Blocking ringtone/game downloads on XT phones... possible?

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Blocking ringtone/game downloads on XT phones... possible?

Kyanar

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#101036 23-Apr-2012 20:48

Is it possible to block the ability to download games and ringtones on XT without affecting the ability to access the internet in general (for example for mobile banking)? Someone (not me) in the family has just gotten a $300 bill due to kids downloading games and they want to be able to block those from occurring again. So, can do? No?

andyb

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#614114 24-Apr-2012 08:35

Hi - no its not possible at a product level.

There are other solutions however - what sort of phone do they have?

They MAY be able to change the APN if its a feature phone to use either the WAP APN without the proxy or the internet APN - If its an Android phone then changing this won't prevent downloads.

Alternatively they could apply a key lock to the handset if they are using someone else handset.

andyb

Kyanar

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#614533 24-Apr-2012 20:19

Blast. Off the top of my head, I can't recall the type. It's a low end smartphone, but not Android. So if we change it to use the internet APN it won't work on T-World? Hmm, that could be a good start, not sure if she actually uses it to check her account - I think that still works with Your Telecom though... hmm indeed. That won't stop those silly sites like waptrick and the like though.

Not sure why it's not something that can be done by Telecom though - seems the phone providers give you lots of ways to spend money but not a lot of ways to manage spend.

oxnsox

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#614584 24-Apr-2012 21:21

Kyanar:Not sure why it's not something that can be done by Telecom though the phone providers give you lots of ways to spend money but not a lot of ways to manage spend.

And you wouldn't want to be responsible for your own spending.....would you?

Kyanar

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#614759 25-Apr-2012 09:06

oxnsox:
Kyanar:Not sure why it's not something that can be done by Telecom though the phone providers give you lots of ways to spend money but not a lot of ways to manage spend.

And you wouldn't want to be responsible for your own spending.....would you?

You would want the provider to offer ways to responsibly manage spending, yes. Like toll bars on landlines. Or 0900 call bars, the equivalent of which on a mobile would be blocking premium text and content downloads - which they don't allow you to do.

I don't believe your snarky comment worked the way you wanted it to.

chevrolux

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#614808 25-Apr-2012 11:15

Don't let kids play with the smart phone then. Or, let them play with it and if they download stuff give them a hiding, or a stern telling off if you are sue bradford.
Like oxnsox says, got to be responsible for your own spending. Do you expect them to offer the same sort of controls on your home internet? Should they be putting 'toll bars' on trademe, ebay? The internet on your smartphone is just the same as on the computer. It isn't made to be controlled.

andyb

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#614909 25-Apr-2012 13:53

Kyanar: Blast. Off the top of my head, I can't recall the type. It's a low end smartphone, but not Android. So if we change it to use the internet APN it won't work on T-World? Hmm, that could be a good start, not sure if she actually uses it to check her account - I think that still works with Your Telecom though... hmm indeed. That won't stop those silly sites like waptrick and the like though.

For non smartphones it should prevent access to ringtones, games, app downloads from TWorld yes, but it won't impact access to Your Telecom. I can't guarantee it won't impact things like mms, without knowing the handtype make and model - it shouldnt do however.

It won't prevent access to sites like waptrick as you say, that's pretty hard to manage at an individual user level, there's also alot of sites out there that offer content - for that I would recommend limiting access to the phone and utilizing phone locks.

andyb

Kyanar

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#615285 26-Apr-2012 09:23

It's one of those Samsung GTS-somethings. From having a go with it, I've managed to "break" the ability to download content from T-World (gets a "billing cannot be processed") by changing to the internet APN, unfortunately that breaks access to 0.facebook.com as well (excessive use of Facebook by another of the kids who used the regular Facebook was another problem).

As a side note, I was horrified to discover that this model of phone doesn't even have the capacity to lock the phone and require a PIN. Turning on every PIN lock option there was, it still did not require PIN entry to unlock the keypad.

@chevrolux: I came here to ask a technical question to see if there is a technical solution, not to listen to lectures from holier-than-thou posters who I can only imagine don't actually have kids (even I do not, which is why I refrained from making comments to her such as you are making myself). And need I remind you that "giving them a hiding" is actually assault, and a criminal offense? (Thanks Sue Bradford!)

Ladt but not least, I would also point out that my ISP doesn't offer me a convenient bookmark to give them an extra $3-$5 to download wallpapers and music files, so drawing a parallel to my home internet connection is a little disingenuous.

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andyb

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#615336 26-Apr-2012 11:27

Kyanar: It's one of those Samsung GTS-somethings. From having a go with it, I've managed to "break" the ability to download content from T-World (gets a "billing cannot be processed") by changing to the internet APN, unfortunately that breaks access to 0.facebook.com as well (excessive use of Facebook by another of the kids who used the regular Facebook was another problem).

As a side note, I was horrified to discover that this model of phone doesn't even have the capacity to lock the phone and require a PIN. Turning on every PIN lock option there was, it still did not require PIN entry to unlock the keypad.

Yes - changing the apn will prevent access to 0.facebook on devices.

Can't comment on the key lock without knowing the actual model.

andyb

Kyanar

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#615463 26-Apr-2012 14:23

andyb:

Yes - changing the apn will prevent access to 0.facebook on devices.

Can't comment on the key lock without knowing the actual model.

Got it - it's a GT-S5603. I still can't find anything about how you can require a passcode to unlock it. Quite old though, so I can't imagine too many people still have any knowledge slushing around about them. Maybe it's time to get her an iPhone or Android for her next birthday or something, with all the cool restrictions and controls you can set up on them.

andyb

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#615479 26-Apr-2012 15:15

Got it - it's a GT-S5603. I still can't find anything about how you can require a passcode to unlock it. Quite old though, so I can't imagine too many people still have any knowledge slushing around about them. Maybe it's time to get her an iPhone or Android for her next birthday or something, with all the cool restrictions and controls you can set up on them.

Better still, I checked on the one in my cupboard.

You are correct, you can't assign a lock that requires a pin entry to access the phone that activates after a period in inactivity.
You can assign screenlocks and phone locks, but they don't relock or require pin entry.

Sorry I haven't been able to provide a complete solution - perhaps she needs to dock the pocket money of the offender until the debt is paid off - that may provide some deterrence in the future.

andyb

Kyanar

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#615521 26-Apr-2012 16:24

She's definitely doing that, yup :) I was hoping there was a solution we could use to prevent the whole $300 phone bill event from happening at all though. I guess I can suggest she call Telecom and set up a credit limit (those work with data too, right?)