Trend Micro (opens in new tab) is a Japanese-American software company specializing in security tools. It offers a wide range of antivirus software (opens in new tab), privacy protection, and internet security software, some of which are free. The company released Trend Micro family (opens in new tab)a dedicated parental control app (opens in new tab)in 2021. It offers parents an easy way to monitor their children online and ensure that the content they see is age-appropriate.
Many parents worry about their kids spending too much time on their devices or accessing inappropriate online content, and Trend Micro built its parental control app in response to the demand from such parents. The company developed Trend Micro Family as part of its Internet safety for children and families program, a philanthropic initiative to educate people to use the internet safely and responsibly.
We’ve tested the Trend Micro Family app to give you an unbiased review that will help you decide whether or not this is the right tool for you. We rated the app based on specific criteria including features, ease of use, compatibility, etc.
Subscriptions and Prices
It doesn’t cost a cent to download the Trend Micro Family app. You can download the app from the official Trend Micro website or the respective Windows, macOS, iOS and Android app stores.
Functions
Filter website
You can block specific websites from your children’s device with Trend Micro Family. This way, they will never access content from websites that you find inappropriate or malicious.
Third party tracker/ad blocker
The Trend Micro Family app allows you to block all third-party trackers from extracting information about your child’s device or completely block online advertisements. Malicious actors (eg gambling and porn sites) often use advertisements to trick children into inappropriate content. Likewise, they use online trackers to collect information to teach them how to target children more effectively. This feature will help you outsmart them in one go.
Blur inappropriate images and videos
The app has a built-in artificial intelligence system to detect inappropriate content in search results and social media feeds in real time and blur it from your child’s sight.
Social Media Checker
Many parents prevent their children from having social media accounts completely, while many others allow their children to create social media profiles. If you fall into the second camp, it’s imperative to monitor how your kids use social media, for example, prevent strangers from contacting them and make sure they don’t spend too much time on it. Likewise, you need to optimize your kids’ security and privacy settings, which they probably can’t do themselves.
Trend Micro Family allows you to manage social media settings on your child’s Instagram or Snapchat account. The company promises to add support for TikTok and Facebook in the future.
Screen time
You can use the Trend Micro Family app to track how long your kids spend on each app and what hours of the day they spend most on their electronics. This information is critical if you want to encourage healthy digital habits.
Alerts for searched keywords
You can set Trend Micro Family to alert you when your child searches the web for specific keywords. Parents also have the option to change the frequency and sensitivity of the alerts.
Interface and in use
To use Trend Micro Family, you need to download two separate apps; Trend Micro Family for parents and Trend Micro Family for kids† The former is for the parent’s device and the latter for the child’s. You must create a separate account for each of them. The parent app will guide you step-by-step through linking your account to your child’s so that you can follow them. You can repeat the pairing procedure for as many devices as are available in your household.
Trend Micro Family for kids comes with a free extension in the Google Chrome browser to make sure kids can browse the web safely.
Customer service
You can contact Trend Micro’s support representatives via email, live chat, or phone if you have any issues using the app. Questions by e-mail usually receive a response within 48 hours. For that, there is an extensive Knowledge Base on the company’s official website with tutorials and how-tos on using the Trend Micro Family app.
Trend Micro’s telephone support line sometimes gets clogged with too much demand, causing customers long wait times.
The competition
There are many other parental control apps that compete with Trend Micro Family. They contain Qustodio† SentryPC† Our Pactand Screen time† Trend Micro does not offer some of the features that these rival apps offer, such as key registration. But Trend Micro Family is completely free while these competitors are not.
Final verdict
Technology has its good and bad sides. The Internet provides access to extensive learning resources that children can benefit from and, on the other hand, to content that is not beneficial to them. It is the duty of parents to prevent their children from entering the inappropriate areas of the Internet, and Trend Micro Family is a practical tool to help them do that.
Buying guide
Trend Micro Family is a free parental control app created by a Japanese-American cybersecurity software company of the same name. It allows parents to monitor their kids’ online activities and make sure they don’t visit the wrong parts of the internet. The app is compatible with the Windows, macOS, iOS and Android platforms.
Trend Micro Family has a user-friendly interface. It is one of the few parental control apps that allows parents to optimize the security and privacy settings of their children’s social media accounts. However, the app doesn’t offer a handful of features that you’d find with many competitors, such as calls and SMS monitoring.
