Pros & Cons
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- Browser replacement limits 2-to-10-year-olds to age-appropriate sites.
- Can give older kids more freedom.
- Kid-safe e-mail allows only preapproved contacts.
- Kids can't break out.
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- Web filtering occasionally blocked preapproved sites.
- Kids can send only e-cards, not real e-mails.
- E-mail reply function didn't work in testing.
- Small list of preapproved sites.
Hoopah Kidview Computer Explorer 6 Specs
| OS Compatibility: | Windows Vista |
| OS Compatibility: | Windows XP |
| Tech Support: | email or toll free number |
| Type: | Personal |
We all want our kids to be computer savvy, but it doesn't make sense to turn 2-year-old Timmy loose on the family computer. Murphy's Law guarantees that by randomly pounding the keyboard he'll manage to delete your files, disable Windows entirely, or end up on a shocking porn site. Hoopah Kidview Explorer 6 keeps the kids (2 to 10 years old) out of your files while entertaining them with child-safe sites. The app even includes a kid-friendly whitelist e-mail system.
On installation Hoopah prompts you to add an entry for each child, specifying his or her name, birth month, and a picture. The program-supplied pictures are somewhat odd and the selection process awkward, but fortunately you can choose one of your own pictures. Based on the child's age Hoopah configures appropriate settings; you change them later, if you wish. The Hoopah environment relies on Flash, Shockwave, and QuickTime, so the installer automates the process of installing these, if they're not present. That's it—you're ready to let the kids loose.
Toddler Time
Hoopah changes its user interface slightly depending on the age of the child, though it doesn't make the sweeping changes seen in
Most kids like to draw, so Hoopah's desktop offers a built-in drawing application with some serious brand placement by Crayola. Kids can choose one of nine different Crayola-branded drawing tools, pick a color, and doodle away (via the mouse). Clicking the big Crayola logo button takes them off to a text- and advertising-filled Crayola Web site—an odd choice for preschoolers, most of whom can't read the ads. The kids can print their masterpieces, if you tell Hoopah to let them, but there's no option to save the pictures.
Web site icons and some buttons make noises as the mouse passes over them, but items on the desktop itself are static. In fact, three of the five desktop items (nameplate, picture, and clock) are totally noninteractive. The other two activate the drawing application and the built-in e-mail (more about e-mail later). The remaining big expanse of desktop remains empty until you add sites and programs using the parent/teacher controls. Hoopah's interface is more responsive than the
A grade-schooler gets the same desktop but with a different (and larger) set of age-rated content: Hoopah tracks the child's age and offers new content as appropriate. Starting in about third grade, kids get something new: An Internet tab, with an address bar and a search box. This lets older kids search with Google (with SafeSearch permanently turned on) and visit any Web site that the filter (supplied by Hoopah partner RuleSpace) doesn't block. Hoopah still blocks pop-ups as well as most banner ads.
Hoopah displays a warning when it blocks a Web site, with a built-in countdown. Parents can override the ban by typing the administrator password before the countdown hits zero. The app displays that same warning when it blocks a banner ad. In fact, visiting a busy site like PCMag.com can trigger several such warnings, which is awkward. Another problem: Once or twice I had an odd experience: I clicked one of the program's own kid-friendly sites only to have the Web filter block it! Clearly some more fine-tuning is required here.—
Parental Settings
To enter Hoopah's parent/teacher controls, you'll need to supply the Administrator password. Among other options, these controls let you configure Hoopah to launch at start-up and require an administrator password to exit. When the Hoopah desktop is active, "dangerous" key combinations like Ctrl-Alt-Del, Alt-Tab, the Windows key, and Ctrl-Esc don't work. Your toddler won't find a way out of this system, and most grade-schoolers don't have the hacking skills to break out. But, as with most such systems, a pre-teen hacker will make short work of its protection.
Understandably, KidZui doesn't list its 600,000+ approved Web sites. Hoopah's list is much smaller—about 500, by my count. It not only lists them all, it clearly identifies which of its nine year-long age ranges are considered appropriate for each. You can check a page's box to make it available to a kid who otherwise wouldn't have access. You can also add your own preferred sites to the list, identifying the appropriate grades for each and selecting one or more categories. Nonreaders need a picture to help identify the site—Hoopah makes it easy to clip one from the page itself.
The parental configuration also lets you give the kids access to any specific Windows application. Just as in NoodleNet and Peanut Butter PC, this option has hidden dangers. If you let them use Microsoft Paint or any application that includes a file open/save dialog, you've opened Pandora's box: From that file open dialog, they can accidentally or deliberately open Windows Explorer and thereby get access to all of your files and programs. So think twice before adding Windows applications.
Unlike KidZui and Peanut Butter PC, Hoopah can limit each child's time on the computer. Like NoodleNet, Hoopah lets you define the length of a "turn" on the computer. But where NoodleNet automatically lets the child log back in after a specified amount of non-computer playtime, Hoopah requires active intervention by a parent to re-enable the child's access. That's awkward. You can also set the Web filter to allow only sites verified by RuleSpace as kid-friendly or to allow everything except "mature" sites. Of course this isn't relevant unless the child has access to the Internet tab.—
Safe E-Mail
You can configure Hoopah to let your child exchange e-mail with friends and relatives, as long as the child's account is accessible via POP3 and doesn't require a secure (SSL) connection. That second requirement means Gmail accounts won't work, since Gmail requires SSL. You also need to create a whitelist of allowed contacts, starting with yourself. Only mail from these contacts will reach the Inbox; everything else is discarded or forwarded to an account you specify. You definitely will want to enable the forwarding option, so you'll have a chance to correct things if unclebill@hotmail.com becomes unclebill@yahoo.com.
Clicking the mailbox on Hoopah's desktop opens a highly simplified Inbox. Your child can click on any message's icon to read it or click on any contact's icon to send a message—or rather, send an e-card. The e-mail client lets your child pick one of six rather peculiar e-card images, each of which comes preloaded with a line like "Thanks for the gift" or "Youre [sic] my hero." Setting aside the fact that I want my kids to know how to spell "you're," there are no formatting options, there's room for only a short additional message, and the message can be difficult to read against the e-card background.
I ran into another problem when I tried to reply to a received message. For some reason, the text box that should allow entry of the reply text never appeared. I went through a number of diagnostic and repair steps with Hoopah tech support, including complete removal and reinstallation of the program, but I was never able to get this feature working. The only way I could manage a reply was to send a new e-card.
I think that Hoopah, like most products in this category, underestimates the sophistication of kids at the high end of its age range. A fifth-grader will chafe at the program's restrictions and cartoonish interface. The e-mail feature, while safe, is suited only to short messages, and its reply feature didn't work at all in my testing. Use Hoopah to keep the toddlers out of your files and limit them to kid-friendly Web sites. But when they get older, look for another solution.
More Parental Control Reviews:
Final Thoughts
Hoopah Kidview Computer Explorer 6
Kids at the high end of its age range will chafe at Hoopah's restrictions and cartoonish appearance. Its kid-safe e-mail isn't practical for anything but very short messages. Still, it will keep the toddlers out of your files and limit them to age-appropriate surfing.