App Lets Parents Lock Their Kids' Smartphone if They Ignore Calls

Called Ignore No More!, the app promises to help parents get control back over their child's phone.

Just install the app on your phones and your child's phone. Tap the kid's name and enter a four-digit code to lock their device.

When the smartphone is locked, kids can't "text, surf the Internet, play games or look at Facebook", Sharon Standifird, the Texas-based app's creator, was quoted as saying in media reports.

"What they can do is call the parent back to get the password to unlock their phone," she added.

"It is not about punishing the child - it is a tool to try and correct the behaviour," Standifird noted. The 47-year-old mother of two said she created the app when her children did not respond to numerous calls and text messages one day. "I was so frustrated with this recurring event," she added, describing her motivation.

The app, already available for Android devices via Amazon Appstore for Android at $5.99 (roughly Rs. 370) since August last year, will be available on iPhones from March, Herald Sun reported.

Notably, a 'parent app' of Ignore No More! is already available on the App Store since December, meant for parents with iOS devices who want to control their children's Android smartphones. The upcoming iOS app will give parents with iOS devices control over their children's iPhones.

Written with inputs from IANS