kids' phones

This Dad’s App Freezes Kids’ Phones Until They Text Parents Back

Kids these days have no problems responding to texts. Unless, of course, those texts are from their parents. One creative and technologically-gifted Dad has effectively solved that problem.

Nick Herbert was tired of never hearing back from his son Ben after texting him, so he created the app ReplyASAP. The app works this way: First, a parent sends a text. Next, the receiver's phone freezes and an alarm goes off. If the kid wants to get the use of their phone back, they must reply.

The app is helpful because it allows kids' phones to stay on silent without missing any texts from parents.

"My son has an iPhone, but I still can't get hold of him very easily as it's always on silent because he is planning games or has been at school and forgotten to turn the sound back on," Herbert told Good Housekeeping. "There didn't seem to be a solution out there that allowed me to send a message to him, that would override the silent function, appear over whatever he was doing and tell me when he had seen it."

Currently, ReplyASAP is only available for Android. However, a similar iOS app, IgnoreNoMore, allows parents to lock an unresponsive child's phone remotely until they get in touch.

Now Watch: Can You Guess These Country Stars from Their Childhood Photos?