Hacker News Reader

Comment by Timothycquinn | Hacker News Reader

I have to admit I thought this app design through before and think it's a great idea. I have wished to see an app like this and have tried other nanny style apps but found that they eventually break and can be bypassed.

My question to the developers is are you using undocumented APIs for core functionality and what is being done to ensure that future android updates don't kill core functions that make the system work.

View on HN

To the best of my knowledge, the bulk of the restrictions are implemented by pointing devices to a custom DNS server (a VPN can accomplish much the same but I don't know if this product implements that). The majority of the app is the user interface for the reporting/status capabilities. You can read a bit more about the implementation on the HN discussion where I discovered this tool: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14913547

> utefan001: After 30 min, DNS no longer works for entertainment sites. [...] It takes her 5 to 7 mins to earn points. My server detects points and re enables DNS replies for YouTube

The somewhat similar Circle product is sold as a device that resides on the local network and accomplishes its configuration using ARP poisoning.

Hi Timothy, We have designed DnsLearning so that all you need to do is point the child's device to use one of our DNS servers and then link an education site. As long as a device supports changing DNS, the device will always work. The play/app stores are not our main focus.

To avoid bypassing we have a iOS app on the way their APIs allow for parental controls.

For Android you have to use a device that has support for restricted profiles.

We don't do anything undocumented to prevent bypassing and we have actually taken some bypass protection features out while we fine tune our UI and onboarding experience.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com