FUNAMO

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Frequently Asked Questions

General

What mobile platforms does Funamo support?

Funamo currently supports all Android devices and devices based on Android such as Amazon Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD and B&N Nook HD tablets. The application for Android devices can be downloaded from Google Play Store on your mobile devices. Kindle Fire version can be downloaded from Parental control for Kindle Fire page. And Nook HD version can be downloaded from Nook Shop on your Nook HD devices.

How much does Funamo cost? Do I have to pay a monthly fee?

Funamo comes with a two-day evaluation so you can try it out. If it meets your needs, you can simply click "Purchase Funamo Now!" in Funamo application to purchase a valid license. Or you can purchase a license directly from our website.

Funamo is priced at $19.99 and it will protect your device for as long as you own it. There is NO subscription, NO monthly/annual fees. For as little as the price of a book, now you can get peace of mind with your kids' mobile devices knowing that they are protected. Please note that Funamo license is on a per-device basis, meaning you need to purchase a separate license for each device that you want Funamo to protect.

What's the difference between Funamo Parental Control and Funamo Accountability?

Funamo Parental Control and Funamo Accountability app have basically the same feature set with only minor wording differences. Funamo Parental Control is meant for parents protecting their kids and Funamo Accountability is for adults using it for themselves. You only need one or the other, and do NOT install both on the same device. In our future releases, we may add different features to them depending on the use cases. Funamo license applies to both apps.

Setup Funamo

What are the differences between Easy-Setup mode and Advanced mode for internet filtering?

Easy-Setup mode is recommended in general. It uses Funamo Safe Browser to avoid setting proxies at the system level and it is more secure as well. Funamo Safe Browser is based on the default Android browser and therefore it provides exactly the same features as the default browser but with the safe browsing features hardened. After Funamo Safe Browser is working on your device, please check "Block other browsers" under Account settings to automatically block all other browsers except for Funamo Safe Browser.

If you would like to use the default browser or third-party browsers such as Dolphin HD or Skyfire, you can use Advanced mode and manually setup network proxies at the system level. Please note that the setup for system proxies differs based on the device models, Android versions and carriers. Some devices may not support manual proxy setting. Detailed instructions for both modes can be found at Funamo Parental Control for Android instructions.

Do I need to sign up again if I am trying to setup a second device?

No, you don't. You can simply login with the email/password you created when you were setting up your first device. Funamo wizard will walk you through the steps to register your device.

How can I make sure Funamo is always running on my kid's device?

After you enable Funamo protection by clicking Start Funamo, Funamo will always be running in the background (you will see the dark-blue Funamo logo on the notification bar). Even if the device is rebooted, Funamo will automatically restart itself when the device is turned back on.

Funamo also uploads device history data to the server on a daily basis. The time stamp of the last update is shown on the webpage. If you have not seen the data updated as expected, you may check your kid's device to see if Funamo is still running properly.

How do I remove all data from Funamo server when I uninstall Funamo?

Before you uninstall Funamo, you can unregister the device by going to Funamo -> Account settings -> Unregister this device. By unregistering the device, you remove all data associated with this device from Funamo server. If you already uninstalled Funamo without unregistering the device, you can login to your account online and remove the device data under Manage Devices tab.

My kid uninstalled/stopped Funamo. How can I prevent him/her from doing it?

Funamo by default protects the Settings app and Google Play Store so your kid cannot stop or uninstall it without your password. So please don't forget to turn Funamo protection on before you give the device to your kids.

Some devices may have a special uninstaller or a shortcut to uninstall or stop apps without opening Settings. For example, Samsung devices have their own TouchWiz interface which has a menu item to uninstall apps directly. If this is the case, you can enable Funamo as Device Administrator to prevent user from uninstalling Funamo without your password. Simply open Funamo and go to Account settings, check "Enable Device Admin" option. For better security, you may also consider enabling "Protect Device Admin" which prevents deactivating Funamo device admin in the Settings app while Funamo protection is on. If you want to uninstall Funamo later, please make sure that you deactivate it by unchecking both "Enable Device Admin" and "Protect Device Admin".

Funamo is not automatically restarting itself upon reboot. What could be wrong?

Please make sure that

Funamo protection is enabled when you reboot your device. When Funamo is enabled, you should see a dark-blue F logo on your notification bar. If you expand the notification bar, you should see "Funamo protection is on". If Funamo protection is not on when you reboot your device, it will not automatically enable the protection. This is to prevent kids from turning Funamo back on by simply rebooting the device. If Funamo protection has been turned off for whatever reason, it can be turned back on only if you have the password.
Also please do NOT move Funamo Parental Control to SD card after installation. Applications on the SD card can't restart automatically.

How can I change my password?

You can change your password either from the device or from the web. It is simpler to change your password from the device. You can open Funamo on your device (stop Funamo if it is currently running). Then click Account settings -> Change password and enter your new password. Now you can use your new password on both the device and the web. You may also change the password on the web under your profile. After you change your password online, please make sure that you check "Changed email or password online" next time you try to login on the device to ensure consistency between the device and the server.

You can also request a password reset on the web if you completely forget your password and cannot login on either the device or the web. A randomly generated password will be sent to your email. After you receive the email, please start Funamo on your device and enter your email and the new password you get in the email. Please check "Changed email or password online" to ensure consistency between the device and the server. After you login, you can go to Account settings -> Change password to change the password to something that is easier for you to remember. Now you can use your new password on both the device and the web.

What happens when Funamo releases a new update on Google Play Store?

Funamo regularly releases new versions on Google Play Store for bug fixes and new features. If you have enabled "Allow automatic updating" for Funamo in Google Play Store, Funamo will be automatically updated and restarted if

You have purchased a Funamo license for the device
Funamo protection is enabled when the automatic update happens

Otherwise, Funamo will be updated but it will not be automatically restarted and it will be in the protection off mode after the update.

If you have any problem with automatic update, you may disable automatic update for Funamo in Google Play Store (the checkbox for Allow automatic updating is on Funamo page in Google Play Store) and do a manual update when you see a new version is available.

Funamo Features

Why are Settings and Google Play Store password protected by default? How can I allow basic settings and access to Play Store without my password?

Settings and Google Play Store are password protected to prevent kids from forcing stop or uninstalling Funamo Parental Control or Funamo Accountability.

If you would like to allow basic settings without password protection, we recommend that you use either the notification shortcuts for newer Android models or a setting widget. If your device is running Android 4.0 or later, you can find shortcuts to some basic settings such as turning on/off WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS and adjusting brightness from the notification bar. Most Android devices also come with a widget called Power control or you can find similar widgets on Android Market/Google Play Store. For example, Widgetsoid and Elixir are free and they allow many setting features without opening up the Settings app. For Kindle Fire, the basic settings are also available from the notificaton bar.

Regarding connecting to open WiFi hotspots, if you are using Funamo Safe Browser, we would recommend apps such as WiFi Manager which allows complete WiFi settings. However, we do not recommend it if you are using Advanced mode because it can be used to reset the proxy and bypass Funamo filter. For Advanced mode, WiFi settings should always be protected. We recommend that you connect to all the WiFi hotspots that your kids normally use, such as home, school, library, Starbucks, McDonalds, etc. Then the hotspots will be remembered by Android and listed under WiFi Settings. You can set proxy for all of them and then enable Funamo protection. The next time when the device is in the WiFi range, it will automatically connect.

If you would like to allow kids to access Google Play Store or Settings, you can do so under Account settings. We highly recommend that you check "Enable Device Admin" and "Protect Device Admin" option. "Protect Device Admin" prevents deactivating Funamo device admin while Funamo protection is on. If you want to uninstall Funamo later, please make sure that you deactivate it by unchecking both "Enable Device Admin" and "Protect Device Admin".

What's your recommendation on how to handle Youtube?

In general, you can allow the Youtube app but enable SafeSearch to block out inappropriate content.

Enable SafeSearch on Youtube application. You can do it by opening Funamo app, then go to Internet filtering -> Set Youtube filter, which will give you step by step instruction on how to enable safeSearch. Once you click OK, it will bring you to Youtube app where you can change the settings. Once you are done, you can click back button to return to Funamo. (Funamo, when enabled, automatically protects Youtube settings page so that it can't be changed without your password)
Now Youtube app has safeSearch enabled, we can add youtube.com to the blacklist so kids can't access it through the browser. You can do it by going to Internet filtering -> Add website blacklist. Click add and enter youtube.com, then click OK.

If you would like to complete block Youtube vedio all together, you can do the following:

Add Youtube app to the protected list so it always requires your password to launch. You can do it by opening Funamo app, then go to Protected apps, click Select applications. Then select Youtube app from the list, then click Save button.
Add youtube.com to blacklist as we described above.

With Funamo enabled, I could still see inappropriate sites in my Google/Youtube search results. What was wrong?

Google search may be using local cache and local history. Please clear cache and history in the browser. You can do it under browser's Settings -> Privacy & security. Funamo uses Google safeSearch to filter out inappropriate content for search. You can test it by typing playboy in the search after you have cleared cache and history. You should see no result.

For Youtube video search, first please make sure that you set Search settings -> SafeSearch filtering to Strict. Then Click Search settings -> Clear search history. After you have done both, you can test it by searching Playboy and it should show "No videos found".

I just setup my device, but I don't see any history data on the web. What should I do?

Once Funamo is setup and enabled, all activities are logged automatically. You can access the history both on the device and on the web. The history data on the device is real-time, but we only upload the history data to the server once a day between midnight and 5am to minimize the impact on your regular use because sometime the history data can be big depending on your usage.

But you can always do a manual sync either on the device or from the web. On the phone, please go to Funamo->Account settings->Manually sync with server. On the web site, please select the device on the right hand side and click Synchronize with device button. To sync from the web site, Google push has to be registered when you initially set up Funamo. Or you can go to Funamo->Account settings-> Register push service to do it after your initial setup. Please note that sync from the web may not work if the device is turned off or the device does not have a working internet connection. Sometimes when Google push server is busy, it may also postpone the push notification to a later time.

If you are using Funamo 2.0 or later, the location data is uploaded to Funamo server in real time. All other device data such as calls/SMS/web/application are still uploaded each night.

I don't see any location information online. Is there anything I need to do?

Please make sure that you enable either mobile location service or GPS location service. Please open Settings, then under Location services, please make sure that either Google's location service or GPS satellites is selected. Google location service uses mobile network. It is not as accurate as GPS but it consumes much less battery power. On the other hand, GPS is very accurate but consumes more power.

Now every time when I try to open Funamo Browser, it forces close. What's the problem?

Most likely, it is due to an Android system upgrade on your device. Funamo browser app is different for different Android OS versions. So if Android is upgraded by your carrier or manufacturer over the air, Funamo Browser is no long compatible. If this is the case, please uninstall Funamo Browser and re-install it from Google Play Store. If you continue to have the problem, please contact us at support@funamo.com.

Now every time when I try to open a web link, I get the Funamo login screen. What's the problem?

First of all, make sure that Funamo Browser is not in the protected, time-limited or time allowance list.

If you still get the login page, most likely, it is because you have selected the built-in browser as the default for the action to open any web link. Since now you are blocking the built-in browser, you would get the Funamo login page. To solve it, please open Settings then go to Apps (or Applications->Manage Applications for some models). Swipe left until you see "ALL" tab. Select the built-in default Android browser from the list. Scroll down and you should see a button called "Clear Default". Click it to clear the default. Now try to open any web link, you should get a popup asking you which browser to use. Please check "Use by default for this action" and click Funamo Browser. Now it will default to use Funamo browser to open links rather than the built-in browser.

Does Funamo support Google Now Voice Search?

Google Now Voice search feature was introduced in Android 4.1 Jelly Bean in June 2012. It is similar to Apple's Siri voice assistance feature. However in Android 4.1, the SafeSearch feature is missing. Google added SafeSearch setting in their Android 4.2.1 update. So first, please make sure that you update your OS to 4.2.1 or later. Open Funamo on your device and go to Internet filtering section. Click "Set Google Now filter" and it will guide you to set SafeSearch filter. Once Funamo protection is enabled, the Settings page is protected by Funamo and it cannot be accessed without the password. If your device is still on 4.1 and does not have 4.2 update, you may put Google Search in the protected app list so it cannot be accessed without your password.

Does Funamo support the multiple account feature in Android 4.2.1?

Android 4.2.1 starts to support multiple accounts on the same device. Currently you can only run one copy of Funamo on the device. The web filtering should work on all accounts because the WiFi network settings are shared. The application control would only work for the account where Funamo is installed. So in another word, only one account gets all features of Funamo, and all other accounts only get web filtering. So we would recommend that you have one account for kids and one account for adults. You should have Funamo parental control installed on the kids' account. We will continue to see how we can improve Funamo with regard to multiple account support in our future releases.

When I try to deactivate Funamo as device admin, the screen is locked and now it asks for password to access the device. What's the password?

This is a new security feature that we introduced in Funamo 2.0. It is called "Protect Device Admin" which can be turned on/off under Account settings (the default is off). It is designed to prevent user from deactivating Funamo Device Admin while Funamo protection is on. The password to get back to your device is funamo1234. Once you login, you can change the screen lock password or set it to none in the Settings app.

The correct way to deactivate Funamo as device admin is login your Funamo app and click Stop Funamo to stop Funamo protection first. Then go to Account settings and uncheck Enable Device Admin.

For Advanced-Mode Only

After uninstalling Funamo, my internet connection does not work. I think it is due to the proxy settings I did. How can I reset the proxy settings?

You should change the proxy host and proxy port back to the default. If you set proxy manually for your WiFi network, you can set proxy settings back to None. If you were using Funamo Proxy Settings app, please start Funamo Proxy Settings, then click Set mobile data network proxy button. Then click either Clear or Restore defaults button in the popup dialog, then click Save. Now you should have normal internet access. If you have any problems, please contact Funamo Support.

If I am using third-party browsers such as Dolphin and Skyfire, is the web history still logged?

Web history logging only works with Funamo Safe Browser, the default built-in Android browser and Chrome browser. However the content filtering feature still works for these third-party browsers so inappropriate contents are blocked by Funamo for Advanced mode.

I am using Opera Mobile browser or Firefox Mobile browser. How do I setup proxy for it?

Unlike other browsers, Opera Mobile browser and Firefox Mobile browser do not use Android system proxy. Instead, you need to set proxy inside the browser itself. We recommend that you use Funamo Safe Browser which does not require any proxy settings and provides exactly the same feature as the stock browser (See Easy-setup Mode). However, if you want to use Opera or Firefox instead, here are the detailed instructions for both browsers:

	Opera Mobile:			Firefox Mobile:
	Start Opera Mobile browser Type opera:config into the address bar then press enter Scroll down the page until you get to Proxy and click it to display the settings Scroll down again until you get to HTTP server and HTTPS server and in these two fields type 127.0.0.1:8998 Scroll down more until you get to Use HTTP and Use HTTPS and check both boxes Click Save			Start Firefox Mobile browser Type "about:config" in the address bar and press return Type "proxy.http" into the search box on the about:config page Tap on "network.proxy.http" and type 127.0.0.1 into the text box. Tap on "network.proxy.http_port" and type 8998 into the number box Type "network.proxy.type" into the search box on the about:config page Tap on "network.proxy.type" and input the number 1 or select the down button until you reach 1

Misc.

What is proxy and how do I set it for internet filtering?

For general users, we recommend the Easy-Setup mode with Funamo Safe Browser. If you are an advanced user and would like to use third-party browsers, such as Dolphin, Skyfire, with Funamo internet filtering, you need to set network proxies at the system level. A proxy forces all web traffic to go through the Funamo internet content filter.

If you decide to use Easy-Setup mode, please follow instructions for Easy-Setup mode. If you want to try the Advanced mode, please follow instructions for Advanced mode.

How can I find out which Android version my device is running?

Please go to System Settings -> About phone. Then look for Android version or Firmware version.

I am using Funamo on my Nexus 7 and now it blocks Chrome browser. What's the problem?

We released the new Funamo Safe Browser for Android version 4.2 on Feb. 25th, 2013. And at the same time, we pushed out an update for Funamo Parental Control and Funamo Accountability to better support the new Funamo Safe Browser. If you are existing Funamo user on Nexus 7, and you have checked "Block other browsers" under Account settings, you will see Chrome browser is now blocked by Funamo. We recommend that you migrate to Funamo Safe Browser which offers the following advantages

No need to set proxy for each network connection (each WiFi hotspot and mobile network)
You can allow your kid to connect to open WiFi without worrying about losing protection (See FAQ for using WiFi manager)
Incognito mode is removed from Funamo Safe Browser
Funamo Safe Browser for Android 4.2 is based on Chrome and offer the same feature set as Chrome.

It is very easy to migrate to Funamo Safe Browser:

Reset any WiFi or mobile network proxy from Manual to None and click Save.
Download and install Funamo Safe Browser from Google Play Store
Make sure that you check "Block other browsers" under Account settings so that only Funamo Safe Browser is available to your kids.

If you still want to use the built-in Chrome browser as before, please uncheck "Block other browsers" and add other browsers to the protected app list.