# Free Time Questions



## KndlShell (May 13, 2011)

My sister asked me to do some research for her on Free Time (to decide if the Kindle Fire is the right tablet for my parents to get my nephews).  I'm trying to make sure the kids will be to access the things they'll want to access (and that my sister deems it is okay for them to access) when the kindle is in Free Time mode.  One of the things I read is that there is no web browsing access under Free Time (i.e. no way to allow access to Safari).  Are there any other things (apps, books, video, etc) that a parent can't set free-time to allow?  And in particular, can Netflix be accessed when a Kindle is in Free Time mode?  Thanks!


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

With luck, someone with kids who has used it will chime in.  My understanding of the program is that YOU set it up.  So if you want to let them watch videos or play games you can.  And you can set it differently for different kids that share the device.  You can set time limits for various activities.  Via the regular parental controls you can lock out use of the internet, or in-app purchasing, etc.


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## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

I see the icon for it on my Fire HD, but I have not pressed it yet. Does it cost extra? If not I can experiment with it and report back.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Regular FreeTime is free. There is also a FreeTime Premium (or something) that's $2.99 a month.

Here's what the product page says:



> Kindle FreeTime is free on every new Kindle Fire, and allows parents to create a profile for each of their children and choose what books, apps, games, and videos they want to give their kids access to. They can also set daily limits for tablet use, or restrict certain categories-like games and video-while leaving unlimited time for reading. When kids use Kindle FreeTime, it's like they have their very own personalized tablet.


Betsy


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## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

FreeTime Unlimited I guess is what it is called..



> Kindle FreeTime Unlimited is the first-ever all-in-one subscription that brings together all the types of content that kids and parents love - books, games, educational apps, movies and TV shows. With unlimited access to thousands of hand-picked titles for kids ages 3-8, parents don't have to spend time (and money) guessing what their kids will enjoy, and kids can explore a world of age-appropriate content on their own - no ads, no in-app purchases.


Src: http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?docId=1000863021

So sounds like in addtion to parental controls you also get some apps, and movies and stuff.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Thanks, Vydor.

I poked around a bit and this is what I found.

FreeTime is free.  You can limit the total hours or the hours by activity that your child or spouse  use your device.

In addition, you can subscribe to the Free Time Unlimited--it's $2.99 for a single child or $6.99 for a family.  As Vydor reported, it's unlimited content from family friendly providers.

This^ is aimed at ages 8 and under.

Web access is not allowed.

There is, separately, Parental Controls, aimed at ages 9 and up, which allow you to turn on or off access to (individually or as a group):

Web Browser
Email, Contacts, Calendars
Social Sharing
Camera
Password Protect Purchases
Video Playback
Block content by type (Newstand, Books, Audiobooks, Music, Video, Docs, Apps, Games and Photos
Turning on WiFi
Turning on Location-Based Services

If you turn on Parental Controls, most of the above are blocked by default.  You'll have to individual select content types.

If you turn on Parental Controls, you'll need your password to turn it back off, so make sure you know the password!

Hope this helps!

Betsy


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## ayuryogini (Jan 3, 2010)

KndlShell said:


> My sister asked me to do some research for her on Free Time (to decide if the Kindle Fire is the right tablet for my parents to get my nephews). I'm trying to make sure the kids will be to access the things they'll want to access (and that my sister deems it is okay for them to access) when the kindle is in Free Time mode. One of the things I read is that there is no web browsing access under Free Time (i.e. no way to allow access to Safari). Are there any other things (apps, books, video, etc) that a parent can't set free-time to allow? And in particular, can Netflix be accessed when a Kindle is in Free Time mode? Thanks!


I think the Kindle Fire is GREAT for young kids. I passed mine on to my 2 year old granddaughter and she had it figured out in no time, even w/o FreeTime. She understands it better than her parents. FreeTime is for kids up to 9 years old. You cannot access the internet with it. But you don't necessarily need FreeTime. Without it you can still use Parental controls to limit purchases, etc.


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## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

The more I hear about free time, the more I think I might get my son a fire instead of a paperwhite....


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

VydorScope said:


> The more I hear about free time, the more I think I might get my son a fire instead of a paperwhite....


The paperwhite has free time as well . . . or will soon -- I forget which.

The question is: do you want to give him something for him to read on or do you want to give hims something to play games on, and, oh yeah, he can read too. For books with pictures -- as for little kids -- the Fire is better as it has color. But it also has a LOT of distractions. Unless you don't load any of those and lock them out of purchasing.


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## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

Ann in Arlington said:


> The paperwhite has free time as well . . . or will soon -- I forget which.
> 
> The question is: do you want to give him something for him to read on or do you want to give hims something to play games on, and, oh yeah, he can read too. For books with pictures -- as for little kids -- the Fire is better as it has color. But it also has a LOT of distractions. Unless you don't load any of those and lock them out of purchasing.


Well he is 10. What I would like is one that I can set to "read only" when he is in bed at night, but during the day if he wants to play angry birds or something I do not care - so long as he can not spend my money with it.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

VydorScope said:


> Well he is 10. What I would like is one that I can set to "read only" when he is in bed at night, but during the day if he wants to play angry birds or something I do not care - so long as he can not spend my money with it.


Then the Fire's probably better. 'Cause he definitely can't play angry birds on the PW 

However.

There has been research that has concluded that usage of computer monitors and tablets before bed is not really good for promoting restful sleep. Something about the quality/color of the light emitted by such devices being the sort of thing that triggers the brain to wake up.

So reading before bed, to be followed by a good night's sleep, would better be done with a paper book or eInk device since neither emits the color light that is the problem.

As long as, of course, you don't have one of the full spectrum 'wake me up and keep me happy in the winter' lights next to the bed.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

VydorScope said:


> Well he is 10. What I would like is one that I can set to "read only" when he is in bed at night, but during the day if he wants to play angry birds or something I do not care - so long as he can not spend my money with it.


And you can set the parental controls separately to prevent purchases.

Betsy


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## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

Ann in Arlington said:


> Then the Fire's probably better. 'Cause he definitely can't play angry birds on the PW


Well that is not a hard requirement - he does have a 3ds and xbox360 already lol.



Ann in Arlington said:


> However. l
> There has been research that has concluded that usage of computer monitors and tablets before bed is not really good for promoting restful sleep. Something about the quality/color of the light emitted by such devices being the sort of thing that triggers the brain to wake up.
> 
> So reading before bed, to be followed by a good night's sleep, would better be done with a paper book or eInk device since neither emits the color light that is the problem.


So I have heard this, but I would say my son is the kind that will NOT just go to sleep. We have fought for years with him to sleep at all at night. The only comprise that has worked is saying he can read for a bit on his nook color, or with some of his paper books/mags. My wife has a Nook color and falls asleep almost every night with it in her hands, and I read on my Fire. So at least in my personal experience I see the opposite of that research. Not doubting that it effects some peoples sleep... but different people are different.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Yes, I don't usually have a problem looking at a screen at night, either.  I'm generally on mine up until the time i go to bed.  I wonder if the research says that monitors/tablets are worse than a TV screen....

Betsy


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I'm sure it depends on brightness as well. . . . . . . I just thought it was something that should be considered.


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## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

That is the one primary complaint I have with the Fire HD - I can not get it dim enough. I have it at the lowest possible setting and it is still about 10-20% to bright.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

There's an app for that.  

Back in a minute....

Betsy


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## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> There's an app for that.
> 
> Back in a minute....
> 
> Betsy


I should have guessed!


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## lynnfw1 (Nov 20, 2012)

Love Kindle Free Time for my kids (age 6 and 10)

I just recently signed up for the paid version, which gives them access to a lot of age-appropriate books, games and video.  This is especially good for my 6 year old daughter.

There is NO WAY to access the internet.  We've actually tried, because my son likes to do internet searches for a variety of information.  We use Chrome on our Kindles, and though that appears as an app in the regular app drawer, KFT will not allow you to add it to the child's free time content.  There are no activities which require in-app purchases, so it will not give you  "back-door" access to the internet


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

that one's free . . .and if it works for you you can buy it once the trial period is up for 99¢



also free; the paid version is $1.50. It's by a company that has a good battery monitor app.

Both have decent ratings.

Ha! Beat Betsy to it!


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Ann in Arlington said:


> that one's free . . .and if it works for you you can buy it once the trial period is up for 99¢
> 
> 
> 
> ...


  

Hubby distracted me. Ed probably left for the church or Home Depot or somewhere by now....


Yeah, that's the GS one? I was going to recommend it--I think I used it as the KBAAD* one day...

Betsy

*KB Alternate App of the Day


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## 68564 (Mar 17, 2013)

Thanks will check them out after work....


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## Annalog (Dec 28, 2008)

Short version: If using a tablet or computer before sleep, stick to sepia, browns, reds, and low light levels. Avoid blues and bright lights. Supposedly the white background has too much blue on most computer and tablet screens.

I read on my Fire before sleep. I was also having sleep issues, mostly due to an undiagnosed at the time thyroid issue. I saw those articles. The bright whites and blues are supposed to tell the brain it should be awake while the reds tell the brain it is evening and should sleep. I have the app for setting the light lower as I thought the default low was too bright. Since I always kept the screen at the lowest light level when reading in the dark, that explained to me why I had not previously had sleep issues. However I seemed to sleep better if I played a particular game which was in tones of sepia, brown, and black. Changing to sepia in the books as well helped with the new sleep issues. (Taking thyroid after the medical diagnosis resolved the last of my sleep issues.)


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Hubby distracted me. Ed probably left for the church or Home Depot or somewhere by now....


Oh, yeah. . .hours ago. 



> Yeah, that's the GS one? I was going to recommend it--I think I used it as the KBAAD* one day...
> 
> Betsy
> 
> *KB Alternate App of the Day


Yes, the gray icon one is called "Screen Dim". I have that and it does work as advertised. In fact, you have to be careful you don't put the screen down to completely dark or you'll have a real problem!  If I recall, the trial version works for about a week and then you have to buy it. No 'free with ads' option.

The other, the yellow one, by GSam, I haven't used, but their battery monitor is quite good.


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