Has anyone ever used OurPact to help minimize phone usage with their kids?

[jerseygirl07067]

I find this intriguing. Right now both my middle schoolers have phones, which is the norm around here. I have a policy at night that it must be turned in by 930 without being told to do so and they cannot sleep with them in their rooms.

Just curious if anyone has used this and what they thought.

[calebsmama03]

I've used it but not since they upgraded it. It was pretty limited when I used it (with ipads). Looking forward to seeing reviews of the new version so I'll bump this for you.

[westwoodmom04]

Yup, I do. My kids are not fans but I love it. It really helps limit screen time as I can turn off all apps and texting on their phones and iPads at will. I also schedule times when they do not have access.

[wendibird22]

We use Circle.


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[123LuckyMom]

I use it with my kids, who are young, 9 and 5. Right now I’m only using it to turn off all apps but the timer, audiobooks, or music after a certain time in the evening or during times when they need to be getting ready for school or other activities. I love the ability to choose which apps stay on and which turn off. My kids have their devices in their rooms at night so they can fall asleep to audiobooks or music. I want to be sure they’re not using their devices for games or Netflix at night, and this is perfect for that. I’ve also turned off just the tv type apps but left things like Minecraft or school related apps. For me, it’s very much worth the subscription, though we used it for a long time with just the all-on/all-off schedule, and that was also really helpful. The music and timer apps did stay on, but apps like Overdrive and Amazon Music vanished.


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[jerseygirl07067]

So do you need to be on wifi for it to work, or will it work over the regular network too? It was my understanding that Circle works on wifi, and kids can just bypass it by getting off wifi and connecting to the network, if they have access. We have T-Mobile, so we have unlimited data access. Correct me if I am wrong on that.

[niccig]

We’re considering it


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[n2ou]

I do. When mine are out and about and won’t answer their phone, I shut off the apps. When they lose the privilege of having a phone, I shut off the apps. No arguing, no taking phones. They still are available to call or answer my text. I find it genius.

[KpbS]

Thanks for mentioning it! This is a product I'm definitely interested in.

[123LuckyMom]

So do you need to be on wifi for it to work, or will it work over the regular network too? It was my understanding that Circle works on wifi, and kids can just bypass it by getting off wifi and connecting to the network, if they have access. We have T-Mobile, so we have unlimited data access. Correct me if I am wrong on that.

I don’t really understand your question, but OurPact needs the controlled and controlling devices both to be on the same WiFi network in order to communicate, so if you want to change things, you need to be on the same WiFi network. If you leave WiFi access, the device will stay in whatever scheduled mode it was in when it left until it’s on WiFi again. I don’t think you can make changes over cellular. (My kids don’t have cellular access, so I’m not sure about this.) Needing both devices to be on WiFi has caused problems in the past, like when we went to take a flight and left at 3am when the kids’ devices were turned off by OurPact and then didn’t have WiFi on the plane. We were traveling with bricks. I always had to be really careful to have the kids turn on their devices BEFORE we left the house and our WiFi connection just to make sure their devices had all their apps back. Now there’s a workaround for that. You can disable OurPact from the controlled device, and it sends a notification to the controlling device, but it does disengage. Now my carrier plan allows me to create a mobile hotspot, so I don’t need to worry about the WiFi issue. As long as I’m physically near the kids, I can get us all on the same WiFi network. What I can’t do is change settings when I and my phone are on a business trip and the kids are home, for example, or when I’m home, but the kids are at school (if they had devices at school). As for kids just using cellular instead of WiFi to access the Internet, for example. You couldn’t do that with OurPact, because it makes the apps on the controlled device inaccessible. There would be no browser or app for them to use to get on the internet unless you’d allowed those apps to remain accessible. OurPact controls the device, not the network. It only uses the network to communicate changes to the controlled device.


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[n2ou]

Ourpact works using cellular data. I can turn on/off my children’s apps when they are away from home. For example, my son’s app turn off every night at 10pm. If he is at a sleepover, he will text me to please grant him 2 extra hours.

[123LuckyMom]

Ourpact works using cellular data. I can turn on/off my children’s apps when they are away from home. For example, my son’s app turn off every night at 10pm. If he is at a sleepover, he will text me to please grant him 2 extra hours.

That’s wonderful! I assume your son’s device has cellular? Or do I have more control than I think I do? My kids only have WiFi. Could I still communicate with their devices if we’re on different WiFi networks, or if I have cellular but they have WiFi? That would really be wonderful for the sleepover situation you’re describing!


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[westwoodmom04]

I've never had an issue with using ourpact remotely, even for my ds's non-cellular ipad, so I definitely think it does not have to be the same wifi network.

[cuca_]

For those who use it, do you have to do a monthly subscription? If so, which one do you have and why? We use circle, but it doesn’t work for my older kids with phones. This seems like it would be a better option. Thanks!


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[westwoodmom04]

We do -- I think there is only two levels? Some of the features I wanted were not available in the basic plan.

[123LuckyMom]

I've never had an issue with using ourpact remotely, even for my ds's non-cellular ipad, so I definitely think it does not have to be the same wifi network.

Cool! It didn’t used to be that way, so that’s fantastic! I’m going to test that out!


For those who use it, do you have to do a monthly subscription? If so, which one do you have and why? We use circle, but it doesn’t work for my older kids with phones. This seems like it would be a better option. Thanks!

There is a free version, I believe, but it’s very basic. In order to choose which apps stay on and which go off, you do need a subscription. To me, it’s worth every penny, even before I knew I had as much control as westwoodmom assures me I do! I think the fee to upgrade is $4.99/mo.


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[Twin Mom]

It's $6.99/mo for the upgraded version now. I think if you had it before the price increase it's still $4.99. Someone posted about the increase here right before it happened.

[magnoliaparadise]

This is helpful. Thanks for the thread. I am going to check out both OurPact and Circle. My kids don't have phones yet, but this will be helpful when they do.