Canopy Parental Control Review

If you're concerned about what your child may see online, Canopy, a new digital parenting app, is designed to protect kids from sexually explicit material. While most parental control apps block some inappropriate content, Canopy makes blocking explicit images and videos its top priority—attacking sexting as well as images with nudity or sexual content.

Canopy was honored in our first-ever Kids Safety Awards for being the best parental control app to block explicit content.

Canopy offers its services in annual plans, so you need to pay a lump sum upfront—but you'll be protected for a full year. Overall, Canopy's prices are affordable, although the one-time payment can be tricky for some families to pull off. 

Depending on how many kids you want to protect—and how many devices they use— Canopy's plans cover between three and 10 devices total. The smallest plan (called the Individual) protects up to three devices, covering a smartphone, tablet, and laptop, for example. If you have more kids and devices to safeguard, you can use the Duo plan (which covers up to five) or the Family plan that covers up to 10 devices. 

Fortunately, the number of devices is the only thing you need to worry about—every plan comes with the same set of features: 

• Smart content filtering
• App and website blocking
• Removal prevention
• Location alerts
• Sexting prevention
• Phone and email support
• Screen time management
• User personalization
• Compatibility with all common operating systems

Canopy specializes in real-time filtering of explicit content in images and videos. This laser focus makes it the most proactive tool we've seen for blocking inappropriate images, especially those used for sexting and grooming.

Even though Canopy is fairly new to the world of parental controls, it benefits from its association with NetSpark. NetSpark has utilized artificial intelligence (AI) technology for the past 14 years to help block inappropriate content for schools and government agencies.

When I spoke with Yaron Litwin, Digital Safety Expert and Chief Marketing Officer at Canopy, he explained how Canopy was designed to work on a more individual level, bringing the company's advanced internet safety technology to families at home.

Another priority is keeping up with the advancements in AI. As AI technology evolves, Litwin told us that Canopy continues to enhance its content filtering abilities. However, the proliferation of AI-driven explicit content creation poses new challenges, underscoring the need for advanced safeguarding.

Litwin explained that Canopy’s advanced machine learning is continually improving its capabilities, including training to identify a broader range of inappropriate content such as extreme violence. But if parents encounter content that they think should be blocked, Canopy asks them to email help@canopy.us with the relevant URL and a description of the issue. The company reviews all submissions and strives for a prompt resolution to all parent concerns.

Blocking explicit images and videos is the number one goal of Canopy, but there are many other supportive features that help parents breathe easier when their kids go online. Here's a closer look at some of Canopy's top features: 

Real-time filtering: Canopy's real-time filtering instantly blurs explicit content, ensuring children are shielded from harmful material as they browse online.

Screen time management: Canopy provides tools to manage screen time across multiple devices. Parents can set varying screen time limits for different gadgets.

Sexting alerts: The platform addresses the issue of sexting by alerting both parents and children if such content is detected.

Algorithm accuracy: In testing, Canopy’s algorithm correctly categorized 99.8% of content containing nudity or pornography. However, there is a small chance that Canopy will occasionally make a mistake. We recommend that you use Canopy as a supplement to the lessons you teach your family offline.

But this is just the beginning for Canopy. We were excited to hear that the company plans to introduce new features focusing on monitoring text content, overseeing social media usage, and identifying potentially harmful or bullying conversations.

In my experience, kids know a lot more about technology than we may realize, and they can often outsmart parental controls and filtering apps that parents add to their phones or tablets. That's why I was glad to see that Canopy includes Removal Prevention and Removal Alerts on all compatible devices, ensuring continuous protection. These features prevent your children from uninstalling or disabling Canopy without your approval—stopping tech-savvy kiddos before they open themselves up to disturbing content or inappropriate interactions online. 

While I love Canopy's approach to cutting out explicit content, there are a few areas that I'd like to see added or improved as the platform continues to expand its protections. 

Limited content scanning: Canopy doesn't currently scan emails, text messages, calls, content in non-browser apps, or videos made on your child’s device.

Browser compatibility: While Canopy works with most browsers, including Safari, Google Chrome, and Microsoft Edge, it's not compatible with secure browsers like DuckDuckGo and Brave. Instead, Canopy blocks browsers like Brave and DuckDuckGo by default.

Streaming services filters: Canopy doesn't filter on-demand streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video. But it's important to note that these services offer their own parental control settings that you should configure to prevent exposure to inappropriate content. 

Canopy is set to be an important tool for parents navigating the challenges of raising digital natives in an increasingly online world. This parental control app provides a vital blend of parental intelligence and artificial intelligence to ensure the well-being and safety of children online. Its real-time filtering, combined with screen time management and sexting prevention features, makes it a comprehensive solution for protecting kids in the digital age.

While the lack of a free version and annual-only payment options may be drawbacks, the overall benefits and reassurance it offers make Canopy a worthy investment for any concerned parent.

To review Canopy, I met with the company's Digital Safety Expert and tested the product on my iPhone. We also compared its features, efficacy, and pricing to other top parental controls. Learn more about how we rank and review products on the SafeWise methodology page.

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