McAfee Safe Family review

Safe Family is the product of McAfee Corp, a cybersecurity software giant. It was founded by the late entrepreneur John McAfee.  Currently, McAfee is owned by private equity investors. 

Safe Family enables parents to supervise their kids’ digital activities to prevent screen addiction, access to inappropriate information, or improper contact. You can create flexible rules for your child’s screen time and receive notifications if they break any. It’s a helpful tool to teach your children healthy device habits.

We tested Safe Family to give you a detailed, unbiased review. We evaluated the app based on specific criteria, including features, pricing, customer support, ease of use, etc.

Plans and Pricing

McAfee charges $8 monthly for a Safe Family subscription. It gives a hefty discount if you pay annually in one stretch, cutting the price to $50 per year, compared to $96 on the regular schedule. You can pay directly on the website through PayPal or credit/debit cards.

McAfee offers a 30-days free trial for prospective customers to test the Safe Family app before subscribing. After subscribing, you can request a refund within 30 days of initial purchase or 60 days of automatic renewal.

Features

Website Filtering

Safe Family lets you block specific websites from your child’s device. You can use this feature to block inappropriate content, such as gambling sites and adult sites. Children can be exposed to an unlimited pool of improper contact online, and it’s the parent's responsibility to minimize it, making this feature beneficial.  

App Blocking

Safe Family enables you to block specific apps from your children’s devices. 

Screen Time Limits

Safe Family lets you set limits on your child’s screen time. You can set screen time rules around your child’s routine, e.g., block it during school hours or bedtime. You can also create flexible rules to motivate your kids by granting them extra screen time if they complete specific tasks.

Location Tracking

You can monitor your kids’ location using Safe Family, knowing where they are at every point in time. You can also set the app to send notifications when your kids arrive or leave landmark locations such as school or home. 

Safe Family enables you to locate your kids on an interactive map, which is not just helpful but also visually appealing. 

Block In-App Purchase

Safe Family enables you to block any in-app purchases on the iOS platform only. Many apps employ shoddy tactics to entice kids to buy in-app items, and they’re vulnerable to such tactics. This feature lets you prevent such occurrences.

Web/App Usage Activity

Safe Family enables parents to monitor their wards’ web surfing and app usage. It gives you reports on how much time your kids spend on each app. Likewise, you can check their web browsing history to ensure that they safely surf the web. 

Digital Time-Out

You can set a “digital time-out” by pausing all activities on your child’s device at specific times. This feature is helpful when you want them to focus on family time without distractions. 

Rule-Break Notifications

Safe Family can give you notifications each time your kid tries to break a rule you’ve set, e.g., accessing a blocked website.

Interface and in use

You can install McAfee’s Safe Family on iOS, Android, or a Windows desktop. The apps are readily available on Apple’s App Store, Google’s Play Store, and the Microsoft Store. After downloading the app, you’d need to create and set up Family Profiles and add the devices you’d monitor. The app has a pretty cumbersome interface, representing a significant customer complaint.

Customer Support

McAfee is a large company with customer support staff spread across the globe, so its customer service is available 24/7. The company offers direct customer support through live chat, telephone, or social media. You can contact McAfee’s support representatives anytime you encounter difficulties using the Safe Family app.

McAfee also has an online Help Center and FAQ page containing extensive tutorials on using its apps. Likewise, there’s a support forum where McAfee users answer each other’s questions.

The Competition

There are many parental control apps rivaling McAfee’s Safe Family, such as OurPact, Qustodio, and Screen Time. Safe Family’s competitive advantage is its allowance for monitoring unlimited devices, whereas most rival apps limit the number of devices you can monitor. McAfee is also a premium brand with more weight and trust from consumers.

Final Verdict

Safe Family is a comprehensive parental control app. It’s a helpful tool for ensuring your children’s safety when surfing the web or teaching healthy screen time habits. Technology has its advantages for children and disadvantages, and Safe Family helps you minimize the latter.

The internet is ever-expanding, and kids are exposed to a lot of content online. Safe Family helps prevent your children from accessing inappropriate or distracting content. The app is relatively affordable and lets you monitor an unlimited number of devices. We observed some flaws, such as its complex user interface.

Buying Guide

Safe Family is a parental control app sold by McAfee Corp, a cybersecurity software giant. It lets you set screen time limits for your kids, block specific websites and apps, get usage reports, and track their locations. The app is compatible with iOS, Android, and Windows. 

McAfee’s Safe Family costs $8 monthly. But, the company discounts the price by a hefty margin if you pay annually, cutting it to $50 per year. 

Safe Family’s main advantages are its affordability and support for an unlimited number of devices. Its drawbacks include a cumbersome user interface and a laggy Windows app.