SkieOSAndroid device owner versus Family Link: which does an institution need?
Family Link is a consumer parental-control tool for individual families. Device-owner management is built for organisations that need structure, role-based access and rules enforced at system level across many devices. Institutions generally need the second.
What each is designed for
Family Link is Google's parental-control service for managing a child's account and device within a family. Device-owner management is how organisations control the devices they own at scale.
Side by side
| Question | Family-style parental controls | Device-owner management |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Individual families | Schools, hostels, companies |
| Structure | One parent, one or more children | Organisation, school, branch, class |
| Roles | Parent | Teacher, head, principal, owner and more |
| Enforcement | Account and app level | System level, set at device setup |
| Bulk changes | Per child | Whole class, branch or organisation |
| Licensing | Consumer | Seat-based for organisations |
When each is the right choice
A parent supervising one or two children at home may be well served by consumer tools. A school with hundreds of devices needs rules that reach every device at once, differ by group, and cannot be removed by a student. See what MDM is for schools.
The deciding questions
- Do you need different people to manage different groups?
- Do you need rules that hold even if a student tries to reset the device?
- Do you need to change apps for an entire class in one step?
- Do you need to know straight away if someone tampers with a device?
Frequently asked questions
Can a school use Family Link?
Family Link is designed for families, not for the structure and roles a school needs. Schools generally use organisation-grade device management instead.
Is device-owner management harder to set up?
It needs devices to be set up once through enrolment, but after that groups and rules apply automatically.
Does SkieOS also work for parents?
Yes. SkieOS has a parent product as well as an enterprise one.