Parental Control App - OurPact Reviews

by AmandaV83

I have never felt the need to post a review but I am posting a review for ParentalControlApp! ParentalControlApp has been the biggest headache! And customer support is not helpful at all. There is no phone number and can only contact through email which they reply to everything with a very scripted response that does not address your problem at all. I signed up for premium access and after 2 days of trying to connect my sons phone to my account, I was not successful so I deleted ParentalControlApp from his phone and canceled my subscription. Well, I forgot to delete ParentalControlApp from my phone which is the parent account and had set a bedtime for 10pm. Well, I’m sitting here scrolling through Facebook and my app shuts down and suddenly I have no apps on my phone and I can’t open anything but my browser and my settings. Even though I had the parent account, it still shut my phone down. ParentalControlApp is not functional at all and is expensive! They advertise a lot of great things but you can only access the bedtime schedule on the free version, otherwise to access the other features on the description, you have to pay. Also, once the restricted time was lifted, my apps were all kinds of scrambled!! I am not happy with ParentalControlApp at all!

by Lllez

My child figured out how to override ParentalControlApp . I sent an email to support, asking for any suggestions and there weren’t any. I eventually discontinued the premium subscription in December, however my child’s phone settings remain blocked by ourpact and I can’t open “parent access” in my child’s phone settings because my email is no longer recognized as a parent account. I’ve emailed ourpact many (at least 5) explaining this issue, requesting assistance. I get an automated response saying someone will respond shortly, but no one ever responds, let alone help resolve the issue involving their product. A bit frustrating. However, I did speak with iTunes recently and consequently received reimbursement for the 3 months we had service. I highly recommend asking for reimbursement if you are unhappy with ParentalControlApp or their customer service.

Response to you: The whole point of my review was that ourpact support has NOT responded or offered any solutions, after numerous emails from me, until now. I hope your suggestion works. But you are VERY delinquent in responding and this has cost me a lot of time. At least I got my subscription $ reimbursed and hopefully the hostage situation of ourpact app over my kid’s phone will be over soon.

by John 747478484

Started out with the free account but ran out of free uses (they limit how many times you can shut off your child’s applications). So, I upgraded to Ourpact Plus so I could manually shut off my sons account.

Everything worked great until I started to notice issues. First, when you click the button to disable applications you trust that the action was completed. I would wake up the next morning and log back in just to find that it was never shut off and my son could have been up all night. Second, there were two instances when I had to reinstall the application on my sons phone (repair) because it would freeze and leave me unable to control my sons application. Finally, I lost all faith in ourpact when our son was grounded for a week (kept his phone but had no apps). Looked over his shoulder and saw him on Snapchat—how? Long story short, if you google how to get around ourpact there is a step by step guide for kids to disable certain features of ourpact (making your parents think it works but it really doesn’t).

Support is via email only. They only send generic messages that are very scripted. Though scripted the response does come quickly. Ourpact will definitely work for younger kids but not older kids that know their way around devices. To be honest, all they need to do is go into settings and you can disable the entire ourpact system with one click. I think the application is great if it works but there are a ton of back doors to fix.

by BamatamRN

I used the basic version for a short time then upgraded to premium. I STILL have not even been able to try the features to see IF they work, because the Premium version will not install on my phone nor my daughters. It requires you to download the software on your computer via iTunes. Once I did this, neither my phone or my daughters phone will connect to iTunes on my computer at all. After MANY generic email responses from OurPact (because there is no phone interaction at all- email is the only customer service choice you have), they tried to claim it was a problem on Apple’s end; this is ridiculous to even suggest, since I had just completed an update on the phones via the same iTunes an hour before the problem. The ONLY difference is this installation. So I called Apple Support and spent close to two
HOURS troubleshooting with an upper level tech, who ultimately determined that OurPact had caused the issue and there was nothing they could do on their end. Even after uninstalling the software and apps completely from my computer and phones, the problem is still there.
I would highly encourage you to look elsewhere. If this had worked as it was supposed to, it seems to be a great app system. But not only did it NOT work, it has caused damage to my iTunes connection that even Apple can’t fix. Download at your own risk.

by E7plus3

I initially gave ParentalControlApp a 5-star review, because it theoretically does everything I wanted. What they don't make at all clear anywhere on their website or in app descriptions or in their terms of service is that YOU HAVE TO HAVE A CONSTANT INTERNET CONNECTION for any of it to work. I can't create a schedule at home, set it for my kids' iPads, and then let them go to school and have the schedule still work. Which seems like how you would expect this to work, just by common sense. But no, every single change in block/grant status requires an ongoing connection to the internet.

My kids have an hour ride to school each way. I want to give them access to their games during that time, but only during that time. I don't understand why this is so hard to do, but so far I've yet to figure out a way to make it possible. If ParentalControlApp just let the previously created schedule run as planned on the iPad without a wifi connection, it would be perfect and I'd give it 5 stars and pay even more than $5 a month for it.

I do have to add one more thing: all of the people giving this bad reviews saying it is controlling or destroys trust with your kids (maybe most kids writing those reviews?) have this wrong. My children and I installed ParentalControlApp together and are in agreement with our family rules. They understand why they need them and accept that. This isn't about control, it's about helping kids have good habits.

by #Queen Yasss

i’ve had ParentalControlApp used on me by my mother. i’m now out of the house and i just want to say ParentalControlApp is extremely controlling. if u are a parent wanting ParentalControlApp why don’t u try just talking to ur kid. u do realize that their entire LIFE if on their phone right ?? them being on the phone has NO affect on U. leave them alone. i promise u if u get ParentalControlApp or a similar app ur kids WILL resent u and in the long run u will regret getting it. trust me when i say that ur kids will start to be more sneaky and they will literally hate u. they may not act like it but deep down they know the second they are able to leave the house they will and they won’t want to visit u. this is because to them u are taking their freedom and basically their life. are u getting this because they are failing class ?? if so why do u care , if doesn’t affect ur future it affects theirs. are they staying up too late ?? then wake them up TIRED. why do parents always want full control over a kids life. parents u shouldn’t be trying to control ur kids u should be allowing them to live their life. grow up and realize we live in a life that uses technology constantly and u need to get used to it. controlling a kids life is not the answer and u will regret it when they never want to see u again. just y’all to them in a calm matter and have a good conversation. i promise u it will work 10x better !

by Michellesmac

I heard about ParentalControlApp from a friend and was happy to hear that the parent-child fighting was better in their home because of ParentalControlApp .
I decided to give ParentalControlApp a try. After downloading ParentalControlApp to my phone and paying for the premium version, I went to download to my child’s phone, everything seemed good. However, when I tried to use ParentalControlApp all the premium features were not there.
I reached out to OurPact via their email address and they told me to re-download ParentalControlApp again. So after doing that it still wasn’t working so I reached out to OurPact again and they told me to re-download ParentalControlApp again. SO I did! Same thing!! By this point I am very frustrated and had other things to do in my day so I left it at that and am still not able to use ParentalControlApp but am being charged for premium each month.
I just wish there was a better way to talk to someone from ParentalControlApp that could walk me through the downloading process. I’m sure it is me that is the problem but it would be nice for someone to help me with this!!! Just getting the same email response from OurPact is NOT helpful! I tried it a few weeks later and got the same response from OurPact! NOT HELPFUL!
Someone PLEASE help me or I’m going to try a different app all together!

by Cassiopeia829

When I first got ParentalControlApp for my kids’ phones, it was fairly easy for me to install. I started paying for the premium account because it assured me more control over their apps. A while back, in an attempt to get more people to use their native apps, Apple made it more difficult to use OurPact, and I feel like OurPact hasn’t really recovered from that. While I still recommend ParentalControlApp to friends, I now do so with caveats since I actually have come to dislike using it. I bought a new phone for one of my kids and I dreaded getting it on there. Also, when I removed that child’s old device from the OurPact account, I wasn’t able to reset that phone because OurPact is still working on it somehow.

Also, the fact that my kids’ apps still get scrambled every time the apps close and reopen is confusing. I feel annoyed if I have to search for an app; if I had to do it every single time I used my phone, I’d probably get rid of it. I want to help my kid learn to manage their time on their phones, not frustrate them every time they want to use their device.

I’m giving it 2 stars because, although it technically does what it says it does, it’s a hassle to deal with. I’ll be doing some research… there has to be another app by now that does mostly what this does without all the hassle.

by B.Corujo

A friend of mine suggested ParentalControlApp and after a quick search I found the reviews over were good so I thought I’d try it out. The free version scrambled my kids phone and caused a huge argument. The premium version said it would eliminate that and gave all the benefits I was looking for so I decided to upgrade. The price seems steep at 6.99 a month but I figured this would still be money well spent. I tried for two days to install the premium version and ran across multiple issues. I could not find basic answers in the FAQ section which is odd because so many of these reviews state having issues and questions installing the Premium version you would think there would be some “canned” troubleshooting tips. I reached out to support via email (I couldn’t find a phone number) and got a generic response saying please provide ya more information. I provided additional information of my problem but I haven’t heard back from them yet so I deleted ParentalControlApp . It’s unfortunate. Reading through the reviews here it looks like overwhelmingly people struggle to install the premium app but once it’s done the results seem good. For an app that I’m paying for, especially that much, the install should be easier OR support/directions or trouble shooting should be easier to access especially since the problems seem to be common and known. Too bad

by Musical_flamingo

I will say ParentalControlApp does it’s job to keep kids from looking at certain things or using certain apps after a certain time. Something that I don’t like is how it doesn’t really work with new features in the iOS update. I’ve seen a lot of complaints about this so I decided to check it out myself. Lots of people want to have an aesthetic look on their phone. In order to do so, they customize it with widgets and they put new icons on their apps. However, it doesn’t allow you to put on app icons. The only way you were able to have these icons on your phone with ourpact is when your phone is unblocked.
Some parents put controls on that allow their kids to have more time rather than having less. But then it’s also vice versa.
ParentalControlApp does it’s job but I personally feel like you should at least add a new update to ourpact and ourpact Junior that allows kids to do the features of iOS 14.
If you think about it kids, still want their phone to feel and look normal. A good majority of them are already embarrassed to say that their mom or dad puts restrictions on their phone. If you could at least add an update that works with any new update from this point on I would be very grateful for that. If not, I really don’t think people are getting their moneys worth.

by RebaAM

I had high hopes for ParentalControlApp but after so many issues and seeing ParentalControlApp fail to deliver on its most basic of premises, I have decided to cancel my premium membership and delete ParentalControlApp altogether. I had so many issues trying to download the premium version onto my sons iPhone, it would never let me install it on his phone. It never gave me a reason why it failed or gave me any clue as to what was the issue, it just gave me an error message and would never work, no matter what I tried.
On my other sons phone, it somehow allowed him to download and create an Instagram account, although I had every block specific to Instagram in place on my controls. I should also add that my son didn’t look up how to get around ourpact controls, he didn’t really care either way about Instagram and was just fine deleting it after I found it, the phone just didn’t give him any sort of block when he went to download it. I have basically been paying for nothing - since the most basic control (bedtime limits) is the only thing that worked and I could do that on my own from our family Apple account. I would love to have everything ParentalControlApp promises, it would be a game changer for our family. I hope they figure out all the kinks.

by Tysa1755apple

I have found ParentalControlApp to be very difficult. We’ve had it for 8 mo. and We just cancelled premium. Before going into other issues the main reason we cancelled is bc my 10 yo has figured out how to unpair her device making ParentalControlApp useless. She set out on a mission (unannounced to me) and pretty sure it only took her a day to successfully unpair. OurPact did send a notification so I knew immediately, but I can’t constantly re-pair devices, especially as long as that process takes. If your kid doesn’t figure out how to unpair, Other problems are... Mainly the lack of ability to speak with someone at help desk. I initially had a good bit of trouble pairing my kids devices and help desk is only though email so the canned responses took weeks to get a resolution for issues they admitted they had been having. After finally getting devices paired they somehow disconnected again after a month or so. After the devices disconnected I had basic access, but I had to go through the process to set up all over again through the same pairing issues that they admitted again were kinks on their end. All could likely be fixed with a more efficient help desk process.

by Aliwise

My son (freshman) is able to remove management thru his iOS device and although programmers are working on a fix to prevent such an easy removal, it is taking a long time. Unpairing has also occurred when I had the phone with no explanation or reason for it...not sure what would explain this. I’m going to try our carrier’s version and hope for the best. I might try again when my daughter gets a phone, but not sure I recommend for older kids who understand limits are important but like the ability to overide technology. Also - I paid for the plus subscription for $1.99 the last few months. A few days after this months payment, I decided to upgrade to the premium version for $6.99 hoping for better results. The upgrade was made thru ParentalControlApp , which said I would get a free trial period (win, win - right?!)...no, a couple of days later I was charged $6.99. So I paid for plus AND premium in a weeks time. I wouldn’t mind so much, if the pairing issues were fixed....and support response time was more reasonable (still waiting on response from the last request for help).

by AlasItsAlice

I want my child to have a phone on him during the school day - but I don't want him to be preoccupied during that with texts and games and apps that are on it. Regular apple parental controls are picky and ParentalControlApp suits our needs very well. I have the premium service. I will say that installing it was a time sink but very doable. The features are mildly limited but for us they work and suit us just fine for our needs. Downside - 1) the apps get rearranged on his device 2) not having constant internet connectivity can cause hiccups. 3)game center was compromised 4) this is not the "end all be all app" and it has qwirks. We do have some time restrictions on both his phone and ipad - which he can often forget to pause or play - but in the end - we can make it through this inconvenience together. I can manange from my phone or computer and we can adjust at any time. So clearly by reading all of the reviews - ParentalControlApp isn't for everyone. But if your needs are similar to ours - you will appreciate ParentalControlApp.

by Brenfitz

So, we have had OurPact premium for several months and overall I have been very happy with it. I had no problem installing it on my son's iPhone 5s but have not yet been able to install it correctly on the other son's iPod. I haven't spent a lot of time trying so I won't count off for that. I have one major issue that has arisen that really means I will probably cancel. Gamecenter. When apple deleted the gamecenter app that means it is no longer able to be controlled by OurPact and has become restricted completely. So, my son lost all his game progress on multiple games when I blocked them. While my husband says "who cares" I feel like that's a little harsh that I don't mind in his allotted screen time if he plays them and I know I would be really aggravated if I lost things like that. I feel like this may end up being a deal-breaker because if I can't limit games there is little point in having ParentalControlApp . If it wasn't for this issue I would absolutely love ParentalControlApp because I have such great control over his phone even when he's not with me.

by 666Toro666

The concepts are great, but it’s not easy getting started and implementing ParentalControlApp . Once implemented, the premium app is well worth it. It is very expensive, yet the addictive properties of cell phones demand accompanying education in self-control, and ParentalControlApp is the best out there for now. The website has videos pulling your heartstrings about your relationship with your kids. Unfortunately the website is not so friendly when it comes to finding the instructions for using ParentalControlApp . One needs to bumble around until one runs into them at the bottom of the home webpage, because they’re not even labeled. App support responds quickly, but they send you generic instructions about the topic you’re inquiring about. With a little persistence they may write back with an actual answer, but such effort shouldn’t be necessary for something that will cost upward of $500 to cover one child’s teen years with the premium app monthly charges. Alas, until something else comes along, this seems to be the best app for parental control, so I’m recommending it.

by MooseJaw66

I have two kids and two iPhones to set up, and the process was a good bit more involved than I expected. For the “premium” level with all the controls (which frankly is the service level any responsible parent will want), you have to back each kid’s phone up to iTunes on your (parent) laptop, then erase and reinstall each one with a new OurPact-controlled OS. As luck would have it, both phones decided during the process that they also had to download and install a new OS update, so the process of setting up two kid phones, two parent laptops and two parent iPhones took almost 2 hours. But the step-by-step directions in the installation utility and on the website were extremely thorough and I got through it without any problems - just took a while. (I do have to wonder though about how a less tech-savvy parent might fare..?) With the installation now behind us, we really like the design and function of ParentalControlApp . It gives us a new level of peace of mind by allowing us to limit our kids’ screen time, and to have pinpoint control over their Instagram/Snapchat/texting/Facebook/social media/Safari use.

by LindaStarGirl

I have been waiting for a parental control app like this for Lord knows how long. I have probably downloaded in excess of 20 different parental control apps. One of the biggest issues I have had with the apps I previously purchased was the inability to block/control individual apps on the iphone. Other issues experienced were scrambling and unscrambling of ParentalControlApp layout after blocking and unblocking. ParentalControlApp has everything I want: time controls, the ability to control individual apps, and a way to prevent the scrambling of ParentalControlApp layout. The family locator is a bonus! I tend to run late when going to pick up my children from the school bus and having the locator that works in REAL TIME allows me to have an idea of where they are. I LOVE ParentalControlApp! I would pay $20 a month for ParentalControlApp.

The only downside I experienced was difficulty setting it up. It took me forever. My child has a 64 GB phone and had over 50 GB free, but I kept getting an error message that there was not enough free space to complete the set up. I ended up having to do a factory reset which was extremely time consuming. However, it was worth it.

Thank you so much!

by SHubbard385

I absolutely love ParentalControlApp! I have been using it since 2016. Some apps never add new features but the developers keep coming up with more things that make my life easier and give me peace of mind. I love the new geofencing feature. My daughter tends to become a bit obsessed with her electronics and it’s helpful to eliminate the distracting apps during times that she needs to do homework or access to apps that can help her in daily activities. Maybe you can develop an adult version that I can use so I won’t get distracted by my phone too. :) I suppose I could add my own phone to the managed devices.

My daughter has some complaints though. You may not be able to do anything about this. She was was wondering if you could make an exception for apps that use time for the time allowance. She loves to listen to music but it uses her allowance. She also gets very upset when she forgets to pause her time for her allowance and she runs out of time. I’m just passing these on. She has other options for music when she’s at home. The rest just involves being willing to communicate her needs and wants in an appropriate way to me to get more time. She’s still figuring this one out.

Thanks for developing a great app! I look forward to seeing all of the features you will come up with in the future.

by Mrfilmmkr

I went ahead and gave it 5 stars anyway. I am an iOS developer myself, and I know the incredible amount of thought and work that goes into creating something like this. I have read some of the other reviews and I have to say that most of the negative reviews are just silly. Of course you need an internet connection. How else is the device going to receive commands. Of course the installation is involved.

Honestly though, the installation took me less than 5 minutes - and wasn’t difficult at all. I can understand that some people may get confused - but honestly - you must realize what the developers at Our Pact have created is no easy feat. We have tried just about every parental control app available all to our dissatisfaction. Our Pact accomplishes 95% of what we were looking for.

Having said that, the reason this review is entitled “Almost Perfect” is because there is one thing ParentalControlApp is missing. That is the monitoring of which web sites the child goes to as well as the monitoring of text messages and whatnot. However, the reason I gave ParentalControlApp 5 stars is due to the fact that ParentalControlApp’s purpose isn’t to monitor, but rather to teach children good device habits and accountability as well as personal responsibility. Well done! Thank you for all of your effort and hard work!

by Wartyb

I downloaded ParentalControlApp and signed up for premium. Unfortunately, their premium services (App control and location services) are currently not available. They would not tell me how long they have been unavailable or when they would be available. There is a problem with the companion app that you have to download to your child’s device. So they are selling a service that is unavailable. What is worse is that their “fix” is to download software from your computer onto the device. When this happens, the apps on your child’s phone gets scrambled and game progress gets deleted. My son had been playing Terraria for a long time and all his progress was wiped. He was crying all day. OurPact took no responsibility and blamed everything on somebody else never addressing that they were the ones that were selling a product that did not exist and that they were the ones who created a “fix” that would wreak havoc on my kids Ipad. They could of warned me beforehand. Apple should not not be selling this product. If you get your kids will hate you, not because for some reason you feel you need to control what they love, but because you will destroy what they have painstakingly created.

by Unhappyemojiplayer

We tried for almost a year to get our teen to regulate her own phone usage to no avail. After many fights and having to remove the actual phone at bedtime we heard of ParentalControlApp. I am in no way thinking the fights are over but at least now we don’t have to watch the clock and ask her to turn it off and then argue with her. It will simply stop working. We are only using the basic version for now, but will definitely consider the paid version if needed so we can turn the phone off during school. Our teen’s school does not seem to fight phone use in class and instead sets aside class time for “tech time” so sadly any regulation will need to be done by us.

My only complaint so far is that ParentalControlApp you put on your kids phone will rearrange their home screen and all their apps every time their phone is blocked and unblocked. Not a crisis but if this didn’t happen that would be great. One less thing for the kids to complain about 😏

Oh and if you are a parent go read the reviews for the kid version of ParentalControlApp Our Pact Jr😆 The reviewers are almost all the kids and reading them made me even more confident that this was the way to go! I laughed until I cried at the kids arguments against ParentalControlApp and how it ruined their lives. Their advice to other kids was to not “allow” your parents to install this on your phone😆 Such an entitled bunch of kids these days!

by GoodLife71

Our family loves ParentalControlApp. With four kids in range from 16-6 years old, it’s been difficult to manage all their different device needs for school and entertainment. OurPact saves us from all the power struggles and arguments with our kids. Now everyone in our house has a fair opportunity to be part of making smart choices when it comes to device use, rather than us as parents having to be the managers all the time. We use the schedule feature, and each child has a different schedule based on their developmental level and school needs. I especially love that if ParentalControlApp is glitchy (hey, it’s a fast moving tech world!) I can go online and manipulate the kids’ schedules just the same. Other loves:
- locked app home screen on my phone so the Little’s can’t get into it
- premium feature that allows us to leave certain apps open all the time. This is most necessary for the older kids and the apps they need open all day for school.
- being able to block specific apps entirely- so huge when all our devices are Apple and the kids can airdrop any Family shared apps to their devices without notice to the parent.
- online support has been awesome, friendly, helpful!

Long story short- what used to be a major point of contention in our house has become a non-issue, thanks to OurPact and the flexibility it offers in managing all our kids’ devices.