The Most Reliable Parental Control App
FamiSafe lets parents control screen time, track real-time location and detect inappropriate content on kids' devices.
Do you still remember the days when you used Houseparty to keep in touch with your friends and families? I bet you do. Houseparty was not a brand-new app in the social media industry. On the contrary, it has been here for a while. But during the pandemic, people started noticing it, especially teenagers. According to the survey conducted by Apptopia, Houseparty had become the number one social media app in over 82 countries.
But unfortunately, Houseparty is no longer available to use anymore as its services end in October 2021. Here we will introduce you to the 5 best apps similar to Houseparty to enable you could have a great time with your families remotely.
Top 5 Alternatives to Houseparty app
Since Houseparty is not available anymore, we would love to introduce you to 5 chatting apps similar to Houseparty. All of them are available for video chatting with several users simultaneously. Hope they can help you have fun with your families even though you are not gathering around.
Nothing can replace the age-old, well not old, but WhatsApp has been the most reliable app for communicating since we moved to smartphones. Year after year, it is coming up with features that are helping people converse from any part of the world. Earlier it was just a messaging app. But, now, from sending voice notes to video calling, it is packed with amazing features.
For example, you can add up to 8 participants in one go on a WhatsApp video call. It has also introduced a feature to send disappearing videos to your contacts. What an amazing feature.
Like Houseparty, Bunch also allows you to video chat and play games with your friends simultaneously. There are simple games like Flappy Birds, Mars Dash, and Charades inbuilt. For the rest of the games, you have to download them separately.
You cannot play the games all by yourself. Instead, invite your friends to play, and when one of them joins in, you can begin the fun. A small screen appears on the top of your game screen to see your friend. The most incredible feature of this app is that you can turn off your camera and microphone at any time while playing the game.
On Squad, you can watch videos, play games, and chat with your friends all at once. It also allows you to chat in between the live streaming sessions. With Squad, you can have 9 friends all on one screen.
There are plenty of wonderful filters available on this app that will make your video calling experience more interesting. IOS app store has rated this app safe for kids above the age of 4.
Messenger Rooms
There is hardly anybody left on this planet who is not on Facebook. From your friends to your colleagues, you will find everybody on Facebook. So the Facebook team came up with Messenger Rooms to make your chatting and video calling experience better.
It allows you to chat with anybody who is on your friend list. In addition, you can play several games and have a great time by creating rooms on it. Under 13, kids can use this app only under parents’ supervision.
Discord is a popular chat space that is designed for gamers. It allows people to talk to each other while playing games. You can log into Discord and start chatting with your partners, which will run smoothly alongside any game you are playing.
Its desktop version makes sure to use less computing power and lets you have an incredible experience. Discord helps you connect with a friend near your locality with its nearby feature. And you can use the block feature to avoid getting in touch with someone you don’t know.
Watch some tips on kid's safety in this video.
What Parents Need to Know about the apps like Houseparty?
Chatting apps like Houseparty have several similar features that parents should know. They help in bringing people together with its video chatting feature. You meet new friends, play games, and have a great time. But apart from being a cool application, many features of this kind of app make it an unsafe space for kids. Especially kids under 13 who tend to get influenced easily. So, is this kind of game safe for kids? The answer is no. Let’s dive into the following information to find out the pros and cons of this kind of apps:
Pros
• Available to 2+ users at the same time
Apps like Houseparty are not available to 2 users only, but more. First, create a link and share it with your friends and family members. Then, they can enter the chat room instantly by clicking on the link. About Houseparty, you can have up to 8 people joining in at a time.
• Easy to play games
This app is filled with fun and easy-to-play games like heads-up, trivia, etc., in Houseparty. The games are suitable for any age-range people.
Cons
• Predators
Apps like Houseparty are filled with predators since it is easy to join other’s chatting rooms for everyone. As anybody can easily enter the chat room, this app is unsafe for kids. Children who are under 13 and even teenagers can easily get manipulated.
• Cyberbullying
Most chatting apps do not have admins present who can monitor what is happening in the chatroom. Then if the users are using any foul language or bullying others, it is unable to track it. As no one checks on their behaviors, it can lead to serious issues.
• Might get Hacked
Anything controlled by the internet has the possibility of getting hacked. Anybody can hack into your profiles and might steal away your data, especially for the chatting apps that support video chatting.
Advice for parents on kids’ usage of chatting apps like Houseparty
A video chatting app is necessary for every family during the pandemic lockdown. While parents cannot limit kids’ usage of online apps completely, it becomes important to monitor their kids’ online activities.
Some chatting apps like Discord may have the Privacy setting, but what if your kids use apps that don’t have such features? Under this circumstance, we recommend you use parental control app to restrict your kids’ usage on tech devices or one specific app to ensure their online safety.
One of such parental control apps that can keep a check on your children’s online activity and block all the inappropriate content is Wondershare FamiSafe. It offers various functions that can help you safeguard your child from any danger:
Once you notice that your kids spend lots of time on one game or chatting app like Houseparty, you can use Wondershare FamiSafe to block the app with one simple tap. Not only this, this feature enables parents to block the apps by age rating or block app apps at once as well.
• Screen Time
To avoid that kids may get unsatisfied with all the apps being blocked, you can use the Screen Time feature to set limited time for the specific app or the entire device. When it reaches the scheduled time, kids no longer have access to the apps. That is a good way to prevent kids from getting addicted to tech devices.
Web filter helps parents filter out all the content that is not suitable for kids. And if it doesn’t work, parents could add an exception by typing in the specific URL directly to block it. There are more than 10 categories on FamiSafe for parents to choose to block.
Conclusion
Apps like WhatsApp, Snapchat, Houseparties, etc., are meant to stay in touch with friends and family members. But, due to tiny loopholes, people are using these apps for all the wrong reasons. Young kids can fall prey to these things easily, so installing a parental control app on their technical gadgets is important to keep your children safe.
These apps help you to protect your child from outside danger. Features like web filtering, content detection, and screen time are all there to make the internet a safe place for children. You can always stay at peace whenever they are on social media, as Wondershare Famisafe is there to make it a safe place for them.
Wondershare FamiSafe - The Most Reliable Parental Control App
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Location Tracking & Geo-fencing
App Blocker & Web Filtering
Screen Time Control
Smart Parental Control Setting
Block In-app Purchase