler reason: profit. Phones typically pack more storage these days, but heavy users will fill it up fast with large-file photos, videos and resource-heavy games.
Will the new OnePlus 6T look like the Oppo R17 pictured here?
Aloysius Low/CNET
Read this: How the OnePlus 6 could have been perfect
Waterproofing, because it's time already
It's not widely known, but the OnePlus 6 is splash resistant. The phone doesn't actually have an IP rating, though, probably because it would cost OnePlus quite a bit to have to have it officially tested, which obviously wouldn't help keep the price in check. But since OnePlus prices are creeping up with each iteration, the company should take the plunge and certify the 6T as water-resistant.
HDR display, because we want to watch great video
The OnePlus 6's 6.28-inch display has high dynamic range (HDR) support, though this isn't on the official spec list. With this in mind, OnePlus isn't likely to change things too much, and you can probably expect to see a similar HDR display on the 6T, great for watching HDR-enabled flicks on Netflix and YouTube.
No notch, because a guy can hope
With a no-notch approach in the Vivo Nex and Oppo Find X, could the OnePlus 6T drop the OnePlus 6's hated notch? I'm not completely anti-notch, but it does make the OnePlus 6 look like a copycat iPhone X. The fact that this notch is optional seems to highlight how unnecessary it is when it comes to giving you more usable screen space.
However, the answer is probably no. Given that the just-released Oppo R17 sports a tiny notch and that the upcoming Vivo V11 has a similar look, expect the OnePlus 6T to sadly be no different.
Unicorn color, because Huawei beat you to it
Last year, in a move that was part poll, part tease, OnePlus tweeted an image of the OnePlus 5 in different color options. One was a pinkish-blue gradient that was later revealed to be called "unicorn".
We might have chuckled at the joke if Huawei hadn't beaten OnePlus to the punch with the exact same color on its Huawei P20 and P20 Pro. We know that OnePlus has the technology to do this, too. Its sister brand Oppo has stunning gradient finishes for the Find X and recently announced R17.
Come on, OnePlus. Ombre is in. Make it happen.
The Huawei P20 Pro is quite the stunner -- could the OnePlus 6T get similar good looks?
Andrew Hoyle/CNET
Things we likely won't get
Given how OnePlus tries to juggle features to keep the cost down, there are some cool things we won't be expecting. Wireless charging will likely be one of the biggest missing features, but the phone will probably have fast charging. OnePlus calls its version Dash.
We also probably won't see a mechanical motorized camera, like those seen on the Find X or the Vivo Nex, or even 5x optical zoom. There's a chance the 6T could sport triple cameras like the Oppo R17 Pro. But cameras are expensive, so don't hold your breath. You'll probably have to make do with the usual dual-camera setup.
Whatever OnePlus has in store, it'll face stiff competition from the usual suspects, such as Samsung Galaxy S9, the upcoming Google Pixel 3 and Apple's new 2018 iPhone.
Are there any features you'd like to see in the OnePlus 6T? Let us know in the comments.
Fight the Power: Take a look at who's transforming the way we think about energy.
'Hello, humans': Google's Duplex could make Assistant the most lifelike AI yet.
Samsung's less expensive Galaxy S20 FE is 'very much a response' to the pandemic
Samsung's less expensive Galaxy S20 FE is 'very much a response' to the pandemic
Samsung has another Galaxy S20 for its fans, and the device has been tailored for our unusual times. The Galaxy S20 Fan Edition, also known as the Galaxy S20 FE, packs some high-end features found in the rest of the S20 lineup -- like low-band 5G connectivity -- but at a starting price of $700 (£699, AU$999). That's $300 less than the regular Galaxy S20 -- and you can currently get it for $100 less. Adding superfast millimeter wave 5G connectivity for the Verizon model brings the price up to $750 (though the carrier is currently offering a promotional $50 discount).
The 6.5-inch S20 FE has the same Snapdragon 865 processor as the rest of the lineup and includes IP68 water resistance. It sports three rear camera lenses, including a 30x Space Zoom like what's featured in the S20 and S20 Plus. It's available in six bright colors. One of the device's biggest differences from the rest of the lineup: The back is made of plastic instead of glass.
Read more: Galaxy S20 FE vs. other S20 phones: How is the new Fan Edition so much cheaper?
Samsung, which unveiled the FE during a virtual Unpacked event, hopes to attract people who shy away from a $1,000 phone but still want the flashier features of the company's Galaxy S lineup. And it's those people who want that Galaxy S brand instead of the cheaper, simpler Galaxy A devices. During the coronavirus pandemic, that could turn out to be a lot of potential buyers.
"It's very much a response [to the pandemic]," Drew Blackard, vice president of product management for Samsung Electronics America, said in an interview ahead of the news. "We've seen the need for a really more value-segmented offer that focuses on those core features that we know our users love the most and prioritize the most."
The company had considered introducing a device that fell between the A Series -- which ranges from $110 to $650 in the US -- and the bottom end of the S Series, which starts at $999, Blackard said. It's done something similar in the past, like introducing the $650 Galaxy S10 Lite in January at CES 2020.
But the pandemic caused Samsung to speed up the FE's development and release, something it could do because it controls many parts of its supply chain. The FE, which goes on sale in the US on Oct. 2, arrives about seven months after the other S20 phones hit the market, whereas the S10 Lite became available in the US over a year after its siblings went on sale.
"One of Samsung's core advantages and competitive advantages in the market is speed," Blackard said. "We can very quickly design new products and get to market."
Samsung, which lost its crown as the world's biggest phone maker to Huawei in the second quarter, has been introducing its new devices in a difficult environment. Instead of facing a strong market for phones, with 5G and foldable screens getting people to upgrade their devices, most handset makers are seeing reduced demand amid the raging novel coronavirus pandemic. Nearly a million people have died, over 31 million have been infected and millions more are out of work, unsure when they'll next earn a steady paycheck.
While tech overall has seen a spike in demand during the pandemic, the phone market has struggled. Consumers are opting for less expensive devices, saving their money altogether or spending their cash on PCs and other work-from-home and entertainment supplies. This year, smartphone sales are expected to hit a 10-year low because of the pandemic, according to CCS Insight.
Samsung, despite launching its new Galaxy S20 lineup in March and its less expensive Galaxy A phones over the following months, saw the biggest year-over-year drop of the world's top five phone makers in the second quarter, Canalys said. Samsung's 30% decline allowed Huawei to leapfrog it to become the world's biggest smartphone vendor for the first time, Canalys noted. It was the first time in nine years that a company other than Samsung or Apple shipped the most phones.
Samsung now hopes the S20 FE will help turn things around.
"The new Galaxy S20 Fan Edition is ideal [for the current environment]," said Avi Greengart, an analyst at Techsponential. "It gives people differentiated features … all at a price people are looking to pay."
Pandemic problems
Samsung was counting on this year's Galaxy S20 lineup -- its first crop of phones that all feature 5G connectivity in the US -- to woo buyers who'd been waiting to upgrade their devices. Then COVID-19 swept across the globe. The US went into lockdown about a week after Samsung's Galaxy S20 lineup hit stores. Because consumers were worried about money -- and couldn't see the new devices in person -- demand fell. In July, Samsung said its mobile business revenue tumbled 18% from the previous year.
In the US, Samsung sold about 44% fewer Galaxy S20 models in the first four months of sales than the Galaxy S10 last year, according to M Science, a data analytics provider that tracks stats like mobile adoption.
The Galaxy S20 FE comes in six colors, including Cloud Mint.
Samsung
What Samsung has found is that its less expensive S20 model has attracted the most buyers in recent weeks. In a normal year, it's the priciest Galaxy S or Note phone that sells in the highest numbers, at least at first, Blackard said. About six to eight weeks later, after the megafans have made their purchases, the lower-end models sell better.
That happened this year but in a more pronounced way, Blackard said. The Galaxy S20 Ultra was the top-selling device of the lineup at launch, he said, just as the Note 20 Ultra surpassed sales of the cheaper Note 20. But then the less expensive models became more popular.
"Within the first six to eight weeks [after] launch, you start to see that transition happen," Blackard said. "And in this case, it just happened more sharply than it did the year before."
Cheaper is king
Phone-makers have responded differently to the pandemic. In the case of Apple, it likely developed the iPhone SE well before the coronavirus spread widely, but its launch timing proved to be fortuitous. At $399, the SE is the cheapest new phone in Apple's lineup, and it includes a feature that's perfect for the times: a Touch ID fingerprint reader. That makes it easier to unlock the device while wearing a mask, versus the Face ID technology in Apple's pricier phones.
That device helped Apple report strong financial results, even as the company delayed its high-end iPhone 12 lineup, in part because of pandemic-related production issues. Instead of arriving in September, as iPhones normally do, the devices will likely launch in October.
Samsung's answer to the iPhone SE was its Galaxy A lineup, a batch of devices available overseas for years but arriving in the US for the first time. The four new 4G LTE models ranged from $110 for the Galaxy A10 to $400 for the Galaxy A51. Samsung even introduced two 5G devices, the $500 Galaxy A51 5G and the $600 to $650 Galaxy A71 5G, giving the South Korean company two of the cheapest 5G phones in the US.
The Galaxy S20 FE falls more in line with Apple's iPhone 11. It's part of the premium range but lower in price. The iPhone 11 has been one of Apple's top sellers over the past year.
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Best apps to put on kids' phones to keep them safe online this summer
Best apps to put on kids' phones to keep them safe online this summer
For the most up-to-date news and information about the coronavirus pandemic, visit the
WHO
and
CDC
websites.
School systems are formulating reopening plans amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and families are reshaping their summer schedules to adhere to safety regulations. Parents balancing working from home with caring for school-age kids need ways to keep their brood entertained.
Read more:Our favorite back to school picks for 2020
With the surge in digital learning and not being able to visit friends in person, many kids are spending more time on their phones and computers. The safety concerns for kids online haven't lessened, but learning about parental controls and safety apps can help bring some peace of mind to parents.
Here are a few parental control apps we think are a good idea to consider putting on your child's phone or computer.
Read more:Best kids tablet for 2020: Amazon Fire, Apple iPad and more compared
Net Nanny
Net Nanny/Screenshot by Shelby Brown/CNET
Net Nanny is an app that uses AI to block questionable or dangerous content before your child sees it. The app can filter certain websites and monitors your child's digital activity, and can also monitor and limit screen time. The software's Family Feed feature can report what your child is searching online and what apps your child uses and can alert you to content such as pornography, weapons and drugs.
Net Nanny is compatible with Android and iOS, as well as Windows, Mac and Fire. The software costs $55 per year to cover PC, Mac and mobile for a five-device family. Net Nanny also offers a $40 annual plan to cover one Mac desktop and a 20-device protection package for $90 per year.
In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, Net Nanny also offers a dedicated filter to block coronavirus sites and searches to help kids who might feel anxious.
Read more: 7 parental controls you can use right now on your kid's iPhone
Bark
Bark/ Screenshot by Shelby Brown/ CNET
Bark is another option for parents who want to keep kids safe online. The app monitors texts and emails, along with YouTube and over 30 social media networks for questionable content your child might be searching or viewing. Bark sends parents alerts if it detects signs of cyberbullying, depression, online predators, adult content and more. You can also decide which platforms you want to monitor, if you want to give your child some privacy. The app recently launched a new screen-time management feature so parents can monitor their kids' accounts as well as set screen time limits from the same app.
Bark has a seven-day free trial and then costs $14 a month ($99 annually) per family with iOS and Android devices. You can also subscribe to Bark Jr, the company's entry-level product, for $5 a month ($49 annually). Bark Jr focuses on screen time management, website filtering and location check-ins.
OurPact
OurPact
The OurPact parenting app helps families balance screen time for free on iOS and Android devices. The app lets parents limit access to certain apps, filter websites, enable GPS monitoring, and schedule screen time and recurring activities like bedtime. It also allows parents to block or grant internet and app access at anytime.
In response to the coronavirus outbreak, OurPact said that it's offering three months free access to premium features, normally $7 per month. Premium can manage up to 20 devices, keep tabs on all the apps on your child's device and mark as Always Blocked, Per Schedule and Always Allowed. Premium also enables a spendable screen time allowance, the family locator feature and geo-fence creator for alerts, text blocking and web filters.
Typically, OurPact's base plan is free and offers one schedule, and five blocks and unlimited grants for one device. OurPact also has a Plus plan for $2 per month that offers unlimited schedules, and manual blocks and grants for 10 devices.
SafeToNet
SafeToNet/Screenshot by Shelby Brown/CNET
Kids will be communicating over devices while in lockdown since they can't see their friends. The SafeToNet app, which is now available on iOS and Android in the US, has a safeguarding keyboard powered by AI to judge, guide and advise a child in real time as they search for content and message others. The app's goal is to help the child become more responsible and safe online without feeling like they don't have any privacy.
Parents won't be able to see what's being written, but can view insights like the time of day when high-risk messages are sent and the top five apps used by their child. SafeToNet can show what issues the child most struggles with, too.
The software will flag certain messages if the AI detects bullying, abuse, aggression or sexting, for example. SafeToNet gives the child a moment to pause before sending a message they can't take back. Plus, the app provides breathing exercises when anxiety is detected, lessons about self-esteem and an emotion diary.
To help during the pandemic, SafeToNet is offering its services free to families for the next 30 days.
Google Family Link
Google/ Screenshot by Shelby Brown/ CNET
Google Family Link lets you create a Google account for your child (if they're under 13 years old) with access to most Google services, including Gmail and Photos. If your child is over 13, they have to consent to using Google Family Link. The app lets parents keep track of their kid's Google account and guide them to age-appropriate content. Parents can also approve or deny which apps their kids want to download. Family Link shows parents apps that teachers recommend, which parents can add directly to the child's phone.
The service is compatible with Chromebook, iOS and Android. It includes other parental controls such as screen time limits, locking the phone for family time and location tracking.
