Help keep your family safe and connected on the go with Verizon Family. With features such as Location sharing, Parental Controls, Safe Walk with SOS, Crash Detection, Roadside Assistance, and Family Line all in one app.
From a single app, you can:
- Use content filtering
- Monitor and limit Verizon call and text activity on smartphones
- Limit Verizon data usage on smartphones or connected tablets
- Monitor web and app activity
- Manage screen time
- Pause internet
- Use location sharing, pick-me-up and check-in features
- Get location alerts
- View driving activity
Basic location sharing and 24/7 Assist are now available on your Smartwatch via Watch OS. Location services such as Safe Walk are not available at this time.
Legal: To use the Verizon Family app, a Verizon standard monthly postpaid account on an eligible device or an invitation from a Verizon account is required. Verizon postpaid mobile plans include Verizon Family location sharing features at no add’l cost or upgrade to Verizon Family Plus ($14.99/mo until canceled) for location sharing and alerts, parental controls for calls, texts and online activity, driving insights and roadside assistance. Roadside assistance through Signature Motor Club, 4 events/yr. Verizon Family app download required. Service does not monitor calls or texts sent over the internet and does not contact 911 for crash or SOS alerts. Push notifications must be enabled to see when new members join family acct. Some alerts sent via text message. Msg & data rates apply.
See full terms and conditions at: https://www.verizon.com/support/verizon-family-legal/
Verizon Family Negative Reviews
Horrible app. Verizon needs to do better.I’ve been using this app for a year now, and paying for it as well. I wish I could have all the money I’ve paid into using this app monthly. I got it so that I could control time limits and restrictions on my child’s phone. As well as have her constant location. Unfortunately the app has caused more problems with accessibility than not. Content filters will tell you “1000 apps blocked but ——“ and then only list a few for you to unblock, which has caused us to be unable to use a lot of apps that I can not unblock. When the time limits are for a specific time range, Random apps will stop working outside of that time frame(when all apps and internet access should be available). It’s taken us months to figure out that the reason that apps would not work was because of Verizon smart family. We’ve even lost out on a lot of money to subscribe to premium apps, only for them not to work and us not know why. Even after contacting THOSE apps developers with complaints. Come to find out the root of the problem was Verizon smart family app this whole time. Outside of these problems which are a major source of contention right now, the location services are subpar at best, laggy, a slow to update. Especially when compared to apps like life360. Basically the only RELIABLE thing that this app is good for at this point is to be able to pause your child’s internet. Which, for the cost, isn’t worth it when simply taking the phone away is FREE. Verizon needs to do better with this app, or at the very least make it free, because that is all it’s worth..LauriekayyxVersion: 3.23.5
I have never seen such a horrible appIt is utterly awful! Seriously, for instance with the time restrictions, you can’t even tell what you’re restricting. Is the time that you restrict the time the phone is off, or on? You really have no way of knowing, until you do it, and then your kid complains, or not. It actually says “set custom hours“ and then has a start time and stop time. That’s it! What does that mean!? Plus you can’t set different times for different nights, like different for weekdays and weekends, but who would ever want to do that? (Heavy sarcasm). Plus, you can set a limit on your kid’s data. But then it just shuts off! It doesn’t throttle down so they limited access to data. The purpose most people want is to limit their use so they only use their share and don’t use up all of the family plan, not cut them off completely when they reach their limit. That should obviously be an option. Unbelievable! But wait, there’s more! It doesn’t work and less you install an app on their phone! That’s idiotic! All they have to do is delete it! Of course there are ways to set up the phone so they can’t do that, But I shouldn’t have to. I really can’t believe someone with even a high school diploma could’ve come up with such an awful app. What’s even worse is they charge you 10 bucks a month for this awfulness when it should be included with your plan!.SnerbalVersion: 3.0.8
The worst app with zero helpThis is the worst app! It’s not even an exaggeration. It’s not even counting the times it does allow me to log in. I have my log ins saved
And for some reason every time I try to log in to change or monitor restrictions, it doesn’t let me log in. It all starts with imputing log in and password the app then tells me it’s wrong. So then I reset password I screens shot to make sure I’m not loosing my mind. Then I proceed to reenter the new password into the app!!!! Then you guessed it it’s wrong once again! Insane then it tells me my account is locked. So the app prompts me to unlock it through the Verizon app and this game starts all over again. Yes the app doesn’t work you will have better luck going through an third party app. Because after paying Verizon so much money and trusting they are providing you with equal amount of valued product, they are not they just want your money. And care less if we are paying extra for this specific service it’s insane. If you have no other option but to get your kid the phone because your locked in with Verizon due it but don’t get the kid line. Get a regular one and then get a 3 party app to help with parental controls for your kids. Or wait all together and look into bark for them. This is insigne I can’t even add or remove contact because I can’t log in..MPenafiel13Version: 3.25
GrrrNot accurate and unreliable, it crashes ALL THE TIME. I can’t even look at the call log for more than a minute before it just crashes and disappears, forcing me to start all over again. Good concept though, just sucky execution.
Update- Almost a year later and still having the same issues. You think they’d invest a little in making the app work better, since, you know, it’s not a free service.
Another update - well, they switched it to Verizon “smart family” for the first bit of time the app actually functioned. Now, every time I want to do anything it gives me error messages, so I can’t really accomplish what we are paying to be able to do. I wish there was a way to attach photos to these reviews. What are we paying for? Seriously need to invest in better developers or something. It looks terrible that such a well known company who specializes in communication technology can not even get an application to function correctly. I’m a trusted contact, yet I can’t get through during restriction periods (ie...school). I actually have to log into a computer when I want to change things. Isn’t the point of the app so that we don’t have to do that? I despise having to write bad reviews but this one seems to be a consistent problem. I just don’t get it. I feel like they really need to get their act together here, it looks terrible for them..April Ye Tami enateVersion: 3.4.0
Left in the dark... TOTAL WASTE OF $$$Downloaded this app to monitor my teenage daughters calls, texts, location, etc. After I downloaded and signed in there was absolutely no directions or prompts to set up the app with my daughters’ phones so I could monitor them. Instead it gives me the option to monitor my own phone, place restrictions on my own phone, limit calls and texts on my own phone!??? Then I clicked on their “Help Center” and that proved to be just as useless and only showed grainy/blurry screenshots of what I should see in my app. I read the developer response to another review where they claim you don’t need to download the app on your child’s phone if you’re using LTE. Well guess what... there’s no option to add another phone within your family plan! I can only limit my own use as the only number that appeared in the app was my own. I fully expected to be greeted with some sort of setup wizard when I opened the app to add the numbers on my plan that I wanted to monitor. Instead they left me searching through their app with no direction to be able to connect to the other phones in my plan! I can’t believe they would expect someone to pay $10 a month for this useless app! Instead of being able to monitor my children’s’ activity, it just left me in the dark with no way of being able to do so. Complete waste of money!.No response from supportVersion: 3.1.0
Not worth the moneyI’ve been using smart family ($5.00 version) for years but recently decided to pay for the upgraded version because of issues with my 16yo. I downloaded the necessary apps on both our phones. I set up all parameters to keep her from accessing certain apps and deleted those apps from her phone. But because the app was previously downloaded to her device, she just adds it back at will. She can not download new apps but can reinstall deleted ones. The time restrictions work well for us to limit her use on school nights. But I was already getting that with the cheaper version. The location settings are all messed up. My daughter hasn’t left our house in over 12 hours and I have 95 notifications telling me she has left her job which is two streets always from where we live. I am constantly getting notifications of her leaving home or leaving her work while she is sitting in the same room with me. I have the addresses for home, school and work loaded into the app but it doesn’t register properly. Why pay for the upgrade if it isn’t giving you accurate information? I upgraded my account so I could keep her from downloading certain apps, looking at harmful things on Safari and monitor her location at all times. This version of the app has not assisted with any of those things..Dpatrick3296Version: 3.5.4
CrapI can’t believe I actually paid for this service. It is a nuisance, not at all helpful. Requires my son to be connected to VPN always when I have it enabled & when he is connected to VPN he is unable to use our wifi! What is the point!? I limit his cellular data and only have 2gb plan per month because that is what I can afford & should be able to keep track of his location (which told me he just left school the other night at like 9 pm when he was in our living room!) without worrying about keeping a constant watch on my data plan or approving things left and right. Furthermore, it is really so ridiculous that in order to set up this app, he has to approve it or I have to physically have his phone & set it all up on there. Seriously? Cancelling this paid service when I pay my bill in a couple days unless I see an update 1st which addresses this nonsense, which I doubt because I have been waiting for awhile considering other parents have to be dealing with these issues & I’m sure are also irritated as can be!
UPDATE- oh just in the last 2 days, even though I removed the vpn from my sons phone, which caused him to be unable to connect to WiFi, he could only text or reply to 2 family members but not to 2 others that had texted him Happy Birthday msgs! Grrrrr! I want a credit for this headache..Lisa5507Version: 3.7.2
Location? Fine for safety. Seeing who we text? Privacy invasion.As an older teen who has never done anything bad in my entire life, this app is a nuisance. I’ve never tried to sneak out, lie to my parents about where I was going, I’ve never even had a boyfriend. My mom only took it off our phones because she didn’t want to keep spending the $10 because we’re poor. It’s a complete invasion of privacy. I know it sounds like i’m just saying this because i’m a bad rebellious kid, but I’m not. In my experience, if you want to be able to trust your kids you have to let them have their privacy. When you try to control them to a far extent they want to rebel and they will. Being able to see your location is fine, it’s for safety and I understand that. But seeing who we text, call, what apps we’re on? It’s not about safety anymore. It’s about spying on your kid. About being curious and nosy about who they’re talking to and what they’re doing (apps & websites). My mom only started saying she trusted me when she could track every single thing i was doing. And that really hurt me and has caused resentment to build up. I’ve had the opportunity to lie and do bad things, but i haven’t done them. Why? Because i just don’t want to. But obviously my parents think I do to put this on my phone. If you’re a parent getting this, I know you most likely like to be the controller. If you’re a good normal parent, you would get Life360. I don’t even feel like i have privacy anymore unless i’m taking a shower or at a friends house. And I know if parents are reading this they’re probably scoffing and rolling their eyes, but everything Ive said is true and it’s time to start listening and trusting instead of assuming. Thank you..Katie.lcVersion: 3.23.4
Completely blocked my kids from making or receiving callsI had the app for only 3 days and couldn’t get it off my kids phone quick enough. I wanted to limit their abilities to text or call during school hours, but realized that we (parents) couldn’t reach them if we needed to in an emergency. We set it for the hours of 7am-2pm, but the call restrictions some how went in place for 24/7. Spent 3hours on the phone w/Verizon just trying to get the call restrictions removed b/c when trying to change them on the app(and Verizon website), it would just state, “something went wrong, please try again”. After 3hours of Verizon trying to remove the restrictions, they told me it was a known issue and that someone would get back to me w/in 48-72 hours. Also said that “they think” 911 feature should still work if our kids needed to get a hold of someone in an emergency. When I asked how are we supposed to get a hold of the kids if we needed to in an emergency, they didn’t have an answer….. finally able to remove the app from all of our phones, then had to reboot all of the phones to finally be able to get the restrictions removed…. They easily could/should have told us that, but then they wouldn’t get their $4.99 monthly service charge..MarciniakFamilyVersion: 3.25
Breaks TrustYou want your kids location? Ask them. Don’t expect them to tell you after you’ve installed this. (I speak for teenagers, I understand using this for children under 12). This app ruins communication between child and parent. I know you think you’re protecting them, I get it. But think about equipping them for bad situations rather than preventing bad from happening bc it WILL happen regardless of how much you hover. My parents hovered over us and you know where it got us? My sister was raped several times and I was assaulted, leaving me with PTSD. Is this what you’re trying to prevent? This app does NOT prevent that. Trusting your kid does! Trust them and they will trust and be open with you! You cannot expect your kid to tell you anything when you invade their privacy like this. Yes, THEIR privacy. They are your children, but they are not yours. These are their bodies, their lives, and their human rights that you’re violating. You may say that the world isn’t as safe as it used to be. I agree, it’s getting worse! PREPARE THEM FOR IT. Teach them to see red flags. Teach them to pick good relationships, but do NOT pick for them. Let them love who they want, boy, girl, or otherwise.
Let my family be an example. Don’t repeat the mistakes we made.
One star. App does what it says it does. Functions. Breaks trust..Anon41703Version: 3.15
Many glitchesWhen my child reaches their data limit for the month, it locks up my data (the parent) on my phone as well. This has happened for numerous months. The child can still use the phone on wifi so even if you purposely block their phone, they can still use all functions. The location services that you pay extra for is not accurate. Compared to the “Find Friends” app, which shows my child’s EXACT location, this Verizon app shows their location a few hundred feet or a mile away for their actual location (differs daily). I have yet to see it place their location accurately in the past month or so since upgrading to this service. Even though we have time limits on their phone, it stopped working a few months ago and my child can use their phone at all hours now. And all the other options only work if the child has the app on their phones. The child can simply delete the app and all bets off. I still keep the app because it does show me when/who my child calls/texts (even if my child deletes their app... although it only shows for the phone’s basic Call/Text and not if my child uses WhatsApp or other apps) and I can block numbers if needed (again, only for Call/Text)..Helloreader2468Version: 3.12
Needs some serious ImprovementsTHE GOOD:
This is a good app if you would like to locate, filter data/web content and games for your child. You can see phone numbers of receiver/recipients for phone calls & texts. Some minor improvements to these functions can make this app great. When the location on the app isn’t working properly, it shows you where your child is within a 1/2-1 mile radius. If you live in the NYC area, it looks like your child can be in a different borough. I live in Queens and some times the app shows me that my child is either in the Bronx or Manhattan. I can’t begin to tell you the anxiety I feel.
THE BAD:
Pairing the child’s phone can be challenging when your teen won’t let you physically take their phone or give you their passwords to install app or install it themselves. When you want to pair the child’s phone, the app sends a text to the child/teen with instructions. If you manage to pair your child’s phone and your child decides they don’t want this app anymore, all they have to do is simply delete the app, disable the VPN, and Location, or reset phone. Just like that, what you paid for is gone and you are back to where you started. A lock or password on the app would help a little..YRBTVersion: 3.5.4
DisappointedWe researched options and this app had all the features we wanted to limit and monitor our child’s first phone. Would have been worth the monthly fee if it had worked well. Unfortunately, it was glitchy and attempts to re-pair it with my phone were usually unsuccessful. We would follow all of the prompts to pair it with my phone and get stuck in a glitch. Verizon tech support was unable to troubleshoot the pairing issue. Three representatives in one day were unsure how to resolve the issue. All were friendly but could not fix what seems to be a straightforward problem. Decided to stop using this app during the call with the third rep. Also, child received regular notifications from Verizon that their information was being shared with my phone which provided a link that would walk child through the steps to stop sharing. Child received first of these messages the day after the app was installed. Verizon assured me there would be no more. Child continued to receive them. Providing the child a means to stop sharing with the parent’s phone undermines the point of the app. The glitches make it too inconvenient to continue paying for a service that isn’t working. Really disappointed, Verizon..LoyalverizoncustomerVersion: 3.14
Just Kids plan is horrid!I moved my family over to the Unlimited Plan last week. Immediately my teenage kids called to say they couldn’t call their friends. After hours of research and time on the phone with Verizon I found that with the Just Kids plan they are only allowed 20 contacts that they can text or call, total. All of those contacts have to be in the trusted contact list. That means that the trusted contact list is useless. I used that grouping before moving to the Just Kids plan to put in family numbers so that if the kids were out in the evening late for a sporting event or at school they could still get a hold of me, my husband, or a sibling for a ride but could not call all their friends after a set time. With the Trusted Contacts being their only contacts they they can correspond with, it also means they can call or text friends during school, in the middle of the night, any time their hearts desire. It also means I have to input all of their friends into the trusted contacts, juggle which friends need to be on the list at any given time for each teen, and do more monitoring than I have a desire to do. We have a large family, six kids, so just the family, not including grandparents, takes up half of the trusted contact list.
I don’t believe the creators of this app/plan thought the process through because I can set an off time for school or sleep, but since all their contacts are trusted contacts, that off time doesn’t apply. The Just Kids plan is garbage! I have gone back to the Smart Family app after changing my teens to the basic unlimited plan and set it up the way I had it before. Unfortunately that costs me $20 more per month than the Just Kids plan, which is really frustrating. This whole process has been awful..Mom2sillyshortsVersion: 3.12
InconsistentThis app has potential, but it tends to log me off and it doesn’t always block calls like it’s supposed to during restricted hours.
Update: I decided to delete this app. It is not a good choice for families who need flexibility. I am unable to track my teenage daughter using our original tracking app Life 360, which is not only a safety hazard for both of us but it causes a complete disconnect between family members. My daughter needed to use her GPS so I tried to turn the app off but for some reason, during the day, when I am off wi-fi, I am unable to access the app to make any changes. Though I am added as a trusted contact, she is not able to FaceTime or text me. She is only able to call, which again, when I am at work, receiving calls is not possible and we generally communicate through text. This app also did things to my phone that made it run slower and made it difficult for me to access certain apps that utilize Internet or Wi-Fi. To top it all off, this app did not block the things that I wanted it to block such as Internet access and games installed on the phone. It did, however, block things that we use on a daily basis such as GPS and music apps. This app needs some serious help..Krissya238Version: 3.12
Way beyond an invasion of privacySince the last update I either HAVE to agree to allowing Verizon to access EVERYTHING on ALL of our phones in order to access the Smart Family app or it will not allow me in. This is going way beyond an invasion of privacy for all of our lines (of which none are children) but this update does not allow you to bypass or opt out of this ridiculous feature. If this does not get resolved soon I will pack up our 10 lines and go back to Sprint. Here is what they are wanting subscribers to agree to which is unacceptable and unnecessary for a phone company to need:
Parental consent for Collection of Data
“In order to provide services, Smart Family collects information from the phones on your account, including those used by children under 13. By tapping “Agree,” you consent to the collection and use of device identifiers, geolocation, web browsing and app activity from designated child lines. We and our service providers use this info only to deliver Smart Family services to you and do not use or share it for any other purposes.” .... [you either “agree” to it or you have the option to “disconnect your service” or not access the app period. fix this or we are gone.].Jetwife5Version: 3.11
It WAS working well, but…😒I downloaded the app in order to track what my son is doing in terms of activity. I call myself setting up restrictions during school hours and during nighttime hours, but I find him getting asked for a request for extending games when I know he’s at school! I’m checking to see if I have him set, and it shows I do. Yet I’m seeing activity going on. Maybe it’s during lunch and before class starting I thought, but no, it’s during odd times.
Also, I was able to track him very well the first week or so, but now when I pull my son up, it’s just showing “approximate location”. THAT DOESNT TELL ME JACK! 😡 The Find my iPhone app works better than this, and I’ve been using this in the mornings to track his travels to school and home. Request a ride? Your child can basically just text you, to be honest. And then last night, I couldn’t call my son to check on him. I was able to call him before. I had to undo the restrictions to call him. This app has been really sporadic as of late. I’m doing the trial right now, but I’m seriously thinking about ditching this before I’m charged for it..MissMitaVersion: 3.55.10
Not worth the 4.99/mo fee!I see reviews from a year ago and there’s still no fix to the problems stated. Come on Verizon!! For no more that what you offer, I can take her phone and find out for myself what you told me since you don’t offer more details. And to have to add this on my kid’s phone for it to work is asinine!! Figure it out how to do what the parents are asking for! Give me the option to dig further And bugs needs to be worked out! Hangs up all the time and won’t let you view precious days info. I do like the fact that I can see the websites, apps and phone calls/texts daily, but there’s no option to look further into what an app is or what she viewed from that website or what that site is exactly. Who’s number is that that keeps texting or calling? I want to go deeper and this is not possible. This is only with half the cost IMO! Parents of tweens that have a phone should be able to do more because they kids are still so young. The peer pressure today of all the kids having phones put intense pressure on our relationship. Earn good grades, get your phone on the weekends. I like the idea of the family share app, but this mom needs more so I can make sure my daughter is safe..The Echols ClanVersion: 3.14
Worst update ever. Can’t see limits on all linesThere used to be a page that allowed a parent to see all the lines listed and limits listed and change limits from that list. Now I have to purposely open each line individually to see or change data limits. My monthly to do list just got longer because it can’t be done at a glance. So if I added or subtracted data from one line or another, I can’t see that unless I open that line’s data list from the app. I want the old overview. Line A has x gb, line B has y gb, line C has a gb... etc. it’s not only inconvenient (when it does not have to be), but it’s not free with my plan. Also I hate pairing devices to block content. I should just be able to set age limits without pairing. Please fix!!! Lastly, the phone numbers my kids are calling/texting should be listed by their contact name in my family base, not by last four digits. I have no idea who these numbers are. Please list them as the contact name in the phone. That would really help. Then if an unknown number comes up, I know it is a “stranger”. This is particularly critical with teens, to know which texts are random and which are friends. Safety first!.SuzipenVersion: 3.0.9
This App does not work - it needs to be accurate and tamper-proof.Location disconnects frequently! I am increasingly alarmed by the vulnerability of this App - and thus the ability to safeguard the minor child using his smart iPhone. The Location on the child’s phone regularly breaks down and is this useless. I cannot reconnect. It is being tampered with and disconnected, even though I have restrictions on and locked on the child’s phone. And the restrictions I set in this App do not work! My grandson is 11 and has an iPhone. I needed a way to communicate with him and track his location as he plays in the neighborhood and park near bye. I also realized that we needed a way to control Internet access and social media use. This App sometimes helps a lot. It is still being developed, so I am patient. However, the failure of the LOCATION feature is increasing. As a retired teacher, I am increasingly aware of how much youngsters can access on phones, tablets, and computers. Wise adults will take the time to monitor the children in their care and limit access to Internet and apps. And, wise adults can observe how the phone is used and who their child is interacting with. This App is indispensable. Thank you! Now, please make it tamper-proof. This is alarming. I cannot access his phone to reconnect because he travels frequently. This App thus provides false “safety” service and is thus a waste of money - and a potential threat to the safety of children and families who rely upon it (and pay about $10 per month) to have the full Verizon Family Service. Please fix this software App - or withdraw it from the market. The App is consistently failing / and no one at Verizon can tell me why. It is thus a serious safety hazard..Monnie1967Version: 3.1.0
KidsThis is absolutely rude for kids privacy. As many of my friends have time restrictions and I used to have one, I absolutely hate this app. All it does is let parents spy on you constantly and doesn’t give any trust towards the kids. This is just an app psychotic parents or wifes apparently (first review) use to slyly watch what their kids are doing. Or what their husbands are doing. It’s absolutely terrible that you can’t just have a boundary with your kids and husband and have to do this. And you have to pay for it?? if you are really trying to figure out why you’re kids/husband don’t like telling the truth or do something rebellious just think that you are putting a spying app on their phone and breaking even more of a bond with them that you could so easily have. Just be honest with them and try to talk to them, it’s not that hard. Even if your kids lie sometimes. Think about what you did as a kid. Many, many people got married young, got pregnant at their age and did all sorts of drugs. If you kid is looking at social media. Who cares. They could so easily be going out and doing cocaine if they really wanted to. Just simply talk to them..JahdjjsjwjabVersion: 3.19
Gizmo Switchover 👎We had to switch to this app to continue using the Gizmo app for our child's watch and it is terrible. The Gizmo app sometimes required you to refresh it to show your child's precise location, but a quick refresh was enough. With this app, I have to refresh several times, reload the app, and keep trying little things like that to get a precise location. Our child is allowed to move independently throughout our small neighborhood and when I open the app to see that she is over two miles away, and multiple refreshes isn't showing a different location, calling my spouse and asking him to check and it isn't showing a different location, and then I call her in a borderline panic to see that she's just a few houses down is infuriating. I don't want to call or text her every second, I just want to see her whereabouts and get a sense of where she is. It also shows my spouse's location and my location and neither of us needs or wants that. Wish we had just been able to keep the Gizmo app. Not a fan of this one at all..Parent 6752Version: 3.99.17
Verizon Kids Plan - Horrible ExperienceI was so excited when I found out the Verizon came out with the kid plan. I purchased two phones for my kids in October. The app keeps crashing, location wouldn’t wok and was being charged $10 extra each month when it was suppose to come with the plan. I was on the phone with Verizon IT multiple times for hours which all they would do is have me uninstall and the reinstall the companion app and the smart family app every time. The kids could make calls for about a day and then it would start acting up again, I could never get the location services to work. I finally called and asked to switch plans for them since the phones won’t work on them and they wanted to charge me a fee for changing the plan and an additional $40/month for the new plans when I was already paying $55/month/phone for the kids plan. I am leaving Verizon over this. Verizon doesn’t care about their customers and refuses to fix their problems and makes their customers pay for their device/plan/app issues..KK6363Version: 3.19
Repeated pop-up restriction on parent lineOn the plus side, I really like this app’s ability to 1) put a limit on how much data my kids can use on a monthly basis, 2) restrict their allowable use hours for contacting friends outside of specified people, and 3) show me who they’re communicating with and how often.
But, on the negative side, I have had repeated issues with the app placing an erroneous limit on one of the parent lines. I don’t know this has happened until I get the following text msg, “Data transport is disconnected because the monthly allowance has been reached.” I can’t get into the app to remove the limit on the parent line until I have WiFi access, which is not always available. It doesn’t appear that this issue has been addressed in any updates - I keep looking. I went to a VZW store and they ‘corrected’ it, only to have it start up again a month or so later and continue ever since. Wonder if anyone else is experiencing the same thing and hope the developers can address this bug in an upcoming update..HFBM-911Version: 2.0.6
Incorrect reportingWe have tried this service twice now. Thinking they had improved it we decided to try again. Loaded for 24 hours it reported a lot of incorrect web usage from my 13 yr old daughters phone. Using screen time I already had restrictions set and know every app on the phone. I have control of the App Store and every aspect of this phone. However, smart family reported that she had used apps that aren’t even on her phone. And had visited web sites that don’t even exist. These were only reported to me as my husbands report of her phone did not show those. They were serious accusations on behalf of the app that would cause consequences for actions my child that she did not commit such as pornography and gambling!! Cancelled the service. Deleted the app. Again. Verizon was unable to explain how this happens after two hours on the phone and multiple tech coaches. Stick with what works. Pick the phone up and read the contents. Screen time let’s you dial back their ability to access inappropriate content. It will have to be good enough for now..SavanagailVersion: 3.14
ScamIf you have this call Verizon and request a credit. I was paying for the premium at $10/month and at first thought this is great and exactly what I wanted until I learned it is so easily defeated by the child. The problem is it uses a VPN to supervise your child’s iPhone which in and of it self is no big deal until your child realizes that all they have to do is open settings on their phone and toggle off the VPN. Once the VPN is turned off any time restrictions you have set are bypassed, this also goes for pausing internet feature. I have spoken with Verizon and they do not have any fix for this issue. Apple also has no way to restrict the VPN from being turned off. If there was a parental control feature on the IPhone that would allow the settings for the VPN to not be changed by the child then this app would be great but since there isn’t this app is completely useless. I can’t believe a company as large as Verizon is charging its customers for something that doesn’t work as advertised. In my opinion that is the definition of a scam..Jmoore2019Version: 3.7.2
It’s OK, but severely lackingSo the app is okay, but there are many issues I have with it.
First thing is the time restrictions. You have a time set to disallow Wi-Fi use which is fine, but it’s like just turning off everything together. You set a time from 12AM to 6AM, but then wifi goes off hours before it’s supposed to go off and then it causes problems, which just leads to turning off that restriction together.
Another thing is how much people can get away with. It records some usage of apps, but not all of them. There are so many social media apps kids could get away with using and nobody else would have a clue what apps they would be using. And if they almost get caught? Uninstall it like nothing happened.
Another thing I have a problem with is the filters. They’re OK, but not as good as other ones I’ve seen. It’s not the best, and there are a ton of things you could get away with. You can’t directly look at 18+ images on google if you have that filter on, but there are plenty of other ways to view them. Google Drive, embeds, Discord, Google Photos, Google whatever, any website that hosts them but not necessarily an adult site.
And about texts. Yeah you can see who your kid texts, but you can’t see what they’re texting.
It’s an OK app, but Verizon as being one of the biggest phone companies in the world, step up your game with your software. This is a Mediocre at best..Achak ClawVersion: 3.23.5
Not accurateThis app has never shown the correct location. When my son was home with me, it showed a different address that was near me. Same when he goes somewhere else and I know the address he is at but it shows a completely different address in that neighborhood. Also when we really needed to find my child, it was constantly changing locations from one to another and back and then some other locations as well within less than a minute and locations were a few miles apart and my child was on foot which was impossible for him to be at few different locations that are few miles apart within a minute. And it constantly sent me notifications when he was not using the phone as if he was using it. When he gets a call or makes a call, or sends a text or gets a text, it lets me know like 20-30 minutes later. Me giving it 2 stars is to much, cause this app needs a lot of improvement..Natasha555555Version: 3.25
Newly changed Smart Family app blocking my ability to locate my childI was previously subscribed to VZ FamilyBase and loved the service & app. Recently VZ changed it to Smart Family, without notifying me of the change. The new base Smart Family is the same service & features of the old FamilyBase, but now they offer a premium service, for double the price, that allows tracking/locating capabilities. The problem I’m having is that after my child’s phone reaches the time restrictions for use, I’m no longer able to locate my child’s iPhone with the native Apple IOS features, unless it has a WiFi signal. This didn’t use to be the case with the old FamilyBase. Before, I could locate my child even after time restrictions started. I can’t help but feel Verizon intentionally did this to force people to subscribe to their premium service. This is a huge safety issue with me, & now I will be looking for another parental control app that doesn’t disable my native IOS features. Shame on you Verizon for putting kids at risk to make a few bucks..Tim-concerned parentVersion: 3.0.6
Are you kidding, no pun intendedI should’ve listened to the reviews. I’ve had the app for two days and for 9.99 a month, shows my child standing in a field a 1/2 a mile away when their in my house!?!?!? When my sons at work it shows him 2 miles away standing in a field where cows graze!?!?!?! I pay for these phones and they are mine, i will not download another app on his phone that he’s able to delete or should have to sync a phone for accuracy. As long as my child is living under my roof, they have no privacy so not sure why people think it’s a violation of the child’s privacy or trust. It’s about safety and being able to locate my son if he’s in an accident at the bottom of a hill, but it would take me hours to find him cause the tracking puts the phone within miles of where they actually are! Call me for future projects you begin Verizon, i’ll help you with concept modeling, process modeling, use cases, data flow diagrams and features that are out of scope....this app is out of scope and a complete failure..Fitnessmama1969Version: 3.14
This app should be abolishedHi, I’m Ryan. I am user on this app and I’m currently 14 years young. I totally understand parents want to limit there children’s screen time but the fact that there is a feature to stop calling is insanity to me! What if there’s an emergency?? Nope! Can’t do anything. And if this did happen, Verizon should be ashamed of themselves. If this app didn’t have that feature, possibly I’d give it 1 more star to make it a 2. And that’s generous. That’s what this app deserves. To add on, there is no privacy what so ever on this app. Imagine how uncomfortable that is for a teenage boy like me. On this app, parents have control every single app and usage but I’m focusing on specifically messages. I’m sorry but I really can’t accept the fact that my parents are reading my texts. Because here and there, I do joke around and use some of my inside humor with them privately until this app came along. I shouldn’t have to get in trouble for no reason. Please give me some feedback!!
Thanks Ryan.Ryanwest5213Version: 3.64.4
RidiculousThe hole idea was for myself and myself alone to be in control of my children. I signed up for the app along time ago thought I deleted however I’ve been paying for it this hole time, so I decided seeing how I’m paying for it, to give each of my children a data cap, however it decided to make my oldest a parent, and no matter what I do, I even deleted him out of it. Then put him back in to once again be a parent. This is ridiculous, and he can go in and add more data, leaving us with out data 8 days into our 30 day period and we have 12GB as my daughter and I don’t even use 2 for the entire 30 days. It would be nice to have unlimited for only one line as we do not need it. I’ve been with Verizon before it even came to our area, as I was on my parent family Lins, and I will say that once upon a time Verizon was the best, I think that you need to get updated because your prices and family deals are way out dated from all other cell phone carriers, and your family app which is dreadful.Fed up motherVersion: 3.5.4
Location is great but that’s about it…This is great if you need to know your kids location, however that’s about it. When you are alerted about objectionable content visited, all it gives you is the server web address, for example… I received a notification about objections content viewed. When I clicked on that link it gave me a unfound server. That does me no good. If you are thinking it will give you actual websites then you are wrong. I know the google play parental app does a lot better job of this compared to this app. When showing what apps are downloaded, nothing there as well. All it shows you is the server address in which the app was pulled from, nothing about what app it actually is. It’s does not show you text like other parental apps, does not show you really anything to be honest. I pay $10 a month for this app thinking it would do more but it has failed me. I am researching better parental apps for iPhones and then deleting this one..Massive bong hitsVersion: 3.23.4
Teenage victimThis app has ruined my life it’s terrible. Whenever my dad sees me on my phone shuts it off completely. I’m a teenager like let me live my life. I can’t text people and try to hang with people when my phone is shut off. I know that parents now did not have tracking apps and apps to shut off phones. Therefore, they should not do it to us. They would feel the same way if they were in any other teenage body that has this app or life 360. It’s miserable. I’m just trying to live my last 2 years of high school but it’s hard when my phone is shut off A LOT and when I have to the tracker on my car. I rarely get in trouble so I don’t know why they do this to me. If I’m at a location they don’t know they tell me to come and my friends have to drop me off at my house. In conclusion, parents if you are reading this review don’t make your child or childs get this app. They would be so much better without it. Thank you for coming to my ted talk..TeenagevictimVersion: 3.15
Parents love to watch us suffer I guess.First of all, I’m the kid in this situation. Yes, I know. You probably won’t listen to me because I’m “so young” and “don’t know anything”. But I really want you to listen to me. Another version of this app, which I assume is what is installed on the kid’s device, has reviews from other kids. There were kids begging for help. There were kids in college who had to deal with this. There were kids who didn’t trust their parents anymore, and kids who had abusive parents using these types of apps as tools. It hurt me to see all those people, too scared or too young to do anything about it. Please, don’t resort to this. I may be only twelve, but I can tell how truly distressed those kids were. Please, spare you and your kid’s relationship. And if you don’t want to do that, at least see those reviews from kids, some younger than nine, some older than nineteen. I wouldn’t wish those kid’s parents on my worst enemy! Please look at both sides of the story before you do anything drastic..Anne-1971Version: 3.15
Lot of guess workI do know that I have the option of adding phone numbers to the Trusted Contact list so that my child device can communicate with those specific phone numbers during time restrictions and/or Paused Internet.
I can see all my child's phone and text activity without the app so,
Selectively "blocking" specific numbers and allowing "ALL" others would be a great trusted contact option instead of having the parent manually enter each every allowable contact (up to 20) because that is an annoying task for both the parent and child.
It would be a great option to allow phone and text while at the same time only block internet WiFi and data access.
There seems to be a lot of guess work associated with this app. Verizon informs me that their app is not “bulletproof “ from kids gaining access by means of altering their settings. I would think the cell provider Verizon would have the means to bulletproof at the source of connection and block accesses by remotely locking out the settings to enable connection when paired.
Lastly, why doesn’t the app inform me immediately when the child phone is connected or not with some form of access indicator red/green? Only indication I receive is when the app fails to grant accesses during unrestricted times, when the kids immediately complain as my audible indicator. Annoying.This app needs improvementsVersion: 3.12
I thought the update was perfect until...The recent update has made this app much more user friendly and actually enabled content filters for iOS, so I was thrilled! Until I checked into how easy it would be for the child to change it. Pretty easy. Just delete it from their phone. The developers need to make deletion tied to the RESTRICTIONS password, NOT the DEVICE PASSWORD. My kids know their device password!! So that little thing changed it from the app I've been looking for my whole life, to garbage in an instant. So disappointing.
Side note: Verizon needs to make it so *each phone* gets separately throttled down to slower data when they hit their device's data limit. As it is, the data is just cut off, making it impossible to locate your teens, making iMessage really unpredictable. Throttled data is what would happen to every phone on our plan if I did not put a data limit on anyone and we hit our collective limit. So why not do it to individual phones?.KarenRHVersion: 2.0.1
Waste of moneyI just got the app and purchased the $9.99 a month add on. I have installed the “companion app on my daughters phone, it will not even open up to do anything. When it “opens” it states “Not Active. Paint this phone from the Verizon smart family parent app for content filters and improved location accuracy.”
When I open my parent app it only shows me and my number, I have attempted to add a family member to add my daughters phone, but every time it says something went wrong and will not allow me to add her. It also wants to put all the limitations on me, and contact her when I reach those limits, I have double checked everything and I am showing as the parent. It will not allow me to assign her as the child, or put the restrictions on her as far as internet limitations, web browsing, ect… only allows me to do phone time for calls. Guess I will have to go to a store for them to Toledo me they have no clue..Mary e bowdVersion: 3.24
Loses my sons gps location everydayEveryday I get a message that it can not locate my sons phone and I have to redo it on his device. So annoying. I have no clue why I am paying for this thing.
Update: after submitting feedback to the developer about this issue, they accused my child of deleting the app. This isn’t possible as he was no where near it and he would have no reason to delete. Then when I insisted this wasn’t the issue, they told me to set up some kind of monitoring thing with a timer. So I did this and told them two times that it happened. They responded by telling me that I needed to set up the monitoring timer thing again on his phone. Their tech team is lacking, I would rather have them say they don’t have an answer and are working on it than accuse my son of things and then repeat instructions to me. I don’t feel as if they care and I plan on using a whole different app. Verizon is a joke as well as this app. Will be switching..Mommakat0913Version: 3.12
Big SLOW DOWNLove the idea- app worked great for first three days. My kid’s location quit working( way off) even when she was right next to me- since having the app, parent phone barely works- ( no changes to phone during)sluggish- lucky if I get a page to load outside of home wifi on LTE- phone service spotty where use to work good- am considering dropping- not worth the extra $$ for non functional phones and app. Have rebooted, reloaded, logged on/off etc- still junk- NOT HAPPY Verizon!!! TOO, why is, what was a perfectly operational phone, now draining battery and barely works? Please fix or I will be dropping you soon. Why did I need to upgrade to unlimited for data that never loads anymore? Why did it work great for three days and then stop?? The only change was the addition of this app-/— def not worth the cost if I can get free apps that do the same for free- I trusted you, because in my area, you guys always rocked service- but this is a big fail for me🙁.No more swann for meVersion: 3.12
Needs revision*UPDATE* THIS ISSUE HAS NOT BEEN RESOLVED!!!!! I still do not get notifications when the vpn is turned off or the app has been deleted. Also this app could use a overall redesign that has parents in mind instead of the kids. I’ve contemplated switching to another monitoring app that has better controls and no work around. Not being able to control the vpn toggle is a HUGE problem. What’s the point of having the VPN on my kids phone when they are able to turn it off which then allows them to by pass the things I have blocked. This is a SERIOUS issue. Especially when I as the parent don’t get notifications that it’s been turned off. I use to but since the update I don’t anymore. PLEASE fix this to make the VPN toggle password protected or something! I pay too much money each month for this app for it to have work around..Help me please123Version: 3.56.6
Don’t waste your money!!!You are supposed to be able to see the phone number of the call/text but sadly this is not the case. Since early summer we have had to monitor our phones very closely for certain phone numbers. On several occasions we noticed that all the phone calls and texts were not coming up or being logged. So we started writing down times, dates and the numbers. Glad we did bc 2 or 3 calls/text out of 8 would be logged in the app. I would even wait for a couple days to see if it had updated and logged the call/text and it never did. I have called Verizon and emailed a screen shot of call/text time stamped so they could see it was never logged on their app. I was told that someone would get in touch me about this and they would have the app fixed ASAP!! I have yet to speak to someone. Our problem started back last summer. And it is still doing this. I guess I’m hoping for it to work properly some day..GbbmtbVersion: 3.18.5
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Verizon Wireless
