We are thrilled to announce that 1Question, our pioneering app that blends education and screen time management for children in grades 1-9, has been awarded a five-star review from the highly esteemed Educational App Store. This stellar review validates our commitment to making screen time both fun and productive for young learners. It serves as a testament to our unique approach of infusing engaging, curriculum-aligned microlearning moments into the digital lives of kids. But don’t just take our word for it, read on to see why the experts at the Educational App Store are raving about 1Question!
About 1Question Screen Time Control
1Question Screen Time Control lets parents restrict kids’ screen time playing certain types of apps. Kids work for the chance to play their favourite games by answering questions and viewing educational videos in 1Question – every correct answer earns them time. The app’s educational material covers math, English, science, and life skills for kids aged 5 to 13.
1Question supports iOS and Android devices and works equally well on kids’ own devices or if they share yours. At the time of this review, 1Question’s premium option is entirely free, but this will change in the future.
Teacher Review
What is 1Question Screen Time Control app?
1Question Screen Time Control monitors and controls your kids’ use of mobile devices. It can restrict how long they spend on specific apps or whole categories.
The unique feature of 1Question is that kids can earn more time by carrying out meaningful learning tasks.
Kids open up 1Question and complete the practice questions, which can revisit past learning or be based on a short educational video in the app. Each correct answer earns kids time playing the restricted apps. You select the subjects your kids get to practice from Math, Science, English, Life Skills and (coming soon) technology. The app has all the questions and video content relevant to these subjects for kids aged 5 to 13.
You can choose which apps are locked until your kids have earned their free time. This division is essential because you wouldn’t want the controls to treat their educational apps the same as their games.
For extra convenience, you can select the apps to control by category. This will help to keep the device’s controls relevant even as your kids add and remove apps. If you tell 1Question to limit access to apps under the games category, the app will apply the rule to any new games installed.
What we love about 1Question app.
Microlearning is a satisfying way of building and refining learning. Snippets of time where kids practice and learn add up to tangible educational gains yet feel like hardly anything at all.
The flexibility to use this app remotely from your device or switch modes on the 1Question app installed on your kids’ device is very welcome, as it lets you choose the method that works for you.
Controlling kids’ screen time using 1Question does not feel as authoritarian as in other apps. The ability to earn time emphasises that the balance between fun and learning is important, not the prohibition of entertainment.
1Question just works once you’ve set it up. Kids will soon get used to working through some learning content before playing their games. You won’t have to do anything, and the app overcomes kids’ tendency to nag for more screen time. They can always get more play time by answering further questions.
What skills does it teach?
When you first download the app, you choose the subjects you want your child to start practising. Your options are math, science, English, and Life Skills. At the time of this review of 1Question, a greyed-out icon indicates a new subject, technology, is coming soon.
You then make more granular choices. For example, you might choose fractions, decimals and multiplication in math. In science, options include biology, physics, geology, and states of matter. There are many more, and you can select an All option if you prefer.
What age is it appropriate for?
Parents will download, install and monitor the use of 1Question. The app sets its difficulty level according to your child’s grade/school year. These encompass Year 1 to Year 9 in the English system, comparable to Kindergarten to Grade 8 in the US.
Is 1Question app easy to use?
Earlier in this review, we discussed the set-up process, which was guided and simple to follow. After this initial process, you likely only have to tweak the apps you allow and subject choices. These are easy to make within your parent account.
Controlling separate devices from your own is made easy by using QR codes to link them. Your device shows the code, and you use the camera on your child’s tablet or phone to make the link. In day-to-day situations, the app is also easy to use.
1Question conveniently works if you let your child share your device or if they have a personal device. You’ll not often have to interact with it directly if it is on a device only your child uses.
If you share your device with your kids, which is more common when kids are young, it is easy to switch users. Reopening the parent dashboard requires entering a PIN. This does not need to be the same as the one you use for unlocking your device.
How will students benefit?
An app that lets kids earn screen time could have reduced the experience to a grind where kids go through the learning material on autopilot to unlock more free time. Fortunately, 1Question avoids this by providing an excellent selection of topics to make it relevant and interesting to kids.
The content provides practice and extra knowledge. Kids answer well-judged multiple-choice-style questions. These can be standalone questions, such as asking kids to identify the lowest even number from a list. Alternatively, tests can derive from a video which explains something.
An example of this is a lesson on condensation which takes kids through the principles of this change of matter in a simple, understandable and straightforward way. Kids then answer questions about what they learned. They can choose to rewatch the video if they’re not sure.
Each correctly answered question adds 1 minute 30 to kids’ available screen time, which is short enough to ensure they have to commit time to the app but long enough to feel like they’re making progress.
The app is simple for kids to access and understand. It presents their earned time clearly and shows a historic record of their successes, which will motivate kids to do more.
How will parents benefit?
Even if you use other parent control apps for safety and monitoring, 1Question is still worth considering. These might let you turn off app access, but it will feel very much like an imposed rule for kids. Focusing on the balance between screen time and learning creates a more positive experience in 1Question than the on/off nature of more general-purpose parent control apps.
The positivity comes from highlighting the ratio between learning and screen time. Kids see that they can play more if they learn more. Your kids can earn time, so they won’t need to nag you.
By concentrating on balancing screen time with learning, 1Question is better at it than general-purpose apps and won’t come with the cost overhead of getting features you don’t need.
How will teachers benefit?
1Question is for kids to use on their devices rather than schools to control their equipment. It could be a helpful app for teachers to recommend to parents struggling to manage their kids’ screen use.
What can 1Question app improve on?
We noticed that if the user comes out of the app when a video question appears and re-enters it, the next question might be a quicker multiple-choice question. We’d like the app to close this loophole to prevent kids from avoiding the knowledge-building questions for the quicker practice ones.
How much does 1Question app cost?
At the time of this review of 1Question, the premium app and its features are free. This generosity has not always been the case, and the app’s description states that it is for a limited time, but it is an excellent opportunity to try the app.
Is 1Question app safe to use?
The developer of 1Question states they will not share or sell your data without consent and do not display advertisements to kids.
1Question will ask your permission to access Screen Time data on your device, which is justifiable as it could not work without it.
1Question asks for permission to track your device. While some apps use this for advertisement purposes, 1Question emphasises at this point that it will never display ads. In this case, the permission will likely help the developers understand how the app is used by its user base to inform its improvements. You can accept or decline this permission without detriment.
Parents should not expect 1Question to do something it is not designed to do. It is not a parental control app. It will help you set appropriate screen time limits, but you will need an additional solution to provide safety and monitoring controls to kids’ phones and tablets.
1Question must be on a device to work, so ensure you set the device to prevent deleting apps without your permission.
Overall rating of the app.
1Question is a wonderfully simple app that is no less useful for it. It succeeds in providing effective screen time controls in conjunction with motivating further learning.
Parents and kids don’t have to get bogged down in administration to implement a learning/reward system. It works with the devices available by letting parents choose whether it is a shared device or not and letting them choose the topics with granularity. We highly recommend trying 1Question while the entire app is free to use. 1Question is a five-star app.
