Last week, I posted an article I wrote about the importance of online accountability and filtering from a Biblical perspective called "On a Rooftop". The simple truth is that pornography has never been more accessible- it's literally right at our fingertips! Thankfully, there are a number of apps and programs available to help prevent YOU from making poor online choices and also protect YOUR KIDS from stumbling upon something that could destroy their innocence and lead to bondage. In this post, I wanted to highlight 4 apps that you might want to consider as way to remain accountable to others for your online viewing habits and to set up boundaries that prevent pornography from being viewed on your computer or mobile device.
While there are a lot of great apps available to assist in this area, the simple truth is that some of them are problematic or rather expensive (I'll mention the 4 apps to avoid at the end). As someone who balks at making monthly payments and unnecessary spending, I wanted to share a number of the CHEAPEST apps available. In addition to this, as a student pastor for over a decade, I've always encouraged online accountability, but the reality is that there are few students who would be willing to make monthly payments or subscribe to a service. Because of the seriousness and prevalence of porn addiction, I think it's important that we make online accountability and filtering as cheap and convenient as possible. To plug a free app with students is a much easier sell than encouraging them to sign up for a monthly subscription. I would LOVE to see a company create accountability software/apps FOR FREE that work across all devices, but until that day, these are some of the best options for you and your kids. It's probably also good to say that all of these options and prices are extremely current, and in a year from now, there might be better or cheaper apps available, so stay tuned and I'll tweet or post about others down the road.
Before we get to the list, I've got one important tip. When you install an accountability app or filtering software, make sure that a trusted friend/spouse sets up the password. If you have a problem viewing pornography online and hold the password for disabling the app, then, obviously, it's not going to do much good.
Four GREAT Accountability/Filtering Apps:
1. OpenDNS: This FREE service is the best option to protect your home connection. Essentially, it becomes the middleman between your Internet provider and your router, ensuring that every device that uses your home Internet is being filtered. While set-up is rather simple, if you need help, they have great support! It's important to mention, however, that this ONLY filters your home connection. It's not going to filter your iPod when you're using wifi away from home, and it won't filter internet connections through a cellular connection. Bottom line: EVERY home should have this service enabled.
2. NetNanny: This company has a great reputation for providing filtering software/apps over the years. The biggest reason for checking it out would be the price to protect mobile devices. Android devices cost $13 a year. iOS DEVICES COST $5 FOR A PERPETUAL LICENSE (NO FEES OR SUBSCRIPTION!!!) Eventually, the iOS app will probably have a similar subscription to that of the Android devices, so this is a great deal! As is the case with all iOS accountability/filtering apps, this requires you to disable Safari and acts as its own browser. While it can sometimes be a little inconvenient, it's well worth it considering that there are no filtering/accountability options available with Safari.
Before we get to the list, I've got one important tip. When you install an accountability app or filtering software, make sure that a trusted friend/spouse sets up the password. If you have a problem viewing pornography online and hold the password for disabling the app, then, obviously, it's not going to do much good.
Four GREAT Accountability/Filtering Apps:
1. OpenDNS: This FREE service is the best option to protect your home connection. Essentially, it becomes the middleman between your Internet provider and your router, ensuring that every device that uses your home Internet is being filtered. While set-up is rather simple, if you need help, they have great support! It's important to mention, however, that this ONLY filters your home connection. It's not going to filter your iPod when you're using wifi away from home, and it won't filter internet connections through a cellular connection. Bottom line: EVERY home should have this service enabled.
2. NetNanny: This company has a great reputation for providing filtering software/apps over the years. The biggest reason for checking it out would be the price to protect mobile devices. Android devices cost $13 a year. iOS DEVICES COST $5 FOR A PERPETUAL LICENSE (NO FEES OR SUBSCRIPTION!!!) Eventually, the iOS app will probably have a similar subscription to that of the Android devices, so this is a great deal! As is the case with all iOS accountability/filtering apps, this requires you to disable Safari and acts as its own browser. While it can sometimes be a little inconvenient, it's well worth it considering that there are no filtering/accountability options available with Safari.
3. Funamo: This app is only available for Android devices, while also working on popular e-readers like the Kindle Fire and Nook. It features an app with parental controls (for devices that children use) AND an accountability app (for adults). It costs $20 for a perpetual license on one device, meaning that you need to purchase Funamo for each device you would like to protect. While $20 seems a little on the expensive side, because it's a one-time purchase per-device, it ends up being a fraction of what you would pay with other subscription purchases. If I didn't already use Ever Accountable (more on that below), this would be my first choice for Android devices as it has an app specifically designed for accountability for adults. The app has a free trial, so check it out.
4. Mobiclip: Mobiclip is a free filtering app for iOS and Android, but advanced features like activity/email reporting will cost $10 a year. Mobiclip is probably better suited for protecting kids, as it has three levels of protection (Elementary, Middle and High School) which are set up based on school safety requirements. Using Mobiclip means using its own Safe Browser (while this is always the case for Apple devices, it means that Android users can't use other browsers as well).
Four Accountability/Filtering Apps that you should avoid:
There are several other well-known services for accountability and filtering that have a history of being problematic or are, in my opinion, unnecessarily expensive. While I wouldn't currently recommend any of these options, they happen to be some of the bigger names in Internet safety, so rather than omit them, I've included them below.
1. X3Watch: X3watch (created by xxxChurch) is a well-known accountability app for PC, iOS and Android devices. There is a free version available for the PC (as well as a Pro version for a monthly subscription), but mobile device users pay a one-time fee of $7. This app offers no web filtering, but is purely an accountability app that sends an email to a friend/spouse which lists questionable websites and reports whether you tried to circumvent the app. I used to plug this app a lot with my students and friends (it even used to be free!), but there are a few things that would keep me from recommending it today. If you read their App Store reviews, you'll see a string of disappointed customers who complain of problems with the built-in browser crashing, being unable to properly install the app after purchase, and not getting responses from tech support. I've experienced all of these problems myself, so even though I got the app for free a number of years ago, I'm going to be switching to one of the other apps listed above. I would LOVE to be able to recommend this app, especially considering their ministry focus, but the tech is just too problematic at this point.
2. Ever Accountable: Oh, how the mighty have fallen! A year ago, I would have wholeheartedly recommended this accountability app (for Android only), but things have changed. With Ever Accountable, you can use Chrome or the Dolphin browser and it sends a detailed list of EVERY site you visit to an accountability partner (including YouTube and Facebook). Unlike x3watch, however, it doesn't just send a list of questionable websites, but (like Accountable 2 You below) it reports on EVERY SINGLE website you've visited (including times and dates). As someone who uses the app myself, I balked a little at the excessive loss of privacy when I first installed it. It seems largely unnecessary to list ALL of the visited websites, and it also means that if my wife (who happens to be my accountability partner) wanted to, she could scroll down and find out that I bought her a gift online. On the plus side, the questionable websites are listed right at the top of the report, and because I don't buy my wife many gifts, it wasn't that big of a deal for me. Ok, I'm kidding about the gifts, and I simply suggested that she watch the top of the reports and ignore the rest. Interestingly enough, the question of your online activity being an open book isn't the deal-breaker, it's the fact that Ever Accountable has switched to a subscription based model. While I still use this accountability app myself on my Nexus 7, I bought it as a one-time purchase of $11 (I think). It has currently jumped to a $3.99 monthly subscription (or $30 for an annual subscription). It's not as expensive as the next two on my list, but despite my positive experience with the app, I could never recommend it at that price.
3. Covenant Eyes: They have a great twitter feed that offers resources and blog posts which revolve around Internet safety, but their service is far too expensive for me to recommend. Humorously enough, they even understand this and offer an infographic that attempts to justify the monthly cost. Currently, subscription prices for accountability only are $9/month, with additional users costing $2/month. If you want web filtering as well, it'll cost you at least a couple of dollars more a month per user. Nothing else needs to be said.
4. Accountable 2 You: This accountability app, like Ever Accountable, sends a full report of websites you've visited with questionable sites listed on the top. It works on PC, Mac, Android, Kindle and iOS devices. It has a subscription cost of $5/month which appears to cover an unlimited number of your devices, although the website isn't clear on that.
4. Accountable 2 You: This accountability app, like Ever Accountable, sends a full report of websites you've visited with questionable sites listed on the top. It works on PC, Mac, Android, Kindle and iOS devices. It has a subscription cost of $5/month which appears to cover an unlimited number of your devices, although the website isn't clear on that.
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