Family Orbit is an Android app that aims to make it easy to keep a family unit on the same page. With geo-fencing features, families can quickly find out where family members are, the kids can sent out panic alerts if they need help, and there’s a private chat built-in to organize meals, meet-ups and more. Family Orbit can tell parents if teens are speeding in their car, can tell parents where they are and at the same time it can be used to keep everyone together, without teens or young adults feeling embarrassed using social media to connect with their family. A great way of keeping everyone in the loop, Family Orbit also has the ability to share events as well as photos. So, let’s take a closer look, shall we?
Those interested in something like this can download Family Orbit from the Play Store, and then start creating their family unit.
There’s a short introduction to the features that Family Orbit has to offer, and all users need to do is offer up a little information to get started, choosing a photo is not necessary, but it’s probably a good idea as only your family or those you invite will be able to see it, anyway.
Everything is then accessed from the home feed, and a slide-out menu, with many of the quick functions available on the home feed.
From the slide-out menu users can access a lot more features nice and simply.
Key features of Family Orbit include the Geo-Fence feature. A geo-fence is a pre-determined area on a map that Family Orbit will alert you of when someone enters it. This all works using the GPS and location features on people’s smartphones.
These geo-fences are easy to set up as you can see, and the information can be accessed from the main menu as well, to quickly figure out where people are. What’s nice about this is that you can create custom names for certain places such as the home, the school or the office.
With Family Orbit, the geo-fence feature isn’t the only way to find someone, as you can use the locator to get a precise idea of where someone is on the map, letting you know how far away they are or what they’re up to.
This feature can also be used to see the sort of speed that someone in the family is doing. While not so useful everyday, it can be a useful feature for parents to see how their teens with new cars are driving.
Family Orbit also features a messenger application within it, which makes it easy to organize meals and whatever else.
This carries on to the fact that Family Orbit can be used to share photos together with the family, as well as monitor what kids have been taking photos off, protecting them from awkward photo sharing situations.
A more important and helpful feature of Family Orbit is the Panic Alarm. This makes it easy for someone that needs help to let everyone in the family know.
The Panic Alarm feature is simple to use, and can let family members know if you need help and then using the Locator, family members can easily find out where you are.
As you can see, there’s a lot on offer with Family Orbit, and while it’s not something that absolutely everyone will get into and learn to love, it’s worth taking a look at. Our smartphones are designed to bring people together, but more often than not it can create animosity among families, especially with Teens. By using Family Orbit, the Family Unit can all be kept up-to-date about meal times, upcoming events or whatever else using the built-in chat. More than that, the geo-fence feature is great to make sure that teens and other members are where they should be, at work and so on. Teens might not like the other of being watched, but keeping your kids out of trouble will create better adults. As for the app itself, I have to wonder about the impact on battery life, but so far I haven’t come across any issues.
Ratings
- Speed (4/5) – Family Orbit runs nice and smoothly, and getting everything setup does not take as long as you might think.
- Features (5/5) – With so many different features on offer, Family Orbit can do wonders to keep a family unit together and all on the same page. With location services as well as a panic button, this is the app that can do wonders for a busy family.
- Theme (4/5) – The Android app looks good and is fairly easy to use as well, so there’s little to complain about.
- Overall (4/5) – Family Orbit is not the sort of app that will be loved by all of its users, because a lot of people might not like the surveillance part of the app, but all-in-all there’s a lot on offer for busy families.
Pros
- Panic button can instantly send all members an alert, or let the person in need of help see who is nearest.
- Speed and location features will be good to watch over new drivers and make sure people are where they say they are.
- Messenger feature can keep people in-the-loop with pickup times, meals and more from within one app.
- Safe and simple way of sharing photos of little ones with just the people that should be able to see them.
Cons
- Might drain a little more of the battery than some people would like.
- Some teens might not like the idea of them being watched through an app on their phone.
All-in-all, Family Orbit is an app that has a lot on offer, and it’s something that I can see very busy families really making the most of. With a large family and people working all over town, and different responsibilities it can be hard to keep track of what’s going on, with Family orbit it helps with all of that, and more. With a panic feature as well as a built-in messenger, there’s a lot that families can use to their advantage.