My Gator Watch review
When My Gator Watch recently got in touch with me to introduce their product, I have to say it was a concept I had not seen or come across before, but I was keen to learn more. Read on for My Gator Watch review.
My Gator Watch
My Gator Watch is designed for children from age 5, and is a mobile phone and tracker. It was developed by Colleen Wong, after she witnessed a child losing her parents at a farm park. She came up with the idea of My Gator Watch approximately two years ago with a mission to keep kids active and off smart phones, but providing them with independence.
How does My Gator Watch work?
The watch allows two-way calls from pre-programmed numbers, voice messages and a set play zone that will notify you if your child goes outside of this area. It can be used almost anywhere in the world, so therefore is great if you have a little traveller amongst you.
Reducing Screen time
I think we all try to reduce screen time as much as we can. As a family we do try to encourage our children to get outside and enjoy the fresh air as much as possible, and if you follow our blog you will know that we try to plan a walk, cycle or a weekend away as much as often as we can. I had previously purchased a watch for my eldest, and this watch has a number of games on it. Also, with various tablets around the house it is all too easy for the girls to become engrossed in those games and videos. My eldest has been asking for a mobile phone for a while now, but if I am honest I will try to discourage this as long as I can. I kind of want to delay it before she is introduced to the world of social media, phone calls, texts, games and videos on tap. That being said, I do think it is a great idea for her to be able to call us if needed, when she is staying over at her grandma’s, with her nanny and grandad or playing at her friend’s house. She also thought it was a fabulous idea to call us whilst in the back of the camper – just to inform us it was time for a toilet and drink stop! 🙂 I wasn’t aware that there were any alternatives to a mobile phone until I came across My Gator Watch.
Key features of My Gator Watch
So we have had My Gator Watch for just over a month and have spent a lot of time playing around with the My Gator Watch key features.
Download the app
To get started you need to register the watch with the IME number, where you will then be provided with a phone number. The next step is to download the iOS or Android app.
Real-time location tracking
The watch’s location can be viewed on a map in real-time via the iOS or Android app and the location will be automatically updated every minute. Our eldest girl does not really leave our side but this will be an amazing feature for children who are at the age where they are given a little more freedom.
Saying that, we were recently at a family friendly festival and our eldest daughter strayed from our side on a couple of occasions. From experience – that moment when you can’t locate them in your field of vision, even for just a second … well… that feeling is horrendous. For this reason alone I love the location tracker feature. There is a also a Safezone alarm and if the child strays outside a pre set geographical zone you will then be notified.
Two-way voice communications
The app is really easy to navigate and we spent some time pre-programming our numbers in the app. The watch can call those numbers that you have added, and receive calls/texts from any numbers that you grant permissions to via the app.
The watch connects to three of the UK’s largest networks – Vodafone, EE and O2 and includes free roaming in most of the UK.
My Gator Watch additional features
The watch is a normal watch with time and date functions, it is also a pedometer and an alarm clock!
My Gator Watch – our thoughts so far!
Our watch arrived presented in a box with a charger. It is black in colour, stylish and light weight – it weighs less that 40 grams. The website states that the rechargeable battery lasts up to four days. We have used it for just over a month, and we took it on a weekend away and we didn’t need to charge it throughout the weekend. Once we had downloaded the app, it was straightforward to configure and set up, and you can head over to MyGatorWatch online for more information, trouble shooting or guidance. I love the fact that our daughter can call us without having to have a mobile phone, and the location tracker…its ingenious.
We have tried the watch for just over a month and my beautiful girl absolutely loves it. Our plan is to continue the line rental by transferring and adding the rental to our mobile contract. We will keep you updated.. 🙂
For more information head over to MyGatorWatch online
