The topic Mosyle launches new service to help parents manage Mac and iPad screen time for K-12… is currently the subject of lively discussion — readers and analysts are keeping a close eye on developments.
This is taking place in a dynamic environment: companies’ decisions and competitors’ reactions can quickly change the picture.
Managing school-issued Macs and iPads has always been a balancing act between IT control and parent visibility when the devices go home. Today, Mosyle has announced Mosyle@Home, aimed at solving this problem. This new platform gives parents and guardians an official way to manage school devices after hours, and it supports school-issued iPads and Macs.
With Mosyle@Home, the school maintains full control during school hours, then transfers control to families outside of school hours. Once a parent creates a free account and registers their child’s device via a QR code, they get a dedicated dashboard with several control options.
Their previous solution, ScreenGuide, is now officially deprecated. Existing ScreenGuide family accounts will retain access for now, but no new devices can be added to them. When parents attempt to add a new device, they will be prompted to migrate to Mosyle@Home. This migration requires just a single sign-in, and all previous settings will carry over automatically to the new system
Cost-wise, there is no additional fee for families to use the services. When the school enables parent access, the tools are free for parents. For schools, the iPhone and iPad family management features are available to all paid Mosyle customers at no extra cost. The brand-new macOS family management features are included free for any school currently subscribing to the Mosyle OneK12 plan.
This has always been a balance for schools and families. For school-issued devices, IT must either retain strict control outside school hours or give parents the tools to manage them themselves. Traditional at-home solutions typically don’t work well with supervised devices, so it makes sense for the tools to come from the service already managing the devices.