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Mobicip: A kid-safe Web browser for Android

For just $5, Mobicip offers age-based filtering, real-time monitoring, and many other protections -- all wrapped in a familiar-looking browser.

Rick Broida Senior Editor
Rick Broida is the author of numerous books and thousands of reviews, features and blog posts. He writes CNET's popular Cheapskate blog and co-hosts Protocol 1: A Travelers Podcast (about the TV show Travelers). He lives in Michigan, where he previously owned two escape rooms (chronicled in the ebook "I Was a Middle-Aged Zombie").
Rick Broida
2 min read
Mobicip for Android provides kid-safe Web browsing.
Mobicip for Android provides kid-safe Web browsing. Mobicip

It's easy enough to childproof a computer, to keep kids away from the Web's unsavory spots. But what about their Android smartphones and tablets? Google's browser offers no parental controls to speak of, no filtering or monitoring or search guards.

Here's an easy fix: Mobicip Safe Browser for Android ($4.99), which offers a familiar Web interface, but with a raft of protections designed to keep kids safe. (It's also available for iOS.)

Designed for both phones and tablets (including the Kindle Fire), Mobicip closely resembles the stock Android browser, so the learning curve is short. Like the iOS version, this one can't import existing bookmarks, a rather ridiculous oversight.

Mobicip does, however, offer a convenient, kid-friendly home page with quick links to sites like Google and Wikipedia.

The browser relies on Mobicip's servers to filter inappropriate URLs and search results. Parents can choose from three predefined filtering levels: elementary, middle, and high school. There's also a filtering engine for YouTube, a nice addition.

If you want more granular control, consider signing up for a Premium account, which for $9.99 annually lets you blacklist and whitelist specific sites, block specific categories (such as chat, shopping, or violence), view activity reports, set time limits, and so on.

Even with the free account, Mobicip offers more than enough protection to help parents rest easier. For a mere $5, you can keep your kids from accidentally (or intentionally) wandering into the Web's red-light districts. Given how difficult it can be to monitor what kids do on a phone or tablet, I think it's well worth the investment.