iPod vs iPhone for 10 year old....

[JessicaW1234]

[QUOTE="wenrob, post: 55386747, member: 190421You can lock an iPhone (iPad, iPod etc) down tight with restrictions in settings. My kids can't get to any website I haven't put in there or approved. They can't get any app without my approval. (Make sure to set this up with Family Sharing and that she has her own ID). I have restrictions/age limit sets on books, movies and music so they can't get the more adult content others in the family have. I have data limited to specific things so they can't eat up our plan when out of the house. They can't get around it unless they figure out my passcode which is highly unlikely.
.[/QUOTE]

Can you explain how to do this? Grandma has been insisting to buy DD an I pad mini and I do not know how to lock the internet.

 

[MommyMK]

OP here! It looks like we might be able to get either an iPhone 4 or 4s from a relative for free! If this happens, we will just give it to her with no service for now so she can use it like an iPod. This works best right now I think, DH and I have no need to upgrade right now, and when we do in the future if she has proven herself responsible she will get one of our hand-me-down iPhone 6-es at that point. I will also be looking into the possibility of activating the 4/4s on a prepaid service when the time comes.

As far as replacing a lost phone - to clarify, no I would not outright replace a lost iPhone or iPod, however I would allow the child in question to earn money through chores to buy one themselves. Obviously though, I am in the end still paying for it. Much cheaper to do so with an iPod than an iPhone.

 

[Eureka]

Make sure you have insurance on it if you're concerned about loss. My teenager had his iphone stolen and although we did have insurance, there was so confusion (unbeknownst to us) about which phone was covered (we thought they all were...not sure how it happened that it wasn't) and we had to buy a new one. Now I double check on each monthly bill to be sure all lines still have insurance coverage.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

At 10, I gave my son my old Ipod and got myself a new one - then 4 years later I did the same for my daughter when she was 10. Both took great care of them.

When my son started high school in 9th grade I got him his first Iphone - he choose the Iphone, then 4 years later I did the same for my daughter.
They have taken good care of the phones and each has been upgraded once.

That is what worked for my family.

 

[disneychrista]

OP here! It looks like we might be able to get either an iPhone 4 or 4s from a relative for free! If this happens, we will just give it to her with no service for now so she can use it like an iPod. This works best right now I think, DH and I have no need to upgrade right now, and when we do in the future if she has proven herself responsible she will get one of our hand-me-down iPhone 6-es at that point. I will also be looking into the possibility of activating the 4/4s on a prepaid service when the time comes.
.

Just want to point out that many apps won't download/update on the 4/4s. If this will mainly be used for music or iMessge she should be okay.

 

[havaneselover]

Just want to point out that many apps won't download/update on the 4/4s. If this will mainly be used for music or iMessge she should be okay.

4s can still run the latest iOS, but it's not ideal. 4 will be slow/glitchy but I used one until October without too many issues. But I don't use the same apps 10 year olds do. But I agree, these models may cause frustration.

 

[Roxyfire]

My son travels a lot to his dad's by plane and also walks to school. I activated and gave him my old 4s when my mother was ready to upgrade to the 5s last year. It's not the latest or the greatest but he can stay in contact with me pretty easily without me having to hunt down which person (dad, step mom, granny, etc) is watching him on a given day while he's on vacation. If you don't have an older model to pass down, there's lots of choices on gazelle to purchase used. My mother is very happy with her used iphone and it looked brand new.

If you do decide to go this route, obviously set that expectation that you will know the passcode/password for the phone and iTunes. Set up find my iphone and emergency contacts immediately. Talk to them about which apps are acceptable and how they should be used. For me, no facebook/youtube/social games without me knowing what they are and having final approval over anyone on contacts list.

 

[elaine amj]

OP here! It looks like we might be able to get either an iPhone 4 or 4s from a relative for free! If this happens, we will just give it to her with no service for now so she can use it like an iPod. This works best right now I think, DH and I have no need to upgrade right now, and when we do in the future if she has proven herself responsible she will get one of our hand-me-down iPhone 6-es at that point. I will also be looking into the possibility of activating the 4/4s on a prepaid service when the time comes.

As far as replacing a lost phone - to clarify, no I would not outright replace a lost iPhone or iPod, however I would allow the child in question to earn money through chores to buy one themselves. Obviously though, I am in the end still paying for it. Much cheaper to do so with an iPod than an iPhone.

My DD uses an iPhone 4s we bought used through kijiji for $25. (So cheap because the entire back is smashed - we don't care since it looks perfect with a case on anyway). She can use her dad's iPhone 6S in the evenings, but by and large, she is content with her iPhone 4S. She loaded iMovie on it (since she does a lot of movie school projects and loves doing it) and has Instagram and Youtube as well as a few Disney game apps. That's all she really cares about. I loaded a phone/texting app with a real local phone number - she loves it as she can text her friends (and me) whenever she is on wifi. We don't have a phone plan set up for her so it is a glorified iPod.

My DS has an iPod 4 his best friend insisted on giving him since he had a new one (It's really only worth about $25 these days so I finally allowed the gift). He doesn't use it much though since he can't load the apps he wants - he just uses his Dad's iPhone 6S in the evenings occasionally. Thankfully, he's happy with Minecraft on the laptop.

I do have ancient smartphones that we hand out to the kids occasionally with cheap prepaid plans on them if we need them to be able to call us. They don't care for those phones for everyday use though. Overall, i was pleased we were able to get them usable devices that they are reasonably content with at such inexpensive prices.

I was also able to cancel our home phone since they can use their phone/text app over wifi to call us. Saved me $30+/month!

 

[snoopy5386]

Yes I know it will not be the latest and greatest but for her usage I think it will be fine. She also has a kindle fire, we have a family iPad, my husband has an iPad Air 2, we are not lacking for devices she can use if needed in this house.

I have been letting her use the family iPad to message her friends and she loses interest rather quickly to go run off and play. The phone will be used primarily for messaging/texting and Netflix. We are one of those folks who still have a landline if she actually wants to talk to her friends on the phone.

DH or myself will likely upgrade when either the iPhone 7 or 7s comes out and at that point we'll reevaluate her need for a phone and see how well she cares for this one. This may be as soon as Christmas, next spring when she turns 11 or next fall when she enters middle school.

 

[BellePrincessBelle]

Thanks for the input so far. Giving her the phone without a data plan isn't an option since we can only get the BOGO deal if we add a line (for her). Otherwise DH and I cannot upgrade our phones till the fall.

Whether it is a iPhone or iPod I have no plans to give her unlimited internet or app access, which would be the same for both devices btw. I would remove safari from the device and password protect the AppStore so she would not be able to download apps without my approval.

She just got a kindle fire for Christmas so the iPad on top of that feels like overkill plus iPads are more expensive. I control the "family iPad" (older ipad2) which is what she is using to text her friends right now, but that means all her texts/messages come through my phone which is a blessing/curse. It also means she can see all my messages too which I am not a fan of. We could set this iPad up exclusively for her use, but again feels like overkill since she has the kindle fire that does everything she needs, except for the all important texting, imessage and face time.

My original thought was cheapy pre-paid phone, but seeing how her friends text/message with over a 100 silly messages per day it would end up being more expensive than just adding her to our plan.

Be aware you also have to pay for service on the free phone they don't give it to you just for funsies.
I would go with an iPod for a 10 year old.

 

[MommyMK]

Be aware you also have to pay for service on the free phone they don't give it to you just for funsies.
I would go with an iPod for a 10 year old.

Yes I am aware, for now we just plan to use it without service on wifi, so essentially as an ipod.

 

[BellePrincessBelle]

Yes I am aware, for now we just plan to use it without service on wifi, so essentially as an ipod.

I was talking about the bogo phone.

 

[snoopy5386]

Yes I know. The plan we have now is no longer offered and we can get the same service for less money. Even with the 3rd line and $25 a month for the new iPhone 6s our bill would only go up by $15 a month.

If we stick with our current plan to give her an old iPhone 4/4s our bill will instead go down by $20 a month.

 

[wenrob]

[QUOTE="wenrob, post: 55386747, member: 190421You can lock an iPhone (iPad, iPod etc) down tight with restrictions in settings. My kids can't get to any website I haven't put in there or approved. They can't get any app without my approval. (Make sure to set this up with Family Sharing and that she has her own ID). I have restrictions/age limit sets on books, movies and music so they can't get the more adult content others in the family have. I have data limited to specific things so they can't eat up our plan when out of the house. They can't get around it unless they figure out my passcode which is highly unlikely.
.

Can you explain how to do this? Grandma has been insisting to buy DD an I pad mini and I do not know how to lock the internet.[/QUOTE]
Sorry, just now seeing this. Start here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201304

 

[crazelion]

I would go to family dollar and buy a cheap android phone for 10 bucks. That way if the child lose it. You will not be out of whole a lot money.

 

[aprilgail]

My thoughts are: she is 10 and does not need a phone at that age. My youngest is 10, still in elementary school, does not go walking around town with out an adult, sports practices the coaches have phones/our number.

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I got my daughter her first phone at 10 for MY convenience. Its when she started to go a few blocks over to a local park on her own this way she could call me or shoot me a text if they decided to leave there and go to someones house or whatever. I liked being able to know where she was going. After she took care of that phone for a year I got her an iphone- 6 years later and she has never lost or broken a phone.

 

[PlainJane]

Just a point of caution, many apps can access the Internet through their own browser. Examples I know off the top of my head are Twitter and Pinterest. Even if you disable Safari, apps with their own browser can still access the Internet. So whenever downloading a new app, you'll want to check.

 

[cathyce2]

Yes I know. The plan we have now is no longer offered and we can get the same service for less money. Even with the 3rd line and $25 a month for the new iPhone 6s our bill would only go up by $15 a month.

If we stick with our current plan to give her an old iPhone 4/4s our bill will instead go down by $20 a month.

We tried giving my then 11 year old an old iphone 4s we got from a cousin who upgraded. It would only hold a charge for a couple of hours. She would charge it to 100% and turn it off when she got to school. She turned it back on when she got on the bus and it might or might not last the 20 minute ride home if she was listening to music. I'm assuming all 4/4s are roughly the same age so batteries are all well used. We ended up spending about $70 to replace the battery and it still didn't last as long as her sister's iphone 5c. If I had it to do over I would get a newer phone to start with.

 

[havaneselover]

We tried giving my then 11 year old an old iphone 4s we got from a cousin who upgraded. It would only hold a charge for a couple of hours. She would charge it to 100% and turn it off when she got to school. She turned it back on when she got on the bus and it might or might not last the 20 minute ride home if she was listening to music. I'm assuming all 4/4s are roughly the same age so batteries are all well used. We ended up spending about $70 to replace the battery and it still didn't last as long as her sister's iphone 5c. If I had it to do over I would get a newer phone to start with.

I just got rid of my 4. The battery was fine. Probably as good as my 6. I know the 4s batteries had issues. But you can buy iPhone batteries on eBay for less than $10 and watch a you tube video to learn to replace them.