Hey everyone!
I don't really know what the intended use for Norton App Lock is, but for my case it lacks some options.
I want to use it on our school smartphones so the kids can just use the apps we want them to, but teachers can use all apps if necessary.
At first sight it looks perfect for the job.
But, even if the Google Play Store is locked, it is possible to install new Apps via the Google Play Store website in a browser or by downloading an apk-file. And even if the "Settings" App is locked, after opening an apk-file i get informed that "Install unknown apps" is not activated for my browser, but i can change this option from that information and install the apk-file after that.
Easiest solution would be the possibility to automatically lock all new apps. Best would be to have said possibility but also lock the "Install unknown apps" configuration with the lock of "Settings" App or with an extra option.
I would also wish that there would be a "lock" option for uninstalling apps. Don't know why, but one of our kids loves to uninstall our contact sync app. ^^
I would also like to see a "select all" button in the app to select all apps with one click and choose the ones which should be accessible without passcode but it is also not a big deal to mark <100 apps.
Hope you find these ideas as interesting as i do or maybe someone have ideas how to accomplish my ideas in other ways?
We don't need monitoring or blocking for websites.
From your original description, where you note that the students could install an app from the Google Play Store web site, it does sound like you need website monitoring. Unless you just lock the browser apps with Norton App Lock. Then the students would have to have the teacher monitor their use of web sites. I still think you would need to look at parental control app(s) for what you are describing.
App Lock is just designed to lock the apps. If the app is allowed, such as the browser, whatever the app is allowed to do would not be blocked by an app lock app. The parental controls can block individual web sites, so the students would not be able to use the Google Play website.
As far as I can see, controlling uninstalling of apps from the home screen would have to be a security or a display setting in the Android OS.
You could still make a post in the Product Suggestions forum board. Just be aware that even if Norton decides to accept any suggestion, it is not something that would come out for probably 6 to 12 months. So if you need an immediate solution you need to research the topic to see if there are other solutions already out there.
At the moment there are only three smartphones and they are owned by the school. They are carried by the teachers, who should be able to use everything. The students only get them for short tasks or to call their family and shall not be able to use other apps while doing that.
For that, Norton App Lock works perfectly. We don't need monitoring or blocking for websites.
I opened this topic because it was interesting to me, how easy Norton App Lock can be bypassed and wanted to know if there are maybe some settings in android itself to solve these "problems" or if Norton want to take a look on that for future versions of App Lock.
A little more information on the specific scenario you are working with might help with possible solutions.
You mention school smartphones. How many phones, and are they owned by the school? If so, are they always left in the classrooms, or do the students take them home?
Do the teachers access/use the same physical phones as the students?
In combination with Norton App Lock, maybe you need some parental control software on the devices that can monitor and block access to specific websites. Norton Family could work, but there is a financial cost to that product if you are not already using the Norton 360 security product on your phones. https://us.norton.com/products/norton-family You could do a search to see if there are any other options designed for school environments.
If you want to look into the Norton Family, you could post your questions in the Norton Family forum board here to see if it would meet your needs. https://community.norton.com/en/forums/norton-family