BrickifyI was chatting to another mum this morning about Brickify, and she asked the question I should have answered on my home page months ago: what does it actually do? Would it block an app on one profile? Would it tell her if someone sent her daughter a nasty message?
Yes to the first. No to the second. And that got me thinking about how confusing this all is.
Three different jobs
Nearly every tool for children's phones does one of three jobs:
- What the phone can do. Which apps open, and when.
- What's being said. Messages: reading them, or alerting you to worrying ones.
- Where they are. Location.
Most arguments about "parental controls" are really two parents talking about different jobs. Work out which one you're actually worried about first. The tool follows from that.
The tools, rung by rung
| Tool | What the phone can do | Messages | Location | Typical cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kids' smartwatch | Calls to approved numbers | Usually not | Yes | Device plus monthly plan |
| Brick phone | Calls and texts | No | No | Phone plus SIM |
| Brickify | Exactly the apps you choose, on a schedule | No | No | £4.99 once |
| Built-in Screen Time / Family Link | App limits and content filters | Image blurring only | Yes | Free |
| Monitoring apps | Some limits | Alerts or full reading | Often | Subscription |
| Location apps | — | — | Yes | Free, with paid tiers |
Want to see where these sit on the ladder? The phone ladder, close up shows every step.
So which do you need?
"They're walking to school on their own for the first time."
You need job 1 (calls and texts) and maybe job 3 (location). A brick phone, or a smartphone in Brick mode, plus Find My or Family Link if you want it.
"Their friends have all moved to WhatsApp."
That's job 1 with a twist: one messaging app, at times you choose. Turn on the free image-blurring settings too. If you're worried about unkind words, an alert app is an option, but read the small print. On iPhone the UK option needs a computer kept on at home.
"They're 15 and out on Saturday night."
This is where I think the tools matter less and the conversation matters more.
Where I've landed on tracking
Brickify doesn't track location, and that's deliberate. A friend found out through a location app that her son wasn't where he'd said. The app was right. But it didn't fix why he felt he couldn't tell her.
For a 10-year-old getting the bus, location sharing is a sensible safety net. For a 16-year-old, I'd rather they learned to tell me where they are than knew I'd check. That's my view, not a rule. Plenty of good parents disagree, and the tools to do it are free and built into your phone.
Why Brickify does job 1 and nothing else
I built Brickify to do one job well: choose the apps, set the schedule, and let it run. It doesn't read messages, and on iPhone it couldn't even if I wanted it to. Rather than doing three jobs badly, it does one properly and points you to the best tool for the others.
Ready to Brickify it?
On your schedule. One-time purchase, no tracking.
