In recent years, smartphones and tablets have become almost essential devices that are already part of our daily lives: a trend that does not exclusively affect adults. The Internet is being accessed by increasingly younger children, with the average age currently standing at 7 years old.

According to a study by the National Institute of Statistics, about 95% of young people between 10 and 15 have a mobile device with Internet connection. Chatting with friends, playing games or watching videos on YouTube will, in most cases, take up most of a child’s time but, as they say, everything can be found on the Internet and it’s this part that can be worrisome for parents.

To alleviate these worries and so that parents can have some control over the content that their children can access online, there are different parental control tools that we be easily installed and configured on any device.

These tools and applications will allow one to limit access to inappropriate content for minors, maintain their privacy, or limit their Internet connection time with most of them being free as an advantage.

We review some of the best parental control tools that currently exist.

Windows Live Family Safety / iOS – Something that many Windows users don’t know, is that this operating system has parental control tools already installed that can be activated and configured at any time. Similarly, Apple users also have an analogous tool on their iOS operating system and their iPhone or iPad.

Google Family Link – Designed by Google especially for mobiles. With this tool, one can control the content of the devices or limit the usage time, also for free.

Secure Kids – With a free option and a paid option, Secure Kids is an interesting parental control tool with several features that can be very useful for parents, such as the geolocation of children, call blocking, or word and content filter.

Qustodio – One of the best valued tools by users, available for both mobile phones and computers. It has a paid option and a free option as well as a specific version to be used in schools.

Parental Click – In this case, it is a paid application (€14/year). In return, it offers a lot of options, including a help button that can be installed on the mobile or tablet for the minor to ask for help immediately if any problems occur.

Kids Place – For Android devices which can be downloaded from the Google Play Store. This is a simple but effective parental control tool, designed for the youngest children who are beginning to use a smartphone for the first time.

K9 Web Protection – Free tool that offers parents the basic measures they may need in cyber-security or to limit usage time of mobile devices. This software has options for word filtering or blocking of certain web pages.

Netflix and HBO are two of the great online TV services to watch series and stream movies which currently offer their services in Spain. With similar subscription prices, except for small details, the differences between both platforms are, in some cases minimal, with the exception of their available catalogue: the main factor that can make you choose one over the other.

If you want to subscribe to an online TV service that has a large catalogue of TV series and films to watch at any given time, your best option is probably Netflix.

In this sense, Netflix clearly stands out over HBO as it has a catalogue of over 400 series and about 1,500 movies, as well as a good selection of documentaries. Netflix is ​​especially committed to its own production, with magnificent series such as Narcos or Stranger Things as well as an increasing list of independent films with titles that have enjoyed considerable success such as Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, “Bird Box or Annihilation.

In the case of HBO, the platform’s catalogue is clearly smaller in terms of quantity with about 100 series and more than 400 films but it favours high quality productions, currently streaming some of the most successful series in the history of television. Series like Game of Thrones, The Wire, Boardwalk Empire, The Sopranos, Flash or The Big Bang Theory have been joined by highly regarded TV series such as Chernobyl, Westworld or True Detective.

The catalogue of HBO films does not fall short, especially betting on several movie classics, and through its platform we can see some popular sagas such as the trilogy of The Lord of the Rings, the Twilight saga, Matrix or Batman.

The basic price of both platforms in Spain is €7.99. For HBO, it is a single monthly price, with a free trial month to test if their service convinces you. Netflix, on the other hand, has a basic service subscription for €7.99/month which can be upgraded into more advanced plans for €10.99/month (for HD quality), or the premium plan of €13.99/month (for ULTRA HD quality). In this case, Netflix does not have a trial month, so you will be subscribed to the platform from day one.

A final difference that is worth taking into account in this comparison is the ability to view downloaded content offline. This option is only included by Netflix, although only for certain series which can be downloaded in advance to watch later without the need for an Internet connection.