Kids: Love ’em or hate ’em, they’re here to stay (unless they stop being born in some kind of Children of Men nightmare world). And one of the things we love and hate most about kids is that they are drawn to our iDevices like a hooker is drawn to dangerous situations.
Now, these monsters get their own section in the app store, which means that you should probably consider visiting the Restrictions section in your iPhone’s settings and switching off the store.
There are a huge amount of video games out on iOS for kids, from educational games to adventure games and more. Sure, you can get reviews of these games by adults, sometimes even from parents of kids who use them.
We thought it’d be fun, though, to ask the kids themselves.
Welcome to Kid APProved, a series of videos in which we ask our own children what they think of video games on the App Store that they’re playing.
This week, it’s Big Fish’s brilliant adventure/platforming game, Fetch – A Boy and his Dog.
Parental controls are a wonderful thing, letting you filter internet content, restrict your kids to certain apps, and even keep them from accessing the Mac during times they should be sleeping or doing homework.
Did you know, then, that you can manage the Parental Controls in OS X from another Mac on your network? This means that you can make changes and add or remove restrictions on the fly from your own Mac, rather than having to brave the bedroom of, say, a grumpy and smelly pre-teen daughter who might not be overjoyed to see you messing about on “her” computer. I mean, hypothetically.
Here’s how to set up your child’s Mac to be able to do this.
I have to admit, I’m less than wary of all the tracking that goes on with the iOS devices my kids have access to. Now that they both have at least an iPod touch and access to my iPads, I’m feeling a bit on the worried side about them sharing any of their web or app activity.
Luckily, there’s an app called Disconnect Kids that installs on any iOS device and then helps kids (and their parents) understand what this tracking stuff is, and how to block it. It then helps those very same kids and parents do just that.
If there’s one thing I hate more than kids, it’s the thought of their filthy hands touching my pristine gadgets. Worse, these walking fetuses have brains so undeveloped that they will drop something the second they stop thinking about it.
For me, the solution is easy—just avoid the little monsters. But parents aren’t so lucky (although you could argue that they brought it upon themselves), and need a little help. And today that help comes in the form of Kensington’s “SafeGrip™ Rugged Case & Stand for iPad® mini.”
The Filip is a smart watch for kids, complete with a built-in cellphone, a tracker so you can keep an eye on them wherever they are, and messaging so you can continue to harass and berate them even as they try to build their own sense of independence.
I kind of hate it.
Dumb phones had a few advantages over today’s smartphones. First, their batteries lasted for what seemed like weeks between charges. And second, if the battery did die, all you lost was the ability to call and SMS people. You didn’t lose your e-mail, your camera, your iPod, the book you’re reading or the movie you were planning to watch on the train home.
So you carry a spare battery. But what if you could eliminate the need for that spare, and also ditch that creepy wrist-strengthener you insist on pumping all the time like some hyperactive pervert?
Good news! With the Mipwr Dynamo Case, you can do both.
I don’t know if you have kids or not, but one of the more difficult things to keep track of, at least for me, is their allowance. Yeah, you might say, just write it down on a piece of paper or something. While that may seem to have merit, it rarely works out in my family. Let’s say my son gets $5 every two weeks for allowance. That’s a $5 bill I need to have each and every week.
Honestly? It never works out that way. So we tried using a calendar, on which I created a repeating event, set for every two weeks, figuring we could just count it up when he needed something. Well, that didn’t really work out, either. We’d be at a store, and he’d want something, and it’d be some non-multiple of five, and we’d try to remember to write it down, and so on.
Suffice it to say that I am doing a poor job at helping my kid keep track of his allowance, and an equally poor job of prepping him for real life money management.
So imagine my joy when I saw Allowance Manager for iOS, a Universal app that basically does what we need: tracks allowance on the iPhone or iPad. Win!
Hooooo! That, apparently, is the sound of an iPhone whistling. At least, that’s the sound of an iPhone whistling when its inside the WhistleCase, a combo tweeter and phone protector that actually looks cool enough to buy and use.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O70X7JY4re0&feature=youtu.be
It won’t let your kid paint with light in the traditional, photographic sense — using a light source to burn magical images into a photograph.
Instead, Griffin’s new Crayola Light Marker turns an iPad into a canvas that’s transformed with light — a form of light painting, and just as magical.
Autodesk has a stunning — and I’m not using the word lightly here — catalog of free design-focused iOS apps that do everything from applying filters to photos, to drawing on your iPad — or even turning the subject of an iPhone photo into a 3D model. Now, they’re taking their deep knowledge of modeling, physics and mechanics and using it to make iPad apps that’ll teach your kids cool stuff. For free.
You know those black balls in the kid’s section of the Apple Store? Yeah, you probably shouldn’t sit on them: underneath the fabric exterior, they are essentially gigantic sponges soaked with the pee of a thousand children with such weak bladder control that they just hose off when they get excited, even in the Apple Store.
Don’t believe me? Here’s a picture of one black ball Apple was getting rid of after a bunch of kids had whizzed all over it. As the former Apple employee and Redditor who posted it says: “Just one of the nasty little “ewwws” lurking in arguable the coolest retail environments around.”
Source: Reddit
A mobile phone in the hands of your kid can be a liability. But it can also be guardian angel — it all depends on how it’s used. MobileKids is a free iPhone and Android app that enhances a phone’s guardian angel-like qualities while putting the liabilities on lockdown.
Pangolin is a cute little puzzle-platformer for iOS that might either drive you mad with rage or mad to the point of insanity. Or both. It’s tricky, challenging, and offers plenty of repeat play opportunities.
NEWSFLASH: Teens don’t want the iPhone! Parents beware! The Microsoft Surface and Samsung Galaxy phones are the new “it” things! Apple has lost its cool factor!!!
That’s what the Buzz Marketing Group, an organization that seeks to provide “lifestyle and buzz marketing services for brands seeking to attract teen audiences,” wants you to think. You may have recently seen some headlines from big sites saying that teens think Apple is uncool now.
As my British boss Leander Kahney would say, that’s absolute bollocks.
If you’ve been around on the internet for any length of time, you’ll have probably heard about a site called Xtranormal, which converts text you enter into a simple little video starring cute animal characters. (If you haven’t heard of it, go and have a play there now, it’s fun.)
Tellagami is a new free iOS app that does something similar. I say “similar”, but the two are not in the same league. Tellagami is very simple, and its features limited. That doesn’t mean you can’t have fun with it, though.
LAS VEGAS, CES 2013 – Back when I was a kid, I had all kinds of Fisher-Price toys I loved playing with. But I don’t think I remember anything quite as magic as Fisher-Price’s new line of Apptivity sets for preschoolers that combine child-safe cases and toy figures with slick augmented-reality apps (though my little Classic Xylophone came close).
Here’s a new free puzzle game for young and old alike. It’s called Quento, and it’s colorful, addictive, and more difficult than it looks.
Stick-n-Find is a clever – and very small – object tracking device that talks to an app on your iDevice via Bluetooth, over a range of about 100 feet. After a hugely successful fundraising program on Indiegogo that raised six times more than required, the makers will be showing off the gadget at CES.
iGuy is a new iPad and iPad mini case from Speck that’s built for one thing: taking a beating from sticky little kids. It’s design buries your device inside a bed of flexible foam that ensures no matter how many times its thrown, dropped, or sneezed on, it will come out looking as good as new.
The iGuy’s handles make the iPad easy to hold onto — not matter how small the user’s hands are — and the feet allow the device to be stood up when watching movies and cartoons. And despite all that EVA foam, you can still access all your iPad’s ports and buttons, as well as use its cameras.
iGuy comes in four colors — orange, green, red, and purple — and it’s likely to be the best iPad accessory you buy.
You like robots? You’re gonna love this. This is an iPad app all about robots. Just robots, nothing but robots, loads and loads and loads of robots. It’s made of robots, in the same way we are made of meat. It’s fantastic.
If you pop into your local Microsoft store and ask for a demonstration of Windows 8, there’s a chance the store assistant will disappear and send over an 11-year-old child to help you. That’s what the company is doing in Portugal in an effort to prove its new operating system is so intuitive, even a child can use it. Either that or it’s taking advantage of cheap child labor.
Every now and then – less often these days – you hear about an app that’s really new, genuinely new. It does something you’ve not seen done before. It’s a whole new idea. Foldify is one those apps: it’s fun for kids and grown-ups alike, it’s reasonably-priced, and above all it smacks of genius.
Catcha Catcha Aliens calls itself “a mission-based catching game”, which in English means it’s an infinite runner in the style of Temple Run. With a bit of a twist, some great music, and celebrity voiceovers. What’s not to like?
Looking for a gift for a loved one, a workmate, or even someone you secretly hate but are obliged to buy something for? Then let us help you. Our Cult Of Mac Holiday Gift Guide is running throughout November and December, thrice weekly with farm-fresh updates every time.
Looking for something in particular? Here’s the full rundown:
