Smart Limits & iPhone

[DEGUY]

I recently downloaded the myWireless Mobile app for my iPhone.  I didn't see a way to manage my SmartLimits from this app.  Am I missing something or is there another app needed to manage the SmartLimits - or can I only do that online?

Thanks.

[Planet-Ed ACE - Geek]

You perform that function online from your myWireless account:

Where do I go to manage AT&T Smart Limits for my account?

To manage Smart Limits on your account, follow these instructions: 1.

Configure AT&T Smart Limits

Answer Click Manage AT&T Smart Limits for Wireless.

[Texas_Mom · Accepted solution]

You cannot access Smart Limits for Wireless on the MyWireless App at this time. Please visit att.com/myWireless to log in to your account. Click on the ‘Manage AT&T Smart Limits for Wireless’ link under Quick Links at center right of page.

We hope to offer Smart Limits for Wireless account management through the MyWireless App in the future. Stay tuned for more information.

[Bindy]

I'm not sure if this has been posted yet, or if maybe I'm just the last to know, but I wanted to let everyone know that Smart Limits will not work with iPhones.  It will limit neither phone nor data usage.

ATT - We customers need a service that will effectively limit the services offered on iPhones.  Talk minutes, text limits, and data limits need to be controlled seperately.

[BuickMackane]

I agree.  This feature isn't doing me any good on my daughter's iPhone at all.  She gave her mobile number and her Facebook profile information out to her classmates and Smart Limits isn't doing a remotely decent job of restricting her access. 

I am fighting a completely losing battle.  I blocked 30 numbers but she still receives incoming text messages and incoming phone calls from the numbers on the list anyway.  As soon as I add a number to the blocked list, suddenly new numbers pop up like mushrooms in her call log.  The kids will just simply put down their cell phones and walk over to their parents' landline or use a friend's or sibling's phone to circumvent the block.  So I had to finally block *ALL* outgoing phone calls with the exception of 15 numbers so that at least she couldn't return calls from all these people.  Almost immediately, the kids bypassed this by switching to mobile Skype and Facebook chat, plus video chat on something called Oovoo.  Now I can't see a printout of the people she's talking to any more and her data consumption has gone through the roof since she got the iPhone.  I have the phone set to be blocked more than it is active, but she still seems to be able to use Wi-Fi to bypass all browsing restrictions.

It is cruel and ironic that I have had to resort to these harsh measures.  I actually got her the iPhone as a reward for her outstanding behavior and scholastic achievement.  Instead it has destroyed the peace in our household.  My daughter is a straight-A gifted honors student with a 98 average in all subjects and ranks in the 99th percentile of the state on standardized tests.  However, all the years she invested in her studies are in danger of falling to pieces. Her classmates' parents apparently ignore the round-the-clock abuse of their children's smartphones, using the devices as electronic babysitters.  Trying to inject the slightest bit of common sense has made me look like some kind of obsessive villain.  All I ever wanted was to keep our home relatively free of outside distractions so she can maintain her excellent study habits.

To sum it up, I'm angry that I have to spend this much time policing my child's use of her smartphone.  I thought Smart Limits would allow me some control, but when it comes to the iPhone, it has definitely proven a less-than-adequate feature and certainly isn't worth the additional charge on an already overinflated phone bill.  AT&T needs to go back to the drawing board with this feature in order to justify the expense and the effort involved in using Smart Limits.

[queenofgeek]

Yes, why won't Smart Limits work with the iPhone?  Apparently it used to, but it looks like AT&T stopped keeping up with the OS updates ... is there an app out there that will maybe do what AT&Ts Smart Limits doesn't?

[abenusa]

If the WiFi on the iPhone is being abused at home, go into you wireless router settings and do various restrictions there.

[catfight23]

Disconnecting the router won't help because they still have access via the 3G network. I am also disgusted that Smart Limits does not work on the iphone. It was a wonderful tool with a non-smart phone.

The iphone is like teenager "crack" and our daughter's grades are dropping because she can't self-regulate as she should.

Our only alternative now seem to be to suspend service and that inconveniences us when we can't reach her.

[pam924]

I am so glad I am not the only one with this problem.  I too bought an Iphone for my son, age 14 and the data usage has gone through the roof. I called AT&T an hour ago and guess what?  Smart limits won't help me at all with the Iphone...I took it away from him last night for not doing homework and now I can't reach him since I have the phone....I don't understand why these phones can't be monitored, so now I will give it back to him and add time of day restrictions for homework time, chores, etc.  I agree with the earlier post that I will probably spend most of my time activating/deactivating the time restrictions on the phone because of this deficiency in the smart limits system...he watched videos, streamed music and watched a movie and that sent me over the 2Gig in less than two weeks....I have zero control with the iphone....

[JFizDaWiz]

If your child can't be responsible for their phone usage they don't deserve a phone to be honest

[jandascott]

Obviously you don't have teenagers!

[emsknapp]

REALLY????  This is how an AT&T employee replies to one of their "valued" customers?  How about a proper response that actually shows that AT&T gives some small regard to thier customers   - something like "We are sorry for the inconvenience.  We would like very much to accomodate our customers' needs and we hope to have this feature back in the near future".  That would be a proper, RESPECTFUL response, but i am learning that is so not AT&Ts MO. 

AT&T is the one that put this Community Support Forum up. Did they think they would not get requests and complaints from customers as well as questions?  DId they not train their employees on what proper customer support actually is?  We have been with AT&T for over 6 years (why so long, i am beginning to wonder) and in the past usually didn't get this kind of rude response but it seems to be changing into the norm lately. 

By the way.  my Smart Limits feature also suddenly disappeared off my MyWireless login since we got the iphone for that line, but of course they continue to charge me.  Looking like a refund coming my way.

Please get it together AT&T.  Customers experiences with you have increasingly become very disappointing.

[KalinaKM]

It has been absolutely unhelpful!  Att needs to fix the smart limit issues with the iphone - otherwise you should have the smart limits program for free because its literally useless if it doesnt work on the iphone.  AT&T is happy to sell our teenagers an iphone and we have to be the parents to keep watch over their content and usage - we cannot be constantly with those teenagers.  Please tell the smart limits developers that they need to get to work on this functionality of the iphone and its ability to bypass every restriction. 

Thank you!

[iolisx]

I have found out the hard way that smart limits does not work for iphone data although the att sales people told us it would. After calling ATT about this issue and explaining that we were mislead by the sales people about the smart limits working for the iphone data usage the only answer I got was I had 30 days to return the phone and I could pay for more data. So now IM stuck paying for a phone with a feature I was LIED to about from an ATT sales person.

[G6x]

Children do not belong having iphones to begin with. Get them a crappy nokia or Samsung, they can get a iphone when they have a job and can pay for it. Just my 2cents.

[area51x]

Listen everyone. None of you are addressing the real issue which is setting the iPhone restrictions directly within the phone itself. Just set the parental restrictions so they can't install any new apps. 

I have the AT&T smart restrictions set but also within the iphone I have safari, youtube, itunes, installing and deleting apps, explicit language, camera, facetime, email and multiplayer games turned off.

You just have to be smarter than your kid.

[belldandy112]

Exactly. Buying an iPhone for a teen so you can "get in touch with them" is like buying them a brand new Jaguar convertible so they can drive themselves to school. If your kid racks up $$$ in overages and you, parents, do nothing about it except complain about the bottom line on your bill, it's on YOU.

I ran into a similar situation when I put a family member on my cell phone plan. Big mistake from Day One. After receiving email notifications Every. Other. Day. that FM was surpassing her allotted data usage, the iPhone was replaced with a basic model that makes and receives calls/text messages. No guilt. None.

AT&T's initial solution was Smart Controls, and I quickly found out that this service did not work on the iPhone. I was then advised to upgrade my data plan. Given the level of overages FM had, I would have had to upgrade to unlimited, and I can tell you that was not going to happen. Because I cannot afford it, and I know this.

I use *maybe* 20 percent of my data plan each month, so prudent people can stay within their usage amount. But one thing this has taught me is that when someone isn't paying for their own cell phone service, they can and will take advantage of it. If your kid wants an iPhone so they can download apps or play around on the Internet, tell them to get a part-time job and pay for it themselves.

[mejoey1]

Go to walmart and buy a go phone for $17. Then you can talk to them and not have to pay for the extra data package just the $9.99 add a lines until the kids can obey their parents.

[mejoey1]

The windows 8 has smart controls 

Safety first

Windows 8 comes with parental controls that enable separate user accounts for each kid in a family on which parents can impose separate restrictions. So, for example, different children can be allowed more or less time playing "World of Warcraft," according to the Building Windows 8 blog.

The monitoring and control capabilities -- what Microsoft calls family safety features -- also generate reports about what each child has been up to online, including time spent online broken down by days, top applications used, websites visited and searches made.

It's a one-way street; the kids can't access parents' emails and can customize their own accounts, within restrictions, without affecting their parents' settings.

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2012/052112-windows8-update-259479.html?page=2

[denisegregory3]

Wow and you guys are the adults??? Whats funny is those same kids you're saying shouldnt have phones that THEIR PARENTS bought them probably know more about how to block and unblock the controls better than all of you lol. And honestly this isnt about children what about the GROWN adults like myself who have an iphone and WORK FULL TIME to pay the i dont know $150 a month (not including the two-three hundred bucks for the actual iphone) for the services? I think if im paying $200 bucks for a phone and an additional $150/mo for the services i should at least have the same service available to me and my iphone that the person with the crappy nokia has..bet that crappy nokia wasnt no $200 so whats special about that phone?? and cmon people 41-50% (2011) of ADULTS own iphones so dont you think it would be beneficial not only for the customer but for ATT"S business as well to put a Smart limits plan together for the iphone users?? um yeah it would and it doesnt matter who or what age of person has the darn thing..last time i checked PARENTS have rights as well as responsibilities..its their god given right to purchase whatever the they want for their child in addition to that one of their responsibilities is to protect them...all a parent wants for their child is safety and these days it is IMPERATIVE to have those Smart Limit services no matter what phone you or your kids have especially considering how much the iphone costs...i mean seriously as much technology as we have in the world these days and u cant even create a parental control plan for the most purchased/used phone in the US? oh no..never that but they can set up data plans that cost even more then the old plans?? Seems pretty ignorant and cheap on  ATT's part. Oh and PS..all of you people on here hating on kids and teenagers..listen just because your parents didnt care about you and your safety and couldnt afford NICE  things when you were young doesnt mean EVERYONE has to be cheap. This is  probably why the older generation is so rude, stingy, and opinionated..{word filter evasion}..and trust me we all have one already we do not need yours..[Per Guidelines:  Keep it Relevant and Appropriate].

[AnnB1211]

Smart Limits feature does not work on smart phones. The are plenty of phones that can be used for texting and calling and are non-smart phones. You can always add a data block and a purchase blocker. Apple products have options for parental controls as well. Smart Limits can still be used to set time if day restrictions as well as setting a list of allowed numbers. Unfortunately, those are the only options at this time.

[fatbatwing]

ATT should do more for us {word filter evasion} off and at wits end for all this B/S that they charge us for.........comon sense ????
Do any of your programers have some?

[fatbatwing]

I am 50 years old and used to build my own computers when you prolly weren"t even born yet.........
Smart limits sucks and you know it...!!!!

[fatbatwing]

My kids will have the latest tech. tools........
There is a huge safety benefit and they will excell over all other kids that limit knowledge ............

[fatbatwing]

How do you stop these bullies from polluting the minds of the should be smarter.......

[fatbatwing]

Still paying for services that dont service ???

[ljbotero]

I found an app on the Android called cBlocker. It let's you create a black and white list for phones and SMS messages. That way you can at least limit somehow your calls and texts. It also lets you control other phones remotely 

[rsoaker27]

iphone blows...greatest feature on Samsung Galaxy Note is the reject feature..automatically blocks all unknown callers and i can manually add numbers that bother me. Every phone should have this feature.

[satyr9]

So far, all SAMSUNG phones in our family have had individual no. blocking, as well as Unknown Caller blocking.