Ever since video games became popular, they have become one of the most widespread hobbies for children. Parents have often looked for ways to monitor their children during this playtime to avoid any negative impacts. While there are a number of ways to accomplish this as it stands, companies often provide services themselves to help families set boundaries around games. PlayStation has just offered another tool to this end, their new PlayStation Family app.
The first feature most families look for when deciding if a tool can help them monitor their child is a way to set maximum playtime. On their website, PlayStation discusses how the app intends to accomplish this, allowing parents to set playtimes themselves while also offering the opportunity for children to earn additional time. The site also goes over the ability to create a child account and the ways in which such accounts limit what children can access on the console. This is especially relevant for purchases given that the more convenient PlayStation makes purchasing more games, the more at risk children become of accidentally purchasing something with the money of their parents.
The new app also reveals that it has the ability to receive reports on activity around the console throughout the week, much like other summary apps present on smartphones. Although most features that the new app provides are nothing new, PlayStation has made some advancements as well, such as the ability to set additional restrictions around games to allow to parent to manually control when they are played.
Some gamers have expressed their frustration with the seeming redundancy of the many gaming monitoring tools that exist, though with the app being free to download, most look at the new app either positively or indifferently. Like with any form of entertainment, it is important that a parent is able to help their child engage with gaming in a healthy way, which apps like the PlayStation Family app help to accomplish.