Time limit for category not just individual app
Answered
Hi there - I would find it so helpful if there were a way of setting a time limit for a category as well as individual apps... It would be great to be able to set it so that my son can have e.g. 1 hour of gaming on a weekday. If I set 1 hour of roblox, and 1 hour of fortnite, and 1 hour of another game he could spend 3 hours gaming, which isn't what I'd like...
Thanks!
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For now (as of June 2024) is not possible to limit category. The reason is that categories are relatively big, and behaviors of apps within categories (such as gaming) can be so many things. So to do everything accurately is not yet possible. And this is the reason we went focus on individual apps.
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Thanks very much for your response, which I very much understand. It just seems to me that at the moment I can block gaming activity and then pause the block for a particular period of time, which is nearly what I need but not quite. To have it blocked but to be able to allow a, say, two hour pause on the block each day would be very helpful. I understand it's not possible at the moment and that it may never be possible, but I do think it's worth considering.
Thanks!
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If this can be added or allow for us to create Groups of apps that we can then set a Time limit on would be great. I want to block certain games and video services for a single time limit. Adding the ability to create groups of applications on which we can set a time limit would greatly help with parental control.
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OP I'm coming here to second this. @firewalla, is there no way to just do a wholesale schedule for "internet shut down"? I'm migrating from Google Family Link as I don't need it anymore thanks for FW and off prem re-routing back to my home network via VPN...however one thing that's missing is screen time limits. This could be accomplished if there was the introduction (to I think OP's point) of a schedule for internet access. So instead of me hitting the button for "internet off" it just "turns off" after a certain amount of time (or if not possible, then only during certain hours).
If this was possible, then step 2 would be to create an "allow only" rule, so basic functionality still remains (ie only allow google messages).
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This is the first thing I attempted to do once my Firewalla gold was setup. I have to say I'm disappointed it's not a feature. Limiting apps separately is basically an invitation to use all those apps for that allotted. I want to be able to bundle video watching/gaming under a single time limit so that once that single time limit is up my kids can get of their devices and find something else to do.
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The issue is the accuracy of measuring everything.
Meaning, it is infinitly harder to accurately detect how long gaming is, comparing to a specific game. That accuracy is so big, it may eventually make the kid mad. (yes, we try these things on our kids)
So until, the "gaming" measurement magic, using indivitual apps is a "fair" way to restrict kids' happiness
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Thank you. For me the workaround is to have gaming permanently blocked and then to allow it for a specific amount of time when my son wants to start - but that is very much a workaround rather than a solution, for two reasons: 1 it needs me to be around and ready to temporarily unblock gaming, and 2 it means he has to do his gaming in one go, whereas i'd much rather he were able to be more flexible with how he uses the budgeted time.
Clearly there are reasons why this is so difficult to implement, otherwise it already would have been. However given that both apple and windows can manage it it can't be impossible...
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But if you have kids you must also realise that if left unmonitored a limit for each individual app is an invitation to use all those apps up to their limits which probably involves spending considerably longer online that you would like them to be.
I've been a software developer for 25 years. This doesn't seem like a far stretch from what you currently have. Of course, I can see why it would be problematic to have a time limit for a broad category like gaming. But if you can limit individual apps, why can't we just select multiple apps and have those just be summed together? Even if it's slightly inaccurate it would be better than individual limits. The whole reason I wanted something like this was so there could be boundaries in place, without me having to be on top of it all the time.
I don't mind the odd request for more time on certain things if they are in the middle of something or have extra time some day, but I don't want to be pestered about time limits every day.
I'm thinking the best approach with the current limitations is just to provide windows throughout the day where they can access videos/games/online. But this has the problem that Henry noted above where they have to use all their time in one block rather than being flexible. And will require me to make a whole load of rules around their schedules.
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I'm not really interested in gaming because the consoles in our household already have adequate parent controls. I'm more interested in the apps you already have time limiting ability bundled together into one aggregate time. If it's off by 25% it would be better than setting up a time limit for each service and then the aggregate being the total of all the time limits.
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We are building "internet" usage now. if this works, then we probably can do video too. I'll give the feedback and let the team know you guys are okay with error rate 30%
Edit: if you are interested in "internet" time limits, please refer to this Feature Request: https://help.firewalla.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/31554452570899-Set-time-limit-for-internet-access
Please upvote and comment on your use case so it can get more attention from our dev team. Thanks!
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Error rate is fine just being able to do a catagory and keep it unstable is perfect. If you have a targeted application we should be able to put a catagory there. What I have now is I can set Roblox for 45 minutes then I have to turn off gaming. Or just give them time when they ask. But when I am on a roadtrip I want to block after an hour or so with having to give permission to something over and over again. Anything even 30% miss is better than nothing.
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Fully agree — this feature is very important.
I’m absolutely fine with inaccuracy, as long as it’s clearly communicated in the UI when enabling the rule (e.g. “estimated time, may be off by ~30%”).
Having aggregated time limits across multiple apps or categories is far more valuable than perfectly accurate per-app limits. Even with a 25–30% error margin, it’s still much better than today’s situation where individual limits effectively encourage using all apps to their maximum.
Clear expectations > perfect accuracy.
Please consider moving forward with this, even as an “estimated / best-effort” feature.
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