Android smart family bypass

[Dwmama05]

How come in the settings under accessibility it literally tells kids how to turn off the smart family app? It gives them instructions to hold both volume buttons down and it shuts the app down. Seriously?? What's the point of creating or paying for an app when the phone quite literally tells you how to bypass it?

[808hawaii22]

Not surprised at all that this question has been ignored. 

[vzw_customer_support]

We can understand your concerns regarding this option. Your feedback is welcomed and we will send this to our team for review. Thank you for sharing this with us. It helps us to improve our products and services for our customers. JasperM_VZW

[Jmc7]

Same issue here. Only waywe have been able to limit usage is to physically take away phone. Don't waste your money on Smart Family. Deleting app is easy for kids...Unless we are missing something.

[Annmarie19063]

My daughter can disable smart family whenever she feels like. She has total control.  What am I paying $10 a month for?

[vzw_customer_support]

Annmarie19063

As a parent myself, I understand the importance of being able to manage the usage on the account. However, unless someone is listed as a parent role on the feature they do not have the ability to modify the limitations. Now there are safeguards in place such as calling 911 that will disable the Smart Family feature as we never want phones to be restricted in the event of an emergency. With that being said we would like to help. What do you mean she has total control? How is she disabling it?

EdwardL_VZW

[Dwmama05]

All they have to do is hold down both the volume buttons at the same time to bypass it. 

[lxvi]

Quoting directly from the web page https://www.verizon.com/support/how-to-use-verizon-smart-family/

Pause child's internet

You must be paired with your child's Smart Family Companion app to pause internet.

So if the child uninstalls the app (or disables it), then it stands to reason that there won't be any pairing, and I won't be able to actually "pause" anything.

Also quoting from the above page:

Usage limits

7. Turn your child's phone off and on again to put the limit into immediate effect.

So I have to have physical control of the phone in order to enforce the limit, but if I had the phone I wouldn't need the service now, would I?

By way of contrast, I can log into my router and immediately add or remove my child's MAC address from the list of allowed devices, and thereby prevent usage of the WiFi without needing access to my child's device in any way whatsoever.

So to echo what others have said, what is the value of a "service" that doesn't actually give you any effective control?

[Dwmama05]

Spoiler

They just recently fixed the bypass so now my son can't hold down the volume buttons anymore to bypass it. 

[Steve1333]

I am running into an issue right now where my child can disable their VPN any time they like.  There's a youtube video if you just search "disable verizon smart family" where a kid walks you right through it and it's easy.  

[vzw_customer_support]

It's concerning to hear that your son is able to disable his Smart Family. Being able to control when they can use their devices is important and I want to do everything I can to help. What steps does he take to disable it so we can find a proper solution? 

JesusG_VZW

[Dwmama05]

Just as Steve mentioned, there's videos out there if you just Google "disable verizon smart family" and it'll walk kids through disconnecting the VPN.

[vzw_customer_support]

Thank you for lifting up your concern. We understand how important it is that you can utilize this feature and that it works as intended. We will submit this to our network team to get looked into right away. Thank you for your continued service with Verizon!

[SpotChecker1]

Hello,

Is there any update to this? They can disable the vpn anytime they want and then Smart Family no longer works. 

Thanks. 

[Coco468]

What is the outcome of this? Whats the point of paying $10 a month for parental controls when they can turn off the VPN and disable the app?

[vzw_customer_support]

As a fellow parent I know the importance of keeping track of our kids' usage. We would like to assist with any pending concern you may have about our Smart Family feature. We sent you a Private Note to continue this conversation, please reply to it at your earliest convenience to get started.

VictorC_VZW

[Ab102797]

The issue is still there. My daughter recently found out she can disable the VPN. What's the point of paying $10 a month if it's useless? 

[vzw_customer_support]

To clarify, is she using a VPN to bypass the internet restrictions on Smart Family? 

CassieG_VZW 

[Dwmama05]

The phone literally allows them to go into accessibility and then apps installed to just turn it off. It does not block it where they can't do that. 

[Poonjobi1]

Does it? My son seemes to be able to bypass it all the time. I have been trying to figure out how. It's veryfrushtrating.

[KH-OrnEsh]

Due to the age of this thread, it will be locked in order to keep discussions current. If you have the same or a similar question/issue we invite you to start a new thread on the topic.