Jim Dalrymple, The Loop, on recent calls for a kid mode on iOS devices:
I can understand how some parents would be upset if Apple didn’t have some kind of controls to limit the use of the iPhone and iPad, but the fact is they do.
I read Sarah Perez’s story on TechCrunch “Apple’s iPad Needs A Kid Mode. Like, Yesterday” and was kind of amazed at how much blame was put on Apple.
I read Sarah Perez’s article and many points raised could be alleviated by a parent actually paying attention, monitoring their child, and putting a foot down even if it makes little Johnny upset. As Dalrymple goes on to note, iOS has a wide variety of parental controls in place.
In defense of the kid-mode option, I do wish Apple would offer support for multiple user accounts. If a family has one iPad, for instance, it is cumbersome to turn on all restrictions for a child and then disable them again when a parent resumes use. That said, inconvenience is not an excuse to blame others for your inaction.