Manage OTT streaming on smart TVs with Happinetz

In this digital era, almost everyone owns a smart TV with OTT platforms of all kinds
streaming in. The smart TV at my place has literally changed my kids to zombies who
constantly want to stare at it or hear it at least in the background no matter what time of the day it is! True story!

As a one-parent family, we face a lot of challenges. I, as a mother, find it hard to reduce screen time. Me being a full-time working mom doesn’t help much in this scenario. Even though I’m available for them early mornings and late evenings, their grandparents are the ones raising them. When it comes to grandparents, there are not many rules set, if you know what I’m talking about. There is more of love and concern and just the blend of all the right things to keep the kids happy. Screen time schedules are just not adhered to!

How to reduce screen time amidst changing routines

This excessive screen time phase is a come and go thing depending on timings of
school and extracurricular activities. On weekends when I’m home, it is time bound and both my kids are okay with that as there are a lot of other activities and outings where I involve them. But during weekdays, I noticed that I simply cannot reduce screen time.

Then came the part where I discussed it with my 9-yr old daughter and to my surprise there was no denial. But there was no change either. She was just not ready to try to reduce screen time and felt it was not that big a deal. Of course, what else to expect from a little girl? I don’t even want to mention my 3-yr old boy, who hardly understood what mom was saying. He did know that I was not ok with him watching too much TV, but he had his weapons of crying and meltdowns. My parents had tried playing and reading and keeping them engaged but it was still difficult to enforce any rules to reduce screen time.

Searching for solutions

I researched for solutions but came to know I was not alone with this problem! An Apr 2023 survey covering around 750 parents with young kids (3-8 years) across 10 metro and non-metro cities of India was shared by Business Standard. According to the findings, almost 85% Indian parents worried about kids spending excessive time on their screens. Most searches were for screen-free ideas to keep their kids engaged with learning and fun activities.

During my research, I also found out that Google gave you settings to reduce screen time. YouTube kids also had something similar. However, it didn’t work for my family. My daughter had access to a phone at home and the TV in the other room. I couldn’t limit everything as my parents also needed to use the internet as per their schedules.

I was just looking for something that could control the phone, smart TV, laptop and all the devices in the house at once so that my daughter couldn’t switch from one device to another.

Happinetz – The solution to my problem

I found the solution to my problem with “Happinetz” which promises safe internet for kids. With its extraordinary features, it not only helps to reduce screen time but also safeguards kids online. All of this was very intriguing, so I decided to try it out.

Happinetz connects to your home router wired or wirelessly. It has been designed to
filter out age-inappropriate content along with internet time control and all this can be done easily on the Happinetz App on a parent’s phone.

Connect the Happinetz box to your home router, download the app and connect all the devices you want to monitor to the Happinetz Wifi and you’re done. Manage each device whenever and wherever you are.

What caught my attention is that nearly 22 million unsecured and adult websites and
apps are blocked and more than 110 million are monitored regularly by the Happinetz System. A perfect solution for growing-age kids if you ask me.

Nowadays, kids have to go online for their research and projects and my daughter
prefers going to Google and YouTube than to her library books. While doing her
research, she found some games and downloaded them. It scared me as my next
immediate thought was what if my daughter stumbles across an inappropriate ad? What if she gets inquisitive and checks it out?

But thanks to Happinetz, I’m not worried anymore. I know that she is safe when she
surfs the internet as it lets only age-appropriate content get through.

Happinetz features include:

1. Internet Schedule – Happinetz allows parents to limit internet usage on all devices
   connected, as per preferences and the internet shuts down on its own once the timer
   runs out. On a specific day or weekends internet timings can be extended as well.
2. Kid/ Teen/ Parent Mode – This feature helps to categorise all the devices being
   connected to Happinetz Wifi as per the child’s age for showing only age-appropriate
   content.
3. Insights and History – This feature provides an insight into your child’s internet history
   as per browsed websites and apps. It can be checked as per each device or even as
   per content. Apps and Websites are bifurcated under 15 categories.
4. Pause Internet – A specific device’s internet can be paused until resumed by the
   parent through the app.
5. Device Disconnected Feature – The moment a device disconnects from Happinetz
   WiFi, the parent phone receives a notification. Isn’t this the best!
6. Whitelist or blacklist domains: In this advanced feature, parents can decide to
   whitelist or blacklist certain domains as per choice.

My personal experience with Happinetz

I started using Happinetz on the weekend so that I could manage the change
seamlessly. It has now been more than 2 weeks and I can see my daughter going back to her reading and hobby interests because it has helped reduce screen time. I see my son getting more involved with his toys and books. My parents are having an easy time since they don’t have to manage the grim faces and tantrums of the kids when they are asked to turn off screens.

For the first few days, my daughter got ‘something went wrong’ on the screen whenever she was accessing something not appropriate for her age. She had seen me installing Happinetz and figured out the reason. She could relate to the Happinetz WiFi name displayed on her device but overall she is happy with the change.

A peek into Insights and History on the Happinetz app provided me a glimpse of what my daughter searched for during her project research. This knowledge gives my mama bear instinct a satisfaction that she will not be swayed towards wrong things with her growing age.

Happinetz has really reduced the stress around all internet issues by ensuring safe internet for kids. It is a one-stop solution to reduce screen time while making the best use of technology.