iPhone for 12 year old

flantheman

I have an old iPhone 3GS which I no longer use as have an iPhone 4

I'm considering giving my 12 year old his first phone & giving him this iPhone 3 is an option but would need a SIM card.

Any advise on what to do to get a SIM card - is it as simple as going into a store and buying one for one of the networks eg Meteor.

Anything else I need to consider/watch out for?

Thanks in advance for any help.

was.deevey

I have an old iPhone 3GS which I no longer use as have an iPhone 4

I'm considering giving my 12 year old his first phone & giving him this iPhone 3 is an option but would need a SIM card.

Any advise on what to do to get a SIM card - is it as simple as going into a store and buying one for one of the networks eg Meteor.

Anything else I need to consider/watch out for?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Yep a regular sim should work just fine, just in case its network locked you'd be best getting one on the same network you are on e.g. Three, vodafone etc ..

Other Advice: Don't link your credit card to his itunes account - EVER, if he want to buy a game or something get an itunes voucher or one of those prepaid credit cards.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/02/26/apple_settles_itunes_class_action/

flantheman

I was on Vodafone but all his friends are on Meteor so can I will probably buy a Meteor prepay sim.

Also, silly question but do I need to unlock the phone before or after i buy the Sim card?

Donnelly117

More then likely, phones of that era were sill sold locked to a specific network. You can always jailbreak it anyway and unlock it that way...

guil

Vodafone will more than likely unlock it for you

hfallada

Your best sim to get for him is 48. Its 48.ie €10 a month for unlimited texts, 100 mins and some data. The network is good 98% of the time and its on the o2 network masts. You might want to get an App if there is oen available to block websites you dont want your child to see

guil

hfallada wrote: »

Your best sim to get for him is 48. Its 48.ie €10 a month for unlimited texts, 100 mins and some data. The network is good 98% of the time and its on the o2 network masts. You might want to get an App if there is oen available to block websites you dont want your child to see

Not possible with an app from the AppStore

biko

Three.ie has a filter on network level so he won't be able to see anything bad online.

Bigcheeze

biko wrote: »

Three.ie has a filter on network level so he won't be able to see anything bad online.

As do Vodafone. Vodafone blocks Boards.ie !

Piliger

I personally think an iPhone is an unsuitable thing for a 12yo. Sorry to be a prig - just a father of 21yo. No control over web access and social network access among other things.

Tazium

Vodafone don't block boards, that'd be very silly of them. I browse regularly on mine using vodafone.

You can disable a whole bunch of things by using 'restrictions', available by tapping settings, general and then restrictions. You enter a master pin and then you can turn off apps like safari, and prevent access to the app store, in-app purchases etc. That said, if you do restrict the apps and access to the internet you will reduce the experience of the device.

Good luck, great gift to pass to him. A little chat on net safety and dodgy sites etc, and you'll be grand.

ozmo

Like the others said - you can block the default safari app - here is a list of kid safe web browsers you can install instead - some free.

http://www.bewebsmart.com/ipod-ipad-iphone/kid-safe-browsers/

Piliger

ozmo wrote: »

Like the others said - you can block the default safari app - here is a list of kid safe web browsers you can install instead - some free.

http://www.bewebsmart.com/ipod-ipad-iphone/kid-safe-browsers/

I don't want to push my point at all - just to reply to this point. How would you stop him downloading Chrome or any other browser ? and using Facebook or other social network apps ?

ozmo

Piliger wrote: »

I don't want to push my point at all - just to reply to this point. How would you stop him downloading Chrome or any other browser ? and using Facebook or other social network apps ?

Websites can be blocked using those free alternative kid safe browsers - so facebook can be blocked.

And downloading new apps is one of the things you can block - so no chrome.
Password can be acquired from the parent to download new stuff on a case by case basis.


The block is pretty secure (its only 4 digit password however) - requiring a complete phone reformat (or a jailbreak) to reset it if you dont know the pin.

0ph0rce0

12 year olds are smarter than you think and will find a work around no matter what you put on it.

Its the same as an ipod touch which kids many years younger have.

Let the child be a child, if they want to see or do something they are going to do it anyway. Whats the point in giving them an iphone if you cant use nothing on it.

Just buy them a ****ty nokia

Buzz killingtons in the house