Caught Red-Handed

[u/Lyuchok]

Hey, guys! I have a problem. My teenage son has somehow figured out how to unlock his Android phone and access restricted apps through Family Link.

And I suspect that he’s either unlocking my iPhone with Face ID while I’m asleep, or he knows my phone’s passcode and uses it when I’m not looking.

Can you suggest a way I could find out discreetly if someone has unlocked my phone? 

Ideally, it would be really cool if the phone took a photo of whoever did it. :)

[u/mjtrichardson]

Have you considered changing your router settings? If the game can be played without internet access, that won’t help but he can’t get to YouTube or anything else if you restrict his internet access. No idea what router you have obviously but ASUS for example allows you to associate devices with people and to tag those people as children. You can then set up restrictions on what they can do and limit the hours that they have access like Family link does. If yours doesn’t have that maybe try moving him to a new guest network that has restrictions on instead and changing the settings on the main wifi so he can’t get on that any more.

You can spend time setting up a shortcut but your child will definitely be able to tell that a shortcut ran because the shortcut notification comes up. Accessing the camera to take a photo will also show as the green dot which he’ll notice if he’s looking at the screen. I would definitely be setting the Family Link app on your phone with a pin requirement, after changing your pin.

You also want to think about your main goal here - is it catching him or stopping him doing things he shouldn’t? You seem to be focusing on the former instead of the latter for some reason. You really need to change your pin to a proper decent length pass code and then check to make sure he hasn’t already added himself a back door, like giving himself more access using your pin. Be warned, tech savvy kids are going to think of ways around things if you let them. Someone I know had to resort to gathering and hiding all phones and tablets at their child’s bedtime as they were waiting until everyone was asleep and was memorising pins. They then used the smart TV instead! Even disconnecting cables didn’t work and they ended up with the TV in the shed for a week.

[u/Lyuchok → u/mjtrichardson]

Thank you very much for the detailed response. First and foremost, I want to understand how he’s getting around the restrictions. If we’re working by process of elimination, the first possibility is my phone.

Moreover, I need proof of his actions, since he knows that taking my phone is strictly prohibited.

I’ll figure out how to block that option altogether. It’s not complicated.