Disclaimer – I was given a Circle Home to try out and review. All opinions are my own.
Things are really different from when I was growing up. There were no cell phones or laptops until I was a lot older. There was no internet growing up and I didn’t get email until I was in University. Whoa, I am totally aging myself here.
We live in a connected world where the kids have access to so much on their ipads or computers or their phones. It’s great to have so much information at their fingertips but also very scary.I had heard a lot about Circle With Disney and I was excited to give it a try in our little world. With a little box, which is a one time fee, and an app on your phone, you can manage your families content and the amount of time they spend online on any device.
Setting Up
Set up of the Circle was very straightforward. You have to keep the unit close to the router and plug it in. The rest of the set up is on the app which walks you through, step by step. Once Circle is paired with your network, you are able to see every single device that is connected. This includes televisions, computers, home security systems…everything. I think figuring out what each device was took the most amount of time. We were able to label what each one was and eventually assign each device to a profile.
Profiles
The great thing about Circle is that you can set up a profile for everyone in the house. You can assign a particular device to a particular person and choose a filter level. Filters include Pre-K, Kid, Teen, Adult or None. For each filter, you can assign time limits and even bedtimes. This part is amazing. When the time limit is reached or it’s past bedtime, everything stops working. No nagging involved.
Platforms
Circle has a lot of online platforms that you can filter for each category. These include Amazon, Facebook, Instagram, Netflix and even games like FortNite. You can choose whether a particular person has access to these platforms and if they do, for how long.
Thoughts
I have to admit, I was amazed at the power of this little box. It was perfect over the summer and putting time limits on internet usage and Netflix ensured the kids were not on the screen all day long.Circle gives you a summary of usage for the day so you can see what programs your kids were on and for how long. With the controls that we were able to put on the various devices, it gave me a sense of security that my kids weren’t accessing things they shouldn’t. Circle worked well and was easy to use. I love that there is only a one-time fee associated with it, making it affordable for everyone. If you have young children, I would definitely recommend this for your home.
Where To Buy
Circle can be found at many retailers. You can also purchase it online from Amazon here (affiliate link).
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