To App or Not To App? This Is The Question

Children and Apps.

It sounds like something futuristic doesn’t it or a weird title for a children’s novel.  Like the movie ‘Five children and It’.  But as a parent, sooner or later we are going to come upon the dreaded word.  So what can we do other than be prepared? First of all we need to find out about Apps:  what they are, what they do and where you get them from.

Your first port of call may be to research the word on the internet.  Try it. Go to your favourite search engine and type in the word ‘app’ and see what comes up.  We should soon find out that the word is actually short for ‘application’ and has been abbreviated to a much cooler and funkier sounding word by the techie guys and the geeks.  In this instance it refers to application software and this can be on a variety of gadgets from mobile phone to laptops to tablets.  So in non-technical terms, it is a piece of software designed to help us perform specific tasks.  But where can we find out more about the world of apps?  This is where websites such as http://Quib.ly can help us.  The site has been developed to assist parents with children entering the technological age make sense of the whole thing.  This is the place to go if you need help with a worrying concern, more detail about some latest gadget that you don’t quite understand or even just a great virtual drop-in-centre where you can discuss and shareviews on parental issues.

The website will help you to understand not just the world of apps but much more.  It deals with things like internet safety, privacy issues, costs and budgets and all sorts of associated problems that come our way as parents.

You will soon realise that there are literally an unquantifiable amount of apps available to do every possible thing.  There are apps for games, music, videos, studying and so on.  Every day new apps are being developed and added to the enormous libraries of content available on the internet and downloadable either by computer or mobile phone.

The big thing to realise at the very start is that some apps are free, some aren’t and this is where you need to be very careful and give good advice to your rapidly growing son or daughter.  Get them to check with your beforehand when they are considering downloading an app.  That means transferring the software from the internet to their IT device.  Some apps may appear to be free of charge but then the small print will mention that upgrades are available at a certain sum of money.  Prices can also vary immensely so make it a golden rule that no-one in the family downloads any apps without first consulting with the bill payer.  And that normally means mum or dad!

Like most things in the IT world, apps can be a boon or a bane. Used correctly they can do wondrous things but if they get out of hand, they can soon create big headaches for fathers and sons as well as the rest of the household!