Use the pre-alarm beep as the deterrent
Alert24 was built for thieves, but at home the most useful part is the quietest one. Before the siren, every alarm plays a short warning beep. By default it lasts 5 seconds, and you can make it longer for each alarm in Settings under Pre Alarm Beep Settings.
With a child, the beep is usually the whole lesson. Arm Don't Touch My Phone, leave it on the sofa, and when small hands pick it up the phone starts beeping. Most children put it straight back down. If you are nearby, you pick it up, unlock it during the beep, and the alarm cancels without the siren ever starting.
For a toddler, set the beep long, say 10 or 15 seconds, so you have time to get there. For a teenager who knows better, keep it short.
Lower the volume floor? No: what the 60% floor means
If the beep does not work and the siren starts, it plays at full media volume. Pressing the volume buttons will lower it, but never below 60% of maximum. That floor exists so that a thief cannot quietly turn the alarm down. It also means a child cannot.
So the siren is loud, and there is no setting to make it gentle. If that is more than you want at home, use the beep as the alarm and plan to reach the phone before it ends. You can also switch off flash and vibration on the alarm screen, which makes it less frightening for a small child without making it easier to silence.
The siren stops only with your PIN, pattern, knock code or fingerprint, or when the five-minute cap runs out.
- Beep length: adjustable per alarm, use it as your real alarm at home
- Siren volume: full, with a 60% floor, no way to lower it further
- Flash and vibration: optional, turn them off for younger kids
Phone Access Snap: see who unlocked and when
Older kids often know the unlock code. An alarm cannot help with that, but Phone Access Snap can. Every time the phone is unlocked, it takes a silent photo with the front camera. The photos are grouped by face, and each group shows when that person unlocked the phone and how long they used it.
Mark yourself as "me" and the list becomes simple: every face that is not you, with a time and a duration. It is not a spying tool, and it does not record what they did. It just answers "who used my phone while I was in the shower, and for how long?"
These photos never leave the phone. They are not uploaded to your account, even if you are signed in. It needs device admin permission so the app can hear about unlocks.
App lock so the alarm can't be switched off
A child who can open Alert24 can tap the alarm off before it fires. Turn on the app lock: the app asks for your PIN, pattern or knock code every time it opens. Choose a different code from the phone's own unlock code, and use the random keypad option so it cannot be learned by watching your thumb.
After a few wrong tries the app lock also takes a photo. With kids this is mostly a way to know that someone tried, not evidence for a trial.
Setup for a family home
- Pre-alarm beep set long enough for you to reach the phone
- Flash and vibration off if you have young children
- Phone Access Snap on, your own face marked as "me"
- App lock on, with a code your kids do not know
- Home saved as a trusted place, so automatic charger and earphone alerts stay quiet
- Explain the beep to the kids once; the surprise is not the point
A beep beats a lecture
Alert24 is free on Google Play. Set the pre-alarm beep, arm the motion alarm, and let the phone do the reminding.