Norton Family Review 2023: Is It Legit? Is It a Scam? The Ultimate Parental Control Guide

As a concerned parent in 2023, keeping your kids safe online is one of the most important things you can do. With social media, inappropriate content and cyberbullying just a click away, it‘s no wonder that over 65% of parents rely on parental control software to add a layer of monitoring and protection.

But how do you choose the right one for your family‘s needs with so many options out there? Can Norton Family really deliver the online child safety you require as a parent?

In this detailed Norton Family review, we‘ll take an in-depth look at its features, pricing, pros and cons. I‘ll also share exclusive parental control insights from my decade of experience as a cybersecurity guru.

By the end, you‘ll know whether Norton Family is the best way to keep your kids safe online or if you should consider alternative apps instead.

What is Norton Family? A Quick Intro

Developed by cybersecurity leader NortonLifeLock, Norton Family is a veteran parental control solution used by over 10 million parents worldwide. It offers core features like:

• Filtering inappropriate websites
• Setting time limits for apps and devices
• Monitoring social media activity
• Tracking your child‘s location
• Blocking apps and games
• Viewing suspicious online activity alerts

It aims to give parents total visibility and control over their children‘s digital life.

Norton Family works across Windows, Mac, Android, iOS and Kindle Fire devices. This broad cross-platform support is a key highlight.

But how does it actually stack up when it comes to delivering meaningful parental protection in 2023? Let‘s dive into the details.

How Widespread is the Parental Control Software Market?

To start, it‘s important to understand how many parents are actually relying on parental control software in this day and age. The numbers may surprise you:

• 65% of parents use some form of parental control software, according to Common Sense Media.
• The parental control software market is expected to grow over 6% annually through 2027, per MarketResearch.com.
• Over 45 million monthly active installations of Google‘s Family Link parental control app alone, as of late 2021.
• Apple reported 150% growth in families using ScreenTime controls on iOS in 2020.

These statistics signal just how critical parental control tools have become for today‘s digitally-native kids who get their first smartphones as young as 8-10 years old.

As children spend over 4 hours a day on average online, the stakes couldn‘t be higher for parents to have visibility and say over their activities.

Key Features of Norton Family Premier

Now, let‘s examine the actual features Norton Family brings to the table across its different modules:

Detailed Web Monitoring

• Blocks access to millions of inappropriate sites across 30 categories including adult content, violence, gambling and more
• Allows whitelisting of approved child-friendly sites like educational media
• Enables Safe Search on major search engines like Google, Bing and YouTube
• Monitors browsing history to see which sites your kids visit across any browser

My Take

The web monitoring features are quite robust here, but lack advanced capabilities like digitally signed SSL traffic inspection offered on competitors like Qustodio. This means kids can potentially access inappropriate content on "safe" sites that may be missed by category blocking alone.

Time Limits and Scheduling

• Sets daily time limits for overall device usage
• Lets you set age-based time restrictions
• Allows scheduling specific device access times or Off hours

My Take

The time supervision functions are solid, but relatively basic. Some alternative parental control apps allow blocking application usage during study hours or limiting weekend screentime. Norton Family doesn‘t offer this deeper level of time management flexibility.

Social Media Monitoring

• On Windows devices, it can monitor Facebook activity including posts, friends and photos.
• No other social media sites like Instagram or Snapchat are covered beyond basic web blocking.

My Take

This is one of Norton Family‘s biggest limitations in my view. Lack of true social media monitoring beyond Facebook is a huge gap in 2023 when kids are constantly on Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat. Parents deserve deeper visibility here.

Mobile App Supervision (Android only)

• Shows you all the apps installed on your child‘s Android device
• Lets you block specific apps like TikTok or Snapchat
• Needs manual approval for new app installs

My Take

Decent app management for Android, but iOS users are completely left out as Apple doesn‘t allow this level of control. This Android-only restriction significantly limits Norton Family‘s usefulness in Apple-centric homes.

Location Tracking

• Uses geofencing to alerts parents when kids enter or leave designated areas
• Shows location check-in history on a map

My Take

The geo-fencing capabilities go well beyond most competitor products. However, lack of continuous background location tracking makes it incomplete. Savvy kids can potentially evade monitoring by simply turning off location sharing.

Video Supervision

• Monitors YouTube videos watched and search terms used
• Can block YouTube entirely or restrict content through YouTube Restricted Mode

My Take

YouTube monitoring is certainly useful today. But the video supervision lacks support for other platforms like TikTok or Twitch that kids spend so much time on. Once again, a glaring gap versus leading competitors.

Weekly Activity Reports

• Provides overview of device usage and websites visited
• Highlights risky online behaviors and search terms

My Take

The weekly reporting is a great feature for parents. It promotes ongoing conversations on digital safety based on actual data versus guesswork.

Some additional capabilities offered include:

• Instant device pause if kids need a break
• Kids can request access to blocked apps and sites
• Custom alerts for concerning online activity

Overall, Norton Family covers the basics relatively well with its web, time, location and YouTube restrictions. But it misses the mark on social media supervision and iOS app management in my opinion.

Next, let‘s look at how it fares in terms of platform support and pricing.

Norton Family Pricing and Plans

Norton Family offers reasonable pricing options whether bundled with Norton security suites or as a standalone product:

• Norton Family Premier (standalone)
  • $49.99 per year – for monitoring up to 10 devices
  • $79.99 per year – for up to 15 devices
• Bundled with Norton 360
  • Starts at $99.99 per year for 5 devices
  • Up to $299 per year for 20 devices

A free 30-day trial is available without payment for the standalone product.

Do keep in mind that the bundled Norton 360 plans also include other features like a VPN, dark web monitoring, password manager, 50GB cloud backup and more.

Overall, the Norton Family pricing is very competitive compared to other parental control apps. The bundled plans offer especially strong value if you were looking to get Norton 360 anyway.

How Does Norton Family Fare Against the Competition?

Given the reasonable pricing, how does Norton Family compare to popular competitors like Qustodio, Bark and Kaspersky Safe Kids?

Here‘s a detailed feature comparison:

Feature	Norton Family	Qustodio	Bark	Kaspersky Safe Kids
Cross-platform	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Web filtering	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Social media monitoring	Very limited	Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and more	YouTube, Reddit, messaging apps	Facebook only
Time limits	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Geofencing	Yes	No	No	Yes
App blocking	Android only	Android and iOS	N/A	Android and iOS
Call/text logging	No	No	Yes	No
Price	$49.99/year	$54.95/year	$9.99/month	$14.99/year

Norton Family clearly offers better multi-platform support compared to Kaspersky. It also provides location monitoring that both Qustodio and Bark lack.

However, competitors like Qustodio and Kaspersky Safe Kids have vastly better social media and app monitoring capabilities that cover both major mobile platforms.

Bark goes even further by tracking SMS messages and phone calls. This allows much deeper insight into who your kids are communicating with.

So while Norton Family certainly checks off key parental control basics, it noticeably falls short on some advanced protection areas I‘d expect as a parent in 2023.

How Difficult Is Norton Family To Set Up?

A parental control app can have all the features in the world, but they are useless if the setup process is overly complex.

Here is an overview of what‘s required to get started with Norton Family on the core platforms:

On Windows:

1. Create your Norton account and add child profiles
2. Download and install the Norton Family client app
3. Add the Norton Family browser extension
4. Log into your account in the app and turn on monitoring

On Android:

1. Create your Norton account
2. Get the Norton Family app from the Google Play Store
3. Open the app, log in and enable restrictions

On iPhone:

1. Create your Norton account
2. Install the Norton Family parental app
3. Have your kid install the Norton Family (Child) app
4. Link apps by signing into your account

On Kindle Fire tablet:

1. Turn on parental controls via the Amazon Parent Dashboard
2. Link your Amazon account with your Norton account
3. Manage Kindle restrictions through Norton Family dashboard

The setup takes around 10-15 minutes for the initial account configuration and app installs. It can take a bit longer as you customize restrictions across different child profiles.

Compared to other parental apps, Norton Family strikes a decent balance of providing robust controls without too high a learning curve. The companion mobile apps are also designed well for ease of use.

Just don’t expect it to work seamlessly across all devices out of the box. You’ll need to carefully follow the right installation steps for each platform.

What Do Parents Like and Dislike About Norton Family?

With over 5,000 user reviews on sites like BestBuy and Amazon, here is an overview of the key pros and cons parents highlight:

Norton Family Pros

• Simple enough for casual monitoring by most parents
• Provides visibility into kids’ web activity and location
• Lets you set appropriate website filters and time limits
• Geofencing features help track kids’ whereabouts
• Easy to monitor multiple child profiles from parent dashboard

Norton Family Cons

• Limited social media monitoring beyond Facebook
• iOS restrictions prevent full app management
• Can’t view text messages or call logs
• On Android, kids can sometimes uninstall the app
• Must pay annually despite missing some key features
• Lack of advanced monitoring seen on competitors

Looking at parental feedback, Norton Family seems to work well enough for basic filtering, time limits and location tracking.

However, the lack of communication monitoring and major social media gaps like Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok supervision mean it leaves a lot to be desired compared to leading competitors.

For parents who want maximum protection applied uniformly across iOS and Android, Norton Family falls short. You‘d be better served by an app like Qustodio based on extensive parent reviews.

Common Parental Control Mistakes To Avoid

As you evaluate Norton Family and other options, keep in mind some common parental control mistakes:

Not involving your kids

Draconian monitoring without your child‘s knowledge breeds mistrust. Discuss rules openly and involve them in setting fair limits.

Ignoring free parental controls

Enable the built-in Screen Time limits on iOS and Family Link on Android devices before spending on apps.

No offline discussions

Don‘t rely only on spying tools. Have regular offline talks about cyberbullying, adult content and other online risks.

A false sense of security

No parental control app is 100% foolproof. Use tools as helpful aids, not an excuse to stop paying attention.

Allowing unrestricted access too early

Children may say they‘re ready for unsupervised internet use, but it takes years to develop true digital maturity.

Final Verdict: Is Norton Family Worth It in 2023?

So in the end, is Norton Family a viable pick for protecting your kids online?

The answer is: It depends.

For parents focused only on basics like website blocking, YouTube restrictions and time limits, Norton Family gets the job done on both desktop and mobile.

However, if you have serious concerns around social media safety and mobile app usage, Norton Family’s limited capabilities pose a real problem. In 2023, you simply require visibility into Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and texts to truly protect kids.

Here is my advice based on my expert analysis:

• If you only need parental control basics and geographic tracking, Norton Family represents a solid value.
• But for maximum child protection across mobile, consider a more robust alternative like Qustodio or Bark.
• Mix and match built-in controls like Apple ScreenTime with any 3rd party solution for best results.

No parental control app, Norton Family included, can act as a digital nanny. You need a multilayered approach.

I hope this in-depth review provides the insights you need to make the safest choice to protect your most precious people online. Stay vigilant out there – and consider me an ally in the mission.