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Identity theft has been growing at an alarming rate. The FTC received 1.1 million identity theft reports in 2023 alone, and according to reports, someone becomes a victim of identity theft every 4.9 seconds in the U.S. This not only calls for personal vigilance and financial hygiene but also makes identity theft protection tools an absolute necessity.

IdentityForce is one such tool. A TransUnion offering, it comes with features like instant breach alerts, dark web monitoring, credit monitoring, and remediation services. In this article, we dissect each of IdentityForce's features while also comparing it with other tools on the market. Read on to find out if IdentityForce is the right tool for your needs.

IdentityForce: Plans and pricing

(Image credit: IdentityForce)

IdentityForce offers two plans: UltraSecure and UltraSecure Plus Credit, for both individuals and families. The base UltraSecure plan costs $19.90 for individuals and $24.90 for families, covering two adults and unlimited children. You get features like dark web monitoring, advanced fraud monitoring, and credit card and bank activity alerts, along with $1 million in identity theft insurance.

However, one of IdentityForce's biggest drawbacks is that this base plan doesn't include any credit monitoring features, for which you'll have to upgrade to its UltraSecure Plus Credit plan, starting at $34.90/month for individuals and $39.90/month for families.

Along with everything in the base plan, this plan provides three-bureau credit monitoring and alerts, as well as daily TransUnion credit reports and scores. The identity theft insurance also increases to $2 million under this plan.

As evident, IdentityForce isn't the cheapest option out there. In comparison, LifeLock by Norton starts at just $10.42 per month, offering features like dark web monitoring, social media monitoring, and automatic data broker removal. Similarly, Aura's individual plans start at $12 per month, providing financial transaction alerts and identity theft protection.

While the plans across these providers may not be directly comparable, if you're on a tight budget, there are definitely cheaper options than IdentityForce available on the market.

(Image credit: IdentityForce)IdentityForce: Features

Alerts, protection and credit monitoring are all easy to find in IdentityForce's mobileapp (Image credit: IdentityForce)

IdentityForce offers all the features you'd expect from an identity theft protection and detection platform. For starters, its advanced fraud monitoring sends you real-time alerts whenever financial institutions open a new line of credit or account in your name. This helps you track unauthorized use of your identity information early.

Similarly, the platform also monitors thousands of websites on the dark web and black market for instances of identity theft or data breaches. Additionally, there's an active social media identity monitoring feature, which keeps an eye on your Facebook, Instagram, X, and YouTube accounts for any unauthorized or suspicious posts.

There’s also a smart SSN tracker, which flags any unfamiliar names or addresses associated with a Social Security number. Additionally, there is a proactive investment account alert, which notifies you of any possible fraudulent withdrawals, deposits, or transfers related to your financial accounts or 401(k).

However, IdentityForce's credit monitoring is one of its strongest features, although it's only available on its most expensive plan. You can get a quarterly credit report summary from all three credit bureaus: TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax, along with a daily credit score from TransUnion.

This summary consolidates all of your financial information, such as total accounts, open accounts, and total balances, into one quick snapshot view. You can also view each report in detail and even dispute incorrect data directly from your IdentityForce dashboard. There’s also a pretty handy credit score tracker where you can view your credit score history.

(Image credit: IdentityForce)

A rather unique feature of IdentityForce is its personalized Identity Safety Score, which indicates how susceptible you are to identity theft based on your past data breach history and top risks. This feature is best used with IdentityForce's customized action plan, which suggests steps you can take to strengthen your identity protection. For instance, the action plan might suggest setting up two-factor authentication or changing your credit card PINs.

(Image credit: IdentityForce)

Much like peers such as LifeLock, IdentityForce also offers a dedicated restoration specialist on all of its paid plans. If you believe you have become a victim of identity theft, you can reach out to your dedicated resolution specialist through your IdentityForce dashboard, who will then open and investigate your case. What I like most about IdentityForce's resolution specialist feature is that they won't close the case until you agree that a full and final resolution has been reached.

Even after the case is mutually closed, IdentityForce will reopen and re-investigate it in the event of any future incidents. This kind of transparency shows the provider’s commitment to accountability and thoroughness by offering you complete control over the resolution process.

Besides this, IdentityForce also includes a few ancillary security tools in its subscription plans, making them more comprehensive. For instance, there's a virtual private network (VPN) for mobile devices (but it only works with mobile and tablets), PC protection tools such as anti-phishing and anti-keylogging functions, and a handy password manager.

IdentityForce: Interface and in-use experience

The centerpiece of IdentityForce's offering is its intuitive dashboard, which ensures that all vital information, such as alerts, credit scores, transactions, and identity vaults, is visible as soon as you log in. If you don’t see a feature or information, simply click on the three-bar hamburger icon and everything will pop up right away.

IdentityForce's mobile apps are equally good, with each piece of information stacked into small rectangles. You can tap on these rectangles to expand information such as alerts or credit scores. That said, both the desktop and mobile versions feel a bit stuck in the past compared to modern UI platforms like Aura. However, IdentityForce is definitely easy to use and beginner-friendly.

IdentityForce: The competition

As we already highlighted, the biggest thing that holds IdentityForce back is the lack of credit monitoring on its basic UltraSecure plan, which is already quite expensive compared to peers like LifeLock or Aura.

If you choose IdentityForce and also require credit monitoring, you'll have to pay at least $34.90 per month. However, with Aura, you only need to pay $12 per month for the same three-bureau credit monitoring. With LifeLock, you pay only $10.42 per month for one-bureau credit monitoring.

The identity theft protection insurance is also higher with LifeLock and Aura. While the coverage goes up to $3 million with LifeLock, Aura offers $5 million in protection on its family plan.

That said, IdentityForce is owned by TransUnion, one of the three major credit bureaus in the country. This means you get access to bureau-level data instead of relying on third-party aggregators. This likely contributes to why IdentityForce's ID monitoring, credit scores, and action plans are among the best in the industry, which also explains its premium price.

IdentityForce: Final verdict

To put it in a nutshell, IdentityForce's basic plan may not meet your requirements since it does not include credit monitoring services. You'll need to get its UltraSecure Plus Credit plan, starting at $34.90 per month.

While it includes all key identity theft protection features such as dark web monitoring, advanced fraud monitoring, real-time detections, a sleek dashboard, personalized action plans, and an Identity Safety Score, its pricing is on the higher side. There are cheaper options, such as LifeLock or Aura, starting at $10.42 per month and $12 per month, respectively.

That said, IdentityForce is one of the few identity theft protection platforms offered by a credit bureau itself – TransUnion. This means you get direct access to credit reports, scores, and financial information without relying on third-party aggregators, making IdentityForce one of the best credit monitoring tools on the market.

So, if you are someone who juggles a lot of financial accounts, investments, and credit and needs a reliable credit monitoring and identity theft protection tool, IdentityForce is a strong option. However, if credit monitoring isn't your main concern and you are on a tighter budget, you might consider other options such as Aura or LifeLock.

We've also highlighted the best identity theft protection services.

As office furniture editor, I'm always on the look out for office chairs and standing desks that are actually worth your money. And for my money, the best budget combo around right now is the Sihoo B100 and the FlexiSpot one-piece standing desk.

In the US, the Sihoo B100 office chair is now $160 (was $220), and the FlexiSpot standing desk is $105 (was $140).

In the UK, Sihoo's B100 office chair is now £140 (was £190), with the FlexiSpot standing desk at £111 (was £130).

If you're upgrading your home office, or prepping for the back-to-school season, these are my two recommendations. The combination of a cheap office chair with adaptive lumbar support and a wobble-free standing desk with a single-piece desktop is largely unheard of at this price.

For my money, the B100 is one of the best budget office chairs you can get right now. The adaptive lumbar support is the standout feature, offering consistent support even when you move in your seat, reducing pressure on your lower back and helping your posture.

In the UK: now £140 (was £190)View Deal

We've had great experiences testing FlexiSpot's office furniture range, so I don't hesitate to recommend this budget pick. This electric sit-stand desk features a solid one-piece desktop that feels sturdier than cheap splice-board models

In the UK: now £111 (was £130)View Deal

My team and I have reviewed plenty of FlexiSpot and Sihoo office furniture, and they always perform well in our tests. So, while I don't have hands-on experience with the B100 or the EN1, the brands have performed so strongly that I don't hesitate in recommending both of my budget picks.

First up, the Sihoo B100. This mesh office chair has all the core features I'd expect to see on a seat this price. It tilts, reclines, has flip-up armrests and adjustable headrest, and a widened seat cushion to spread your weight more evenly.

But the star feature for me is the adaptive lumbar support. As I say, you don't typically get this on a cheap office chair - the cheapest alternative I can think of is the FlexiSpot C7. Usually, they have either fixed or adjustable lower back support. Adaptive lumbar support is something entirely different.

Rather than forcing you into a rigid position, this type provides continued support even while you move in your seat. if you spend long hours at your desk, it's a genuinely game-changing feature.

Second, FlexiSpot's standing desk. This is another budget bit of kit that really stands out to me. Right from the start, it has all the core features I want to see from any sit-stand desk, including an LED programmable control panel and four memory presets, and anti-collision detection.

Height range via the single-motor operation is 28.9in to 46.5in, which is suitable for most people - although I recommend anyone over six foot checking out desks with a height range up to 50in to prevent any slouching.

Here, the star feature is the single-piece desktop. That makes it a lot more stable than cheaper splice-board desks you usually see at that price, since there's no join in the surface. This desk comes in a range of sizes and styles to suit your workspace.

If you're kitting out a workspace with new office furniture, this is the affordable desk and chair I'd choose every time. You may see somme desks and chairs cheaper than this, but when it comes to features, I haven't seen anything to beat either at this price.

• US: See all home office furniture at Amazon
• UK: See all home office furniture at Amazon.co.uk

• Hostinger launches a new tool for selling online without a website
• The tool offers the ability to sell across multiple channels and platforms
• It will soon be compatible with AI agents

Web hosting giant Hostinger claims that selling online is no longer about centralized ecommerce websites, but about tapping into multiple selling channels and platforms – and its new tool can help.

Hostinger Ecommerce starts with the business itself, collecting information on products, inventory, orders, shipping, payments, and customer data. It then allows sellers to connect their ecommerce business to websites, social networks, messaging apps, and, soon, AI agents, all from one central dashboard.

The concept is simple. Upload once, sell almost everywhere.

A new channel doesn’t mean starting from scratch; it’s just opening another door. Everything is managed from one space. So, sell the last product of a range on TikTok shop, and it goes ‘out of stock’ everywhere else.

The future of ecommerce

Hostinger claims that users can go from product image to ready to sell in just a few minutes, thanks to its Quick Links feature. Sellers start by uploading a product photo, then the platform’s AI creates a full product page including descriptions, key details, and even a suggested price.

Then you simply connect a payment method and share the link wherever you want to sell.

Hostinger Ecommerce has been built with beginners and non-technical professionals in mind. Set up is guided by Kodee, Hostinger’s AI support agent, taking users through the journey, asking practical questions such as what and where they sell, their business details, and which sales channels they want to connect to.

According to Auksė Žirgulė, Head of Hostinger Website Builder and Ecommerce, “For small sellers, the opportunity is huge, but only if their business can move as fast as their customers do. They should not have to guess which channel will matter next. They should be able to focus on growing their business, while providers like Hostinger Ecommerce build the future-ready infrastructure around them.”

Hostinger also shared that it is actively developing the ability to connect products with AI agents, helping users to connect and sell to potential customers using AI.

Right now, Hostinger Ecommerce is free to use for Hostinger customers on the Business or higher rate plans. New customers can access the platform starting at $2.99/month.

The biggest threat to your phone isn't malware, it's how you conduct yourself online.

Boomerang is a popular name that comes up when discussing the best parental control apps. This Android-first application offers several features you’d come to expect when looking to monitor your child’s online activities. However, it does one better by offering its proprietary SPIN browser, which automatically filters a lot of harmful content without you having to do the heavy lifting.

Beyond that, this app promises 24/7 location tracking, message monitoring and a more positive approach to app control, although there are vast differences between the experience you get on Android when compared to iOS.

Read on as we dissect Boomerang, exploring its features, pricing, and in-use experience, to help you find out whether it's the right choice for your household.

Boomerang review: Plans and pricing

(Image credit: Boomerang)

Boomerang is, hands down, one of the cheapest parental control applications you can find on the market. Its single-device license costs only $19.99 per year, which boils down to around $1.67 per month. That’s significantly cheaper than Mobicip’s Lite plan, which costs around $3 per month.

If you want to protect more than one child, you can opt for Boomerang’s family plan, which costs only $40 per year and covers up to 10 devices. That's around $0.33 per device per month. It’s safe to say that you won’t find a more affordable parental control application on the market.

To add to this, Boomerang also offers a limited free plan (read: 14-day free trial) that lets you try everything the platform has to offer without any limitations. You get access to all its Android & iOS protection features along with customer support during this trial period.

Another handy feature is that none of the plans auto-renew when the subscription period ends, giving you enough time to review your subscription and decide for yourself whether you want to continue with Boomerang.

Boomerang review: Features

With Boomerang, there’s a lot of disparity between the features available on Android and iOS, with the latter missing out on many of the features Boomerang has to offer.

For instance, when it comes to screen time limits, Android devices allow you to allocate screen time (for example, one hour per day) or schedule screen time, such as from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. You can also inform the child of how much screen time they have left for the day. However, on iOS, you can only schedule screen time, and none of these additional features are available.

(Image credit: Boomerang)

Similarly, app control is much better on Android. Boomerang lets you set per-app schedules, add daily time limits to individual apps, and block apps entirely. However, none of these features are available on iOS, where you can only hide user-installed apps based on age ratings.

In a similar vein, Android offers a lot of call safety features. Parents can view who called, how long the call lasted, and when the conversation took place. They also have the ability to block specific numbers from calling in or out and allow only specific numbers to contact their children’s devices. However, all of these features are missing from the iOS version.

The same goes for text messaging and safety features. While parents can view text message logs and even read their contents on Android, this is simply not possible on iOS devices. Boomerang does a good job of notifying parents about texts from unknown numbers or those containing inappropriate words. You can also add specific words to your family group’s dictionary to detect them in text messages.

(Image credit: Boomerang)

However, there are certain features that work equally well on both Android and iOS. For instance, location tracking works across both platforms, you can access location histories and automatic location reporting, and parents can set up impressive geofenced radii on both, too.

And no matter what platform you use, you’ll get access to a family messaging group, one-on-one chatting and activity reporting. On both platforms you’ll get to see your child’s web history and block certain websites you do not approve of. The SPIN safe browser works on both platforms, and you can block specific websites on both, too.

However, Android’s reporting is much stronger thanks to detailed email summaries, daily reports, lists of installed apps, and per-app usage reporting. Android is also the only platform where you can control installed apps and use a “find my device”-style feature on your children’s phones.

You can also pair family devices with your email address, so you don’t have to create new email accounts for your children, and you can block new app installs or allow for parental approval.

Elsewhere, Boomerang monitors YouTube history and searches on Android, and it’s one of the only parental control apps to use Samsung Knox security if you’re using Samsung devices.

(Image credit: Boomerang)

The SPIN browser impresses, too: searches in browsers like Bing, Google and Yahoo are automatically filtered and the browser has strict built-in filtering. It doesn’t have a private browsing mode, those content filters can be customized, and its filter watches out for 20 different categories of potentially inappropriate content.

(Image credit: Boomerang)

Less impressive is Boomerang’s social media functionality. It doesn’t natively monitor social media apps or emails in the same way as Bark, for instance. The app will pick up certain things by tracking messaging and typing, and you can add social media sites to its web filters – but it’s not as good as Bark or Qustodio here.

At least, because you’ve got control over what apps are installed, you can prevent your children from installing social media tools in the first place.

Boomerang review: Interface and in-use

It’s not unusual for the installation and setup of parental control apps to be a bit fiddly, and that’s certainly the case with Boomerang.

To get call and SMS monitoring, you’ll have to install Android apps on your children’s devices via the Boomerang website, rather than the Google Play Store. You may also have to delve into the settings on the device to allow for non-store installations.

Thankfully, the parent apps can just be downloaded from Google Play or the App Store, and it’s far easier. And when everything is set up, the interface is a mixed bag: the phone app is relatively slick, but the web dashboard is archaic and harder to use when compared to the web interfaces offered by most rivals.

(Image credit: Boomerang)Boomerang review: Support

Boomerang has certainly improved its support over the years. At the time of writing, you'll find a neat help button in the bottom-right corner of the website. At first glance, it looks like a chatbot, but it's actually a search tool that lets you type in your query and returns a list of relevant help articles from Boomerang's extensive online knowledge base.

(Image credit: Boomerang)

We tried it with a couple of search queries and found the results to be accurate. You can then click on a search result to open the relevant help article. If that doesn't solve your issue, you can select Contact Us from the same dialog box and submit a support ticket. However, Boomerang doesn't clearly state how long it will take to receive a response.

Boomerang review: The competition

We’ve already established that it is pretty difficult to beat Boomerang when it comes to pricing. With prices as low as $0.33 per month per device on the family plan, Boomerang is definitely one of the cheapest parental control software options you can get.

However, it does have a few competitors that might beat it when it comes to overall value for money and features. Mobicip is one such application, with plans starting at just $2.99 per month and allowing you to manage up to five devices. While it is a tad costlier than Boomerang, it is well known for its robust screen time limits and schedule management.

That said, you cannot set app limits with Mobicip until you upgrade to its premium plan, which costs $7.99 per month.

While Boomerang does offer geofencing and location tracking, these features are still in the experimental stage, and the geofencing radius is not particularly wide. Norton Family, on the other hand, offers a much larger geofencing radius of up to 3,200 meters.

Besides that, applications like Bark and Qustodio offer better features on the iOS platform, whereas Boomerang falls far behind when it comes to iOS functionality.

Boomerang review: Final verdict

Whether you should opt for Boomerang depends entirely on the type of device your child is using. If they are using Android, Boomerang is still one of the more capable parental control software options you can get. It offers a wide range of features on Android, including the ability to set dedicated screen time limits along with per-app daily limits and scheduling.

You also get detailed text message and call safety features, including the ability to allow only specific contacts to call or message your child. The location tracking is fairly decent, showing recent device locations and location history, along with the ability to request your child’s location at any time.

Best of all, this comes at one of the most affordable prices you’ll find on the market, costing just $20 per year for a single child and $40 per year for a family plan, which covers 10 devices.

That said, Boomerang lacks dedicated social media monitoring. Another major drawback is its limited iOS feature set. For instance, there’s no call or text monitoring on iOS, and important features like app controls and screen time management features are also significantly more limited. In that case, you may want to look at other options such as Bark or Qustodio, which offer a broader range of features on iOS.

• We've picked out the best parental control software

Google Search uploads may be used to train AI unless users opt out, raising privacy and data governance concerns for businesses.

The post Google Search Uploads Can Train AI Unless You Opt Out appeared first on TechRepublic.

Mobicip is positioned as one of the best parental control app for busy parents who want to restrict the impact of Big Tech on their children’s lives.

The company claims that “more than 2 million parents” love its app, and that it can protect kids from social media, apps, websites and excessive screen time. And it's also got Family Voice and Mom’s Choice Awards, which prove its mettle.

We put Mobicip to the test to see whether it lives up to the hype and expectations. In this article, we discuss its pricing, features, interface, and overall user experience. We also compare it with other parental control software available to see where it stands in a crowded market.

Mobicip: Plans and pricing

(Image credit: Mobicip)

Mobicip’s pricing structure has its highs and lows. The biggest advantage is its affordable entry-level plan (Lite), which costs just $2.99 per month and allows you to manage up to five devices. It includes almost all the parental control features you’d need, such as screen time limits, website blocking, and detailed activity reports.

However, this plan lacks social media monitoring and app timers, both of which are key features of parental control applications. The Standard plan costs $4.99 per month and allows you to manage up to 10 devices, but it does not offer any additional features.

If you need social media monitoring and app limits, you’ll need Mobicip’s Premium plan, which costs $7.99 per month, or around $96 per year. This plan includes protection for up to 20 devices and every feature that Mobicip offers. And if you need to monitor more than 20 devices, you can request a custom quote from Mobicip’s sales team by filling out an online form.

Qustodio, meanwhile, costs $9.16 per month if billed annually and that includes support for unlimited devices, and Norton Family is even cheaper ($49.99 for the entire year). Bark is more expensive, though, but does go further than almost anything else when it comes to social media monitoring.

Overall, Mobicip is on the affordable end of the spectrum when it comes to parental control applications. Its Premium package is still the best value by some way thanks to its features. And, pleasingly, there’s a 7-day free trial and 30-day money-back guarantee.

Mobicip: Features

Mobicip’s screen time scheduling is immediately impressive. Parents can create specific schedules for homework, sleeping or school time.

(Image credit: Mobicip)

Daily screen time limits are available and, in an innovative twist on screen time features, parents can call for “family time” by locking all managed devices instantly – perfect for grabbing people’s attention.

(Image credit: Mobicip)

You can create an unlimited number of custom filters, build schedules with five-minute increments, and allow or restrict apps or websites based on categories, too. There’s also a Vacation Mode feature that parents can deploy to allow more leniency.

This is comfortably one of the best scheduling tools on the market thanks to its great set of features – the only thing missing is the ability to set time limits for individual apps.

If you want to ensure that phones don’t capture attention, Mobicip allows parents to limit time spent on apps that hit certain categories, like social media or games, and particular apps can also be blocked entirely – while others can be put on a safe list.

(Image credit: Mobicip)

Mobicip’s web filtering comes with 20 different categories of inappropriate content alongside the ability to block adult content, block specific words and block specific websites. Parents can also use a “whitelist-only” mode that allows children to only browse a list of pre-approved sites.

GPS functionality extends to a family locator tool, location sharing and geofencing – an ideal slate of location-specific options, even if Mobicip doesn’t have the innovative driving abilities found in some rival tools.

(Image credit: Mobicip)

Its geofencing includes a 1,000m radius, which is more generous than many other apps – even if Norton is wider still. However, Mobicip doesn't offer live driving tracking or driving statistics, which are features available with providers like Net Nanny.

When it comes to reporting, parents can access a slick dashboard that provides browsing histories, location histories, your children’s access requests and a graphical representation of screen time usage displaying the categories of content your kids use the most – like social media apps, games or browsers.

Children also have access to a dashboard where they can request more screen time or ask to access blocked apps. And if you want multiple people to be able to manage the app, parents can add trusted guardians or contacts using a straightforward and secure invitation system.

(Image credit: Mobicip)

We found this to be a unique feature that is not offered by many parental control apps and is especially useful for families with grandparents or co-parenting households.

Elsewhere, Mobicip monitors Facebook and Snapchat for harmful content, but that’s it for social media monitoring – a poor showing compared to most rivals and, notably, Bark.

(Image credit: Mobicip)

Bark monitors more than 30 platforms, including TikTok, YouTube, Discord, Reddit, and WhatsApp, all of which Mobicip misses out on. Additionally, these apps can only be monitored on Android devices and still lack iOS support, which is a bit of a letdown.

You can’t set time limits for individual apps on Mobicip, only categories of apps, and Mobicip doesn’t monitor text messages or calls.

Mobicip: Interface and in-use

It’s very easy to get started with Mobicip: download the app, allow permissions, and off you go. And, impressively, Mobicip works across loads of platforms, from Android and iOS to Windows, macOS, Chromebook and even Kindle.

One thing we liked about Mobicip is that it preconfigures many settings and filters based on your child’s age when you set up their profile. This is particularly useful for busy parents who don’t want to spend hours configuring everything from scratch.

In-depth guides make setup and configuration even easier, and parents can duplicate settings across multiple child devices – ideal for families with more than one child.

(Image credit: Mobicip)

Mobicip’s web interfaces and apps are clean, intuitive and easy to use, too: for kids, it’s easy to check their screen time allowances and schedules. For parents, it’s simple to find every setting required and to access activity reports and analytics.

Mobicip: Support

This is another area where Mobicip goes above and beyond many rivals. As well as submitting a support ticket, parents can schedule a call with Mobicip’s customer service teams – ideal if you want to speak to a human.

An AI-powered chatbot provides answers to simpler questions, and there are loads of guides with useful imagery on Mobicip’s website. It’s a good support option, with callbacks available alongside more conventional email support and loads of comprehensive articles.

Mobicip: The competition

Mobicip is a strong contender when it comes to parental control, but it still has rivals that are better in some areas.

For instance, Norton Family costs $49.99 per year, which is cheaper than Mobicip’s Standard plan. It offers comprehensive social media monitoring across platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTube. Mobicip, on the other hand, can monitor only Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat.

Additionally, Bark is a much better option for social media monitoring, covering more than 30 applications. That said, Bark is a more expensive option, costing around $14 per month for its full feature set.

Then there’s Qustodio, which is only slightly more expensive than Mobicip, with an effective monthly cost of $9.16. However, this plan allows you to add unlimited devices and monitor your child’s calls and messages – something that Mobicip cannot do.

Mobicip: Final verdict

Mobicip impresses in loads of departments. Its filtering is effective, and its screen time and scheduling options are among the best you’ll find anywhere. Its location-tracking features are strong, too, and this app is attractive and easy to use for parents and children.

Customer support is excellent, its activity reporting is comprehensive, and it does some innovative things with scheduling and screen time that some rivals simply don’t offer – like its Vacation Mode or Family Time settings.

You get all of these features at fairly affordable prices, starting at just $2.99 per month with Mobicip’s Lite plan. If you want to unlock the full range of features, you’ll need to spend around $7.99 per month, which is comparable to other social media monitoring applications.

However, Mobicip’s biggest drawback is its lack of message and call monitoring, along with its limited social media monitoring capabilities. If those features are important to you, you may need to look elsewhere and consider alternatives such as Bark or Qustodio.

• We've also featured the best free parental control software

• Company of Heroes 3: Final Stand has been revealed
• It's a standalone roguelike survival game based on Company of Heroes 3
• It will feature four playable factions and multiple progression systems

As a bit of a lapsed strategy game lover, I've been meaning to try out Company of Heroes 3 for years but just haven't yet managed to find the time to dive into its lengthy campaign and get to grips with the beefy online multiplayer.

Under the Radar

Under the Radar is our way of highlighting great games that might have passed you by. Through a regular mix of news stories and features, we'll cover great experiences that we feel haven't found the audience they deserve. Read the full series here.

The more condensed action of the upcoming Company of Heroes 3: Final Stand might be just the thing to get me on board. This newly revealed entry in the beloved strategy franchise sounds like one of those old standalone expansions (like Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon or Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City), offering reimagined version of Company of Heroes 3 that doesn't require the base game to play.

It's all about wave-based survival, challenging you with highly replayable levels that have you holding out against escalating waves of enemy forces. There are 36 boss challenging units to break up the waves of grunts and a roguelike progression system that has you choosing persistent upgrades every life to make each run feel more unique.

There are four playable factions to master (the allied US and British, and the German Wehrmacht and Afrikakorps) each with their own progression trees to work through and unlockable premium cosmetic skin packs.

Company of Heroes 3: Final Stand will support online co-op so you can hold out with friends, as well as eight difficulty levels designed for everyone all the way from total series newcomers to experts.

It launches later this month on July 29, 2026, for PC and is available to wishlist on Steam now.

• Sony has announced that it's ending physical PlayStation game disc production in 2028
• Fans are protesting the decision and have created a petition to urge Sony to change its mind
• It now has over 170,000 signatures

PlayStation fans have created a petition in a bid to urge Sony to reverse its decision to end physical game disc production from January 2028, and it's already reached over 170,000 signatures.

"On July 1, 2026, Sony announced it will end production of physical discs for all new PlayStation games starting January 2028," the 'Don't Kill the Disc' Change.org petition reads. "New games will be sold digitally, or as a box containing only a download code, with no disc inside."

The petition, created by the CEO of Canadian retailer PNP Games, also points out that days earlier, it was confirmed that Grand Theft Auto 6 physical editions will launch with no disc, but a digital download code instead, which many fans are disappointed with.

"When the market leader ends the disc, the rest of the industry follows," the statement continues. A disc is a real game you own. You can lend it, trade it, resell it, gift it, collect it, or pass it down to your kids. A box with only a download code is not the same thing. It is a digital license in plastic packaging. You do not own it. You are renting access that can be revoked, and people have already had purchased movies deleted from their libraries and games pulled from sale weeks after launch."

With a lack of physical games to sell in in-store retailers, there's also the risk of job losses and a weaker local economy, the creator added, and stressed that they're not against digital, but against digital being the only option.

As of writing, the petition has 172,204 signatures, and number which is growing by the minute, and many fans are being vocal about their disdain for Sony's decision.

"Physical media is what makes consoles the best place to play modern AAA games," one petitioner said. "It's the only decentralized local DRM solution that is both acceptable for publishers and provides sufficient ownership and user control to satisfy both sides. It is crucial for physical media to survive until digital ownership is sufficiently solved. My 30-year streak of supporting PlayStation depends on this decision. Don't betray your most loyal long-time customers Sony.

Another comment reads: "I've been a gamer on the PlayStation platform since the PS1 days, and many of my favorite games have been on PlayStation systems, whether as exclusives or simply a preferred platform. However, I'm a physical media gamer, and I refuse to support any gaming company that tells me I don't have the option to own physical media. I hope Sony will reverse this decision, but if not, then they will cease to get business from me after January 2028."

There are plenty more comments to cycle through, but while fans are voicing their concerns, Sony is notably quiet on the matter.

After posting the announcement, the company hasn't yet shared a statement in response to the outcry, so it remains to be seen if the PlayStation maker will cave under pressure.

• International Aerial Photographer of the Year 2026 winners announced
• Azim Khan Ronnie and Vitaly Golovatyuk scoop the top 'Photographer' and 'Photograph' prizes
• Both winners shoot aerial images with a DJI Mavic 4 Pro

If you love jaw-dropping aerial images, the International Aerial Photographer of the Year contest is well worth checking out — and the contest's 2026 winners have just been announced.

A total of 101 images were shortlisted by the contest's three judges, and Azim Khan Ronnie scooped the top prize with his portfolio of scenes from around the world, including vibrant images of chili pepper harvesters in his home country of Bangladesh.

Ronnie said: “From above, everyday scenes reveal patterns, geometry, textures and relationships that are often invisible from the ground. Aerial photography allows me to tell stories about people, nature and the environment from a perspective that inspires curiosity and offers a deeper understanding of the world."

A minimum of four images are required to be considered for the top 'Photographer' prize won by Ronnie. Vitaly Golovatyuk of the Russian Federation took 1st place for the International Aerial Photograph of the Year, with their individual image of a bird standing in a perfectly still lake in Elk Park, outside Dongtai City in the Zhejiang Province of China.

You can take a look at Azim Khan Ronnie's portfolio below, with the variety of scenes including migratory seagulls in Yamuna Ghat, Delhi, India and a perfectly synchronized rowing team gliding over the mist-covered surface of Lake Zurich in Switzerland.

For a few months of the year, a large number of Siberian seagulls migrate to various parts of India. One of them is Yamuna Ghat in Delhi. The birds start coming in here in November and move out in mid-March. The activity continues all morning.Azim Khan Ronnie / The 2nd International Aerial Photographer of the YearThousands of bright red chilli peppers are harvested in the hot sun before being sorted ready to be delivered to spice companies in the Sariakandi, Bogura, Bangladesh. More than 2,000 people work in almost 100 chilli farms in Bogura.Azim Khan Ronnie / The 2nd International Aerial Photographer of the YearAn aerial view of a rowing team gliding through the pristine waters of Lake Zurich in Switzerland. The team is perfectly synchronized, with oars cutting cleanly into the turquoise, misty surface, leaving subtle ripples in their wake.Azim Khan Ronnie / The 2nd International Aerial Photographer of the YearHindu devotees gather in Dhaka for Rakher Upobash, fasting and praying with incense and oil lamps to honour Baba Lokenath. Thousands seek blessings for health and protection, recalling the 18th century saint’s life of asceticism and spiritual devotion.Azim Khan Ronnie / The 2nd International Aerial Photographer of the Year'Unique and extraordinary'

I reached out to Azim Khan Ronnie, who described his images as "unique and extraordinary", and the result of much hard work, repeat visits and early starts.

I was particularly drawn to his series of chili pepper harvesters in Bogura, Bangladesh, where more than 2,000 people work on approximately 100 chili farms — you can see more of his images from this particular series at his Instagram page, linked below.

The vibrant colors grabbed my attention first, then the abstract patterns and astute composition kept me engaged.

A post shared by Azim Khan Ronnie (@azimronnie)

A photo posted by on

I also enjoyed his use of manual exposure and a slow shutter speed to blur the motion of the migratory seagulls, in contrast to the still (and sharp) boat they're surrounding, in his image from Yamuna Ghat, Delhi, India.

In the International Aerial Photographer of the Year press release, learn that Ronnie takes his aerial images with the DJI Mavic 4 Pro drone — a professional triple-camera drone which scored a maximum 5-star rating in our in-depth review.

Ronnie says, “For aerial photography, I use the DJI Mavic 4 Pro and DJI Mavic 3 Classic, allowing me to create images that reveal scale, patterns and perspectives impossible to capture from the ground. I always shoot exclusively in raw to capture the maximum amount of image data, giving me greater flexibility during post-processing while preserving image quality."

Birdie is sitting on the water of a tiny, crystal clear lake with reflection of the sky and surrounded by red grass, somewhere in Dongtai. Vitaly Golovatyuk, DJI Mavic 4 Pro (Image credit: Vitaly Golovatyuk / The 2nd International Aerial Photographer of the Year)

Vitaly Golovatyuk also used a Mavic 4 Pro for his winning individual image (above), taken in China, where the still lake appears like an eye, with the bird framed in the center among the reflected clouds and the surrounding rich red landscape.

The winners from the 101 shortlisted entries can be found at The International Aerial Photographer of the Year website, whose founders are on a mission 'to encourage and share the wonders of aerial photography'.

If you scroll to the bottom of the page linked above, there's a flip book containing all of the shortlisted entries — trust me, it's well worth a look.

There are few more prominent names in cybersecurity than Norton. Norton Family tries to leverage that recognition and trust into one of the best parental control apps that protects your children when they’re using the internet.

With a wide feature set that includes screen time controls, inappropriate content filters, app restrictions, and location checkers, it’s clear that Norton Family provides many of the options that busy families with digitally savvy children need.

Some of the features have more depth than you’ll find on other parental control apps, too, but there are questions about how effective Norton Family is on Apple’s iOS platform. So, let’s find out if Norton’s product is the right option for protecting your children.

Norton Family: Plans and pricing

Norton Family gets off to an impressive start: it costs just $49.99/£29.99 per year. That stellar price undercuts many rivals – top tools like Qustodio and Bark cost $89.36/£69.95 and $99 for a year of access to their upper-tier products.

Because Norton offers so many consumer cybersecurity products, it’s easy to get Norton Family included in other products. Norton 360 Deluxe, for instance, includes Norton’s parental control features alongside a secure VPN, dark web monitoring, and scam protection. It costs $49.99/£29.99 for the first year, with a renewal price of $119.99/£89.99.

And if you want to add even more features, such as Norton’s identity theft protection and credit monitoring, Norton 360 Premium or Select Plus costs $99.99/£99.99.

Those prices may look high, but remember that they’re for broader security products that happen to include Norton Family features, so they still represent excellent value.

If you’re still unsure if Norton Family is right for you, there’s a 30-day free trial – a generous offer that’s longer than many other free trials. Bear in mind, though, that there’s no unrestricted free version of Norton Family, as is the case with tools like Boomerang.

Norton Family: Features

Web filtering is one of Norton Family’s strongest areas. Parents can block websites using 45 pre-defined categories of inappropriate content, including porn, violence, gambling, and alcohol, which is more than many rivals.

What we like most about Norton Family is the ability to set restriction levels for websites instead of blocking them outright. Parents can choose from four restriction levels: Very High, High, Moderate, and Low, depending on the age of the child. For instance, the High restriction level is ideal for children under 10 years of age.

Alternatively, Moderate and Low restriction levels are meant for older teenagers, who’ll see a warning before accessing restricted content but can still choose to visit the website. You can also create custom restrictions in case you want your child to be able to visit a particular website but receive a notification every time they do.

The impressive filtering extends to apps, too. Parents are presented with a list of apps installed on child devices, blocking is simple, and each app has an activity report for parents to see when the app was installed and how much it’s used. Newly-installed apps are even given a special highlight on Android devices.

(Image credit: Norton)

The only thing missing here is the ability to set app time limits – a feature you’ll find on many rivals, including Qustodio.

Norton also monitors the terms and phrases your child searches on popular search engines such as Google, Bing, YouTube, Ask, and Yahoo. There's also an option to always enable safe searching across various browsers on Android – but on iOS, this only works using Norton’s own browser. Also note that Norton Family doesn’t work on child Mac OS devices at all.

Norton’s screen time schedules can be built in thirty-minute increments – that’s fine, but apps like Mobicip allow more granular control. Parents can set screen time limits on different days or just restrict devices at night, and it also has a selection of effective pre-defined schedules for children of different ages.

There’s also a specific module for setting more restrictive limits during school hours – that education option includes additional web filtering to further restrict the content children can access. Kids can request more screen time – a feature you’ll find in Mobicip but not in Qustodio – and screen time reports are displayed easily, with clear graphs showing usage.

(Image credit: Norton)

Norton Family includes the usual array of location-based features. There’s real-time tracking, and the geofencing tool includes a generous radius of 3,200m (2 miles) – the largest we’ve seen on any parental control app.

Parents can set up alerts to find out where kids are located at particular times of day. Norton’s emphasis on trusting children also extends to an option where kids can perform check-ins and choose to share their location – rather than parents automatically viewing the location.

We particularly liked Norton’s detailed Family Activity reports, which give you a quick snapshot of all your child’s activity. This includes your child’s device usage time, allowing you to check the total number of hours they have spent on their phone.

There’s also a pretty handy video summary that lets you know about the videos your child has been watching, including details such as the date and time, title of the video, and its category. Besides this, you get a comprehensive web summary that provides information on the websites your child has visited, as well as an app summary.

(Image credit: Norton)

Elsewhere, Norton allows parents to instantly lock child devices and prevent app uninstallation with additional security features. However, Norton doesn’t support certain features on iOS. For instance, web content filtering and Safe Search enforcement only work through the Norton Browser on iOS. Similarly, search supervision and video supervision also work only on the Norton Browser on both Android and iOS, while app supervision is not available on iOS at all.

Norton Family also lacks in certain other areas, which prevents it from becoming an automatic first choice. For starters, there’s no dedicated social media monitoring. Parents have to rely on app limitations and keyword alerts if they want to monitor their child’s activity on social media platforms. Norton Family cannot directly read your child’s conversations on various social messaging apps.

Additionally, Norton cannot monitor calls or text messages either. If these are important features for you, you may want to consider other options such as Bark or Qustodio.

Norton Family: Interface and in-use

Norton’s parental control apps are available on Android, iOS and the Edge, Chrome and Firefox browsers, while child apps can be installed on Android, Windows and iOS devices.

No matter what platform you’re using, Norton Family is very easy to set up with a familiar process that requires account registration and allowing the typical range of app permissions on child devices.

(Image credit: Norton)

The kids apps allow children to browse the web using the Norton Family Browser and it’s easy for children to find the option to send a check-in to parents, see the rules they’ve been set, or ask for a time extension.

Parent apps are similarly well designed, with clean design and options in sensible places. Altering settings is simple, and the app's web version is just as straightforward to use.

Norton Family: Support

Norton Family’s entry-level support module includes loads of helpful, well-produced guides and a busy forum for asking questions. If you need to contact Norton support, there are phone and live chat options that are open 24/7 – the benefit of dealing with a large business like Norton rather than a smaller organization that can’t provide that level of access.

If you’d like more support, including faster access to experts, then you can also pay for Norton Ultimate Help Desk. This provides quicker and more comprehensive support, but it costs $99.99/£99.99 annually.

Also note that Norton’s array of support options doesn’t always mean you’ll get a good answer.

The sheer size of Norton means that some users report that some of Norton’s customer support representatives are not particularly helpful with queries about Norton Family features – if you’ve got a specific query then you’ll need to get lucky and land a knowledgeable support representative if you don’t want to get generic and vague answers.

Norton Family: The competition

If we break down Norton Family’s annual pricing, it comes to just around $4.16 per month, making it more affordable than most other parental control providers out there. For instance, Bark, one of the leading players in this field, charges around $14 per month for its full suite of features. But that includes the ability to monitor your child’s texts, along with more comprehensive app controls covering 30+ apps.

If you want something cheaper than Norton Family, you can go with Mobicip, whose Lite plan costs only $2.99 per month and offers great scheduling and screen time management. Elsewhere, the features are very similar to what you get with Norton Family, but keep in mind that you'll have to deal with a lack of social media monitoring and app limits with this budget Mobicip plan.

In our research, we found that Norton Family is still better than Qustodio’s basic plan (cost similar to Norton Family at $59.95/year), which only offers web filtering, location monitoring, app blocking, and daily time limits. To unlock more advanced features, such as social media monitoring, call and message monitoring, and application insights, you’ll need to get a higher-priced plan that costs almost twice as much as Norton Family.

Norton Family: Final verdict

Norton Family, then, sits in a tricky spot. It’s a good pick if you’re looking for a good, well-rounded parental control app, plus it helps that it’s included with many other Norton apps too. It offers an excellent range of features, including web content filtering, Safe Search, app supervision, screen time schedules, and real-time location tracking.

In addition to offering one of the widest geofencing ranges (2 miles), Norton Family is also on the affordable end of the spectrum, costing just $49.99 for the entire year. However, it comes with its fair share of compromises.

Norton Family doesn't offer dedicated social media monitoring and cannot monitor calls or text messages. It also lacks per-app time limits, and certain features, such as web filtering and search supervision, are quite limited on iOS devices. If these limitations break the deal for you, consider alternatives such as Bark, Qustodio, or Mobicip.

• We've also featured the best free parental control software

Net Nanny may be one of the oldest names in the parental control software business, but it's kept adding new features, and the latest edition includes tools you won't always see in the younger competition.

The app's web content filtering doesn't rely on simple blacklists and site categories, for instance - it uses real-time content analysis to detect issues on every web page your child tries to access. There's smarter YouTube monitoring, too, with search and viewing histories.

The company hasn't forgotten the basics, and you can also block or restrict app usage, limit screen time, and view detailed reports on your child's recent activities.

Tracking tools include the ability to view the location (and location history) of all your children on a single map. Net Nanny has added geofencing support, too, allowing you to define important locations (home, school, grandma's, whatever you need) and get alerts when a child leaves or arrives.

Read on for a detailed look into Net Nanny's offerings and whether it's the right fit for your needs.

• Interested in Net Nanny? Check out the website here

Net Nanny: Plans and pricing

(Image credit: Net Nanny)

Net Nanny's pricing is a little more complicated than usual, with three plans on offer.

The first protects a single desktop for $40 a year. This boils down to a super-affordable $3.33 per month, making it one of the cheapest parental control monitoring apps around. Sure, Mobicip does have a Lite plan that costs only $2.99 per month, but it does not come with the full range of features offered by Net Nanny.

The second covers up to five desktop or mobile devices for $55, and the third protects up to 20 devices for an annual $90.

(As we write, the company says these prices are discounted, with '30% off for a limited time.' A quick visit to the Wayback Machine showed Net Nanny offering the same prices six months ago, though, so it doesn't seem that limited. Still, it's possible the prices will be significantly higher by the time you read this.)

There are significantly cheaper apps around, though. For instance, Mobicip plans start at just $2.99/month and allow you to monitor up to five devices.Now, Net Nanny used to offer a 14-day free trial with its Android app. However, it has now done away with any free trial, and you’ll need to purchase a subscription right away to use the application. This is a bit of a letdown, since competitors like Bark offer a 7-day free trial.

Net Nanny: Supported platforms

When we last tested Net Nanny, it still supported Android devices. However, since the beginning of 2024, the provider has stated that it no longer supports Android, Kindle Fire, and Chromebook devices. As of now, Net Nanny works only on devices running Windows (10 and above), macOS 10.13 to macOS 11.x, and iOS 11 and higher.

Now, while you may still be able to operate Net Nanny on Windows and iOS devices, its macOS support is pretty outdated. For context, macOS 11 Big Sur was launched back in November 2020, with the current version being macOS 26 Tahoe, released in September 2025. This means Net Nanny’s Mac support is five major versions behind the current macOS version.

Most Mac devices bought in the last four to five years would be running at least macOS 12 Monterey, while the oldest macOS version that still receives Apple security updates is macOS 14 Sonoma. This means that Net Nanny’s macOS support sits entirely outside the range of Apple’s supported and patched operating systems, making its macOS support practically unusable.

Net Nanny: Setup

Net Nanny's setup process began when we installed the parent's app. We entered our email address and chose a password to create an account, selected the free three-day trial, and the app launched a wizard to help us begin.

This can look a little intimidating, but there's a plus in NetNanny's live chat support (Monday to Friday, 10am to 7pm EST.) It's not 24/7, but it beats many smaller companies, which often provide support via email only. It was also good to see the company send us an email with more instructions, so even if we had to give up on our current session, we'd have guidance on what to do next.

We followed Net Nanny's advice, visiting install.netnanny.com on our child's Android app, clicking a link to visit the relevant Google Play page, and installing the app.

This prompted us to log in and create our child's basic profile - name, gender and age - and then walked us through the process of approving various Android permissions (device administrator, location, content checking.) There are a lot, but they're necessary for parental control apps, where you're keeping a very close eye on how a device is being used.

Finally, Net Nanny prompted us to manually enable Safe Search in the Google app. That's good advice, but many apps do this automatically, and some do the same with other search engines (Kaspersky can enforce Safe Search with Google, Bing, Yahoo, and Yandex.)

The Safe Search setting isn't protected, either, so your child could simply disable it later. That's not automatically a disaster, as even if your child finds dubious content in a search, it should be blocked by Net Nanny's filter, but it's still a weakness in the system.

Net Nanny: Screen time

Schedule screen time and set daily limits for your child (Image credit: Net Nanny)

Net Nanny gave our test 9-year-old unlimited screen time by default, but that's easy to change. We were able to set separate usage time limits for every day of the week, and with a precise number of minutes each time (many apps support only 15 or 30-minute increments, and Mobicip schedules usage time in one-hour blocks only.)

When screen time is up, you can opt to pause the device, prevent app usage, or just block internet access. That's a handy level of control you won't get with most apps.

(Image credit: Net Nanny)

We couldn't initially find any way to schedule specific times when a device could be used, for example, to block device access from bedtime until the morning. The Help site pointed us in the right direction: for some reason, Net Nanny places time scheduling in an entirely different area of the control panel, doesn't link them, and doesn't highlight the feature later (it's the bottom option of a drop-down list.)

Once you find it, though, the scheduler works more or less as expected, allowing you to allow or deny internet access in one-hour blocks throughout the day. Many apps only support a single range ('8am to 9pm'), but Net Nanny's approach gives you far more control, for example allowing you to deny device use at mealtimes (5-6pm) and restore it for an hour or two afterward.

(Image credit: Net Nanny)Net Nanny: Content filtering

Net nanny allows you to block inappropriate websites on both mobile and desktop (Image credit: Net Nanny)

Most parental control apps filter web content using blacklists and whitelists, but Net Nanny is much smarter. Real-time text analysis looks for dubious content as it's accessed, giving the app a chance of blocking even brand new dangers. And Net Nanny even takes account of context, enabling it to tell the difference between a Wikipedia article that references drugs in a responsible and relevant way, and a site that really, really doesn't.

Net Nanny's content filtering can be customized using 14 categories: Drugs, Porn, Suicide, Weapons and more. Each category has three settings: always block, always allow, or an intermediate 'alert' (the child can access the content, but you'll be warned they've done so.)

You can also block web content by category (Image credit: Net Nanny)

You can also add custom filters that block content including a specific keyword or phrase. That gives you a lot of control but could block some worthwhile sites, as you won't fully benefit from Net Nanny's context-sensitive analysis. Adding 'suicide' or 'self-harm' might prevent access to genuinely dangerous forums, for instance, but may also block access to useful mental health resources.

If you need more control, Net Nanny supports building your own custom lists of sites it'll always allow, or always block. That's particularly handy if your child finds a blocked site she thinks should be available. Tap 'Request Access' in the child's app, the parent app raises an alert, and if it looks reasonable, you can add the site to the child's whitelist with a tap.

A bonus 'Mask Profanity' feature tries to mask swear words, replacing them with hash signs (####.) This didn't quite work 100% of the time but did much better than we expected. After we entered our favorite profanities at Google, for instance, Net Nanny masked our original search term, then hid it in all but one of our search terms, too.

Although this worked as expected, Net Nanny's child app crashed a couple of times during the review, leaving us to access whatever sites we like. That might be an issue relating to our specific device or its setup, but it's an issue we've not seen with other providers, and has to be a concern.

Net Nanny: App management

(Image credit: Net Nanny)

Net Nanny supports viewing the apps on your child's Windows device, getting alerts about newly installed apps, and blocking anything unsuitable.

There's support for blocking iOS apps, too, but only from an approved list. That's not unusual, though - iOS doesn't allow parental control apps as much power as Android - and Net Nanny's list is at least a long one, with around 125 top apps.

Whatever your platform, making this happen is easy - just scroll down the app list and tap Allow or Block as necessary. Social Media is listed as a separate category, allowing you to block all social media apps with a tap.

If that's too extreme, you can selectively block or allow individual platforms as necessary. An intermediate 'Protect' setting allows access but uses Net Nanny's content filters to block dangerous content. It's only available on a few sites, but they're all big names: Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, Tumblr, Twitter and YouTube.

We tried this with some custom keywords, and it delivered. If we set our filter to 'Block', Net Nanny didn't display content which contained the test keywords; if we set it to 'Alert', our test device could view the content, but we saw a warning in the Parent's dashboard.

What you don't get is any option to limit app use by time. ESET Parental Controls can set app usage to a set number of minutes, or a scheduled time of day, potentially very useful ('you can play that game, but only for 30 minutes of your three hours, and only in the evenings.')

Net Nanny: Location tracking

See where your kids are on a map on your smartphone or desktop (Image credit: Net Nanny)

Tapping Net Nanny's Location tab displays the location of your child's device on a regular Google map, with nearby stores and businesses highlighted, and we even got access to Street View when accessing our dashboard via a browser. That could be useful if you don't immediately recognize a location, or you're wondering why your child is there, and it's an improvement on the plain street-name-only maps you'll get with some parental control apps.

Net Nanny detected and displayed our location correctly, and it didn't stop with the usual pin icon, either. It also displayed our approximate address, and how long we'd been there.

By default, Net Nanny displays the current location, but a toggle at the bottom of the screen shows location history, instead. That's a useful and unusual extra, although one or two apps deliver even more (Kidslox also displays location history over a week, and adds journeys in the last 24 hours, too.)

Tapping the location marker accesses Net Nanny's basic geofencing support. You can give the location a name (Home, School), though there's no way to edit the address (ours was a few buildings out.) You're able to tell Net Nanny whether you'd like to be alerted when your child arrives at the location, leaves, or both. You can apply the same rules to everyone in your family, too, so you don't have to set them up separately.

This has some major limits. You can only use a place one of your children has visited before, for instance. There's no way to set up a zone in advance, so you're notified when they arrive somewhere they've never been before, which might be one of the key reasons for setting up geofencing in the first place.

There's no option to set zone size, either, so Net Nanny can't reliably be used as a general location monitor, for instance, to raise the alert if your child is more than a quarter of a mile from home.

Plus, location tracking only works for iPhone and not Windows or Mac devices. If you can live with those issues, though, Net Nanny's mapping features are easy to use, and its location history is a welcome plus.

Net Nanny: Monitoring

Family Feed provides activity reports for all of your children (Image credit: Net Nanny)

Net Nanny's web dashboard includes several useful monitoring tools. You can watch your child's remaining screen time count down, for instance, and look at reports of how it's been used in the past week, or month.

A Searches tab shows recent internet history searches, their time, and the device where they were used.

A YouTube panel correctly showed our YouTube searches. A 'Seen' tab should display the videos we'd watched, but it remained blank throughout the review.

There are no tools for monitoring calls and texts, or managing your child's contacts. Check out Qustodio or Boomerang if that's a problem.

You can track your child's location and general activities using Net Nanny's Family Feed (Image credit: Net Nanny)

Net Nanny scores for its reporting, though, with a Family Feed view which not only summarises recent events, it adds useful links to explain common issues, and even points you to articles with useful guidance ('GroupMe & Other Dangerous Apps Parents Should Know'). It's a great way to make sense of what's happening, especially important if you've a lot of kids generating warnings, and a welcome plus for the service.

Net Nanny: The competition

It’s not difficult to point out that Net Nanny is not yet a complete parental monitoring solution and comes with a few drawbacks, the biggest of which is the lack of a message monitoring feature. This is why apps like Bark have consistently had an edge over Net Nanny.

While Bark may be on the expensive side, with its monitoring app costing $14 per month, it comes with all the bells and whistles you require to keep a constant check on your child’s activity. For instance, it supports both Android and iOS devices, making phone and location monitoring easy.

You also get a 7-day free trial with Bark, whereas Net Nanny has done away with its 14-day trial, which is no longer offered. Plus, you can add unlimited devices at this price, whereas Net Nanny can protect a maximum of 20 devices with its highest-tier plan.

While Net Nanny is already pretty affordable, with an effective cost of just $3.33 per month, it can quickly become expensive if you’re trying to monitor more than one device. This is why you could look at options like Mobicip, which offers a Lite plan at just $2.99 per month, allowing you to manage up to five devices.

You get all the basic features, such as website blockers, screen time limits, activity reports, and the ability to remotely lock your child’s device from anywhere.

Final verdict

Net Nanny is a robust parental monitoring application, especially if you’re trying to track your child’s iPhone, Mac, or Windows devices. It offers a solid set of features, such as screen time monitoring, content filtering, and app management, all of which are easy to use and worked pretty well during our testing.

That said, it does have a few drawbacks, such as the lack of proactive geofencing and Android support. Even so, it remains on the cheaper end of the market, costing just $40 per year, which boils down to $3.33 per month. Only a few providers, such as Mobicip, are able to beat this price.

However, Net Nanny does not support the latest versions of macOS, with the last supported version being around five years old, which significantly impacts its usability. If you’re looking for Android tracking, you’ll need to consider other options such as Bark or Qustodio.

• We've also featured the best free parental control software

Although artificial intelligence (AI) continues to dominate business conversations, widespread adoption is still some way off.

In fact, just one-third of professionals said that AI programs are being scaled across their organizations.

Many companies remain hesitant to move beyond pilot projects, with a lack of trust a major barrier.

Concerns over reliability, data protection, IT security, impartiality and the potential for misuse also continue to slow adoption.

To close that gap, businesses need to understand what is behind it, how to close it and how to ensure these processes scale across the whole enterprise.

What’s behind the trust gap?

Lack of trust in AI systems continues to hold organizations back. Only 57% of AI and data teams fully trust the outputs of AI systems, and among product managers and software developers, this figure drops to just one-third. This points to a wider lack of confidence as AI becomes more embedded in day-to-day operations.

Developers’ fears are based on a variety of factors. Hallucinations, when AI models generate information that appears credible but is in fact false, mean workers are concerned about its reliability in high-stakes or sensitive use cases.

Likewise, cybersecurity, including the security of data entered into AI systems, the risk of leakage to third parties, the potential for attackers to compromise AI environments, compliance with ethical standards, and whether bias in systems could shift over time as they continue learning during live operation are all contributing to workers’ distrust of AI models.

Building trust in AI

As organizations look to build confidence in AI, quality management is becoming a bigger priority. In fact, 79% of workplace decision-makers see a direct link between trust in AI and active quality assurance measures such as regular testing, monitoring and oversight.

Trust can only be built when both AI systems and the data behind them are subject to comprehensive quality controls that are applied continuously, not just as a one-off check before deployment.

A strong foundation starts with data quality. Organizations need confidence that the information feeding AI systems is complete, up to date, and accurate. AI outputs are only as reliable as the inputs they depend on, so flawed or incomplete information will inevitably lead to poor results. Robust data governance is therefore essential to ensure AI-driven decisions to hold up in real-world use.

Quality management must also cover security, compliance and access controls. Organizations need safeguards to ensure that data does not leak from internal systems to third parties and that AI complies with regulatory requirements such as the EU AI Act and GDPR.

Clear accountability for protecting sensitive business is equally important. For example, organizations must ensure that HR records can only be accessed by authorized HR staff, with controls in place to monitor and manage how that data is used within AI environments.

At the same time, trust is not solely about reducing risk. Organizations want to ensure AI investments deliver measurable value, with more than half of companies citing improving return on investment (ROI) from Ai deployments as a key priority. This demonstrates that reliability and performance are just as important as security and governance.

Why quality management still struggles to scale

For many businesses, the challenge is no longer deciding whether to use AI, but how to manage it reliably at scale. That is proving difficult because quality management processes are still heavily reliant on manual oversight.

Quality management needs to extend across the entire AI lifecycle, from model design and training through to testing and ongoing monitoring in production.

Yet among companies that conduct regular testing, just 15% to 29% have implemented automated quality assurance processes at any AI development stage. This means that quality controls are often conducted entirely or partially manually, making them time-consuming, costly and prone to human errors.

Ultimately, this limits widespread AI adoption. Large-scale deployment is difficult to achieve when quality assurance relies heavily on manual effort, as scaling would require a significant increase in personnel.

Many organizations are also trying to manage AI adoption without clear governance, with half still lacking an enterprise-wide AI governance strategy. This is often compounded by a lack of expertise and limited understanding of how AI systems arrive at their results. At the same time, pressure to deploy AI quickly can divert resources away from testing, monitoring and oversight.

The consequences of inadequate quality management are quickly felt, particularly when AI systems interact directly with customers. Beyond the risk of regulatory fines, organizations often face dissatisfied customers, missed business opportunities, and reduced productivity when AI-generated results create more work than efficiency gains.

A stronger focus on quality pays off

As long as concerns around reliability, security and governance remain unresolved, businesses will struggle with the successful, large-scale deployment of AI. In line with this, three-quarters of decision-makers believe that more effective AI quality assurance would see their organizations experience a significant or transformative impact on user trust.

Companies must elevate AI to a new level of trust through a combination of suitable toolsets, robust governance frameworks, process expertise and technical know-how. Only by embedding these foundations can organizations deploy AI profitably and sustainably over the long term, while building the confidence necessary to scale its adoption responsibly.

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I'm not sure if Sally Wainwright fans have a name, but if they don't, it should be 'Wainwrighters'. I've been once since I was 17 and watching Last Tango in Halifax for the first time, and I've been in love with her writing, which includes Happy Valley and Gentleman Jack, ever since.

As of 2025, that took the form of Riot Women, which you can stream on BBC iPlayer. Set against a classic Wainwright Yorkshire backdrop, the show follows five menopausal women from Hebden Bridge who form a makeshift punk-rock band to enter a local talent contest.

However, it's not all fun and games like singing about menstrual cycles might seem. Though they're all from a different walk of life, each of our five women comes armed with their own drama and trauma, which soon starts to affect the others.

After ending on the tense cliffhanger of Kitty (Rosalie Craig) getting a call from her dad in prison, it's just as well that the BBC renewed Riot Women season 2 shortly after.

One year on, Wainwright and star Tamsin Grieg, who plays retired police officer Holly, tell me that they're not quite ready to start filming just yet... but that might be a blessing in disguise.

'I've now got to be two years better'

"No, no, no, no," is Grieg's immediate answer when I ask if she's feeling more confident about playing bass guitar in the band during Riot Women season 2.

"I mean an opera at the moment... so I can do anything(!). I feel a bit nervous going into the second series, because Sally has started it two years on from when the first series ended. So that is in real time, because it is two years since we stopped."

While actual plot details haven't been revealed yet, this is our first bit of insight into what to expect from the second season. After Kitty's cliffhanger, it was expected that the drama would resume from the moment her phone call ended — so who knows how many disasters have happened in the interim.

"I should have been doing my lessons for the past two years... and I haven't... so I've got a bit of catch-up," Grieg continues during our chat at the Italian Global Series. "I've got to be two years better. than I actually am. I've really got my work cut out. I've got six months to do some speed learning.

"Sally wrote to Holly as being a bit sh*t at it, so thank you. But she's not now two years on, though, is she...?" Grieg asks Wainwright, who responds, "No, she's really good now."

"F**ing hell," Grieg adds. "The annoying thing about Sally is that not only does she write all this stuff, but she goes away and learns guitar, drums, all of that. So she is doing it, and is really good at it. I think we'll just cut to your hands."

Wainwright simply replies, "It's good research," which I think tells you everything you need to know about how modest she is as a creator.

If anything, I'm hoping that the back-and-forth chaos between the two of them during our interview is indicative of what's to come when Riot Women season 2 does start filming — which, judging by Grieg's speed-learning schedule, takes us to late 2026.

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