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Comment by TheSilva | Hacker News Reader

Slightly off-topic, but as this will require kids to have access to an unlocked phone...

I remember Windows Phone had the feature of "unlocked apps", which you could run without having to unlock the phone: think calculator, browser, games. It was called Kids Corner[1].

Have any other OS (iOS/Androind) copied anything similar to that? This app will (or at least in my case) live in a place like that, where they do not have access to the whole platform.

[1] https://www.windowscentral.com/kids-corner-windows-phone-8

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For Android w/Playstore you can set up a child's account through Google and then use Google Family Link app to control app downloads, block specific apps, and set content restrictions for apps, movies, and games.

You can set down times for the whole phone and lock it remotely which is of huge benefit for bedtimes!

That's parental control, that's not the same. I want to hand my phone to my kids and let them access only one or two apps that I have listed as allowed.

I don't want (yet, but it will come) for them to have their own device that I control as you explained.

That's app pinning.

https://support.google.com/android/answer/9455138?hl=en

It only let's you pin single app though, as far as I understand.

Depends on your device then. Some Android Devices allow multiple-user accounts, one of which can be a specially locked-down child account. I think Samsung Galaxy have a proprietary flavour as well.

https://support.google.com/kidsspace/answer/10065701?hl=en

Android should have a Kiosk mode that's available sometimes that locks it to one app full screen.

Android may have alternate launchers you can install (they are just apps) which you can customize how you need. One of the best features of Android imho.

I tried helping a friend with their kids Amazon tablet and left the experience wanting to wipe it clean and just define what 4 buttons parents can put on the screen.

Other tech:

Apple has a guided access feature which locks it to one app (except it's handed to them).

We're holding off on personal screens for now until the information diet can be tamed and managed. Looking for a smartwatch with a phone with physical buttons and no screen. Seem to be some options.

my android (/e/OS) allows to create multiple accounts that you can switch. i create a second account that only has the apps my kids are allowed to use. they can't switch users as that would require them to log in.

i don't think multiple account is an /e/OS feature, but must be coming from lineage/ASOP so other ROMs should have it too (unless it was intentionally removed)

I still have some nostalgia for Windows Phone. I genuinely liked the platform - even bought an Omnia 7 back in the day, and later a Lumia 1020 (that camera was so good).

I still think the tile based UI was underrated. Live Tiles felt like a smart idea that never quite got the support it needed. It's one of those "what could have been" stories in tech.

Yeah, that's a valid concern. We use an older spare iPhone for this, which worked out well. iOS doesn't have a "Kids Corner" equivalent unfortunately - you'd need to use Screen Time restrictions to lock down the device (block apps/calls/etc) but still need to unlock the phone

There was an article not long ago about using Apple Configurator to dumb down an iphone : https://stopa.io/post/297

Maybe this could be handy.

You can do that using 'Settings -> Accessibility -> Guided Access' in iOS.

Maybe can do basically the same thing with a dumb SMS/MMS-based interface actually, text-adventure style. Then could do it with a dumb phone.

iOS lets you do something very similar with Guided Access: https://support.apple.com/en-us/111795

iOS lets you lock apps behind faceID.

All my communication and banking apps are protected.

Yes, and I do the same. However, Kids Corner was a curated list of apps that you chose to share freely without password/FaceID.

I don't want to lock my browser, photos, maps, etc. behind FaceID. I want to hand my phone knowing they will only use one or two apps and the fun stops when they hand me over the device.

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