Pause the Internet^®

Why Pausing the Internet Matters

The Internet is flooded with positive opportunities for kids to be entertained, educated, and even to develop their creative side. That’s why kids (and parents) can’t get enough of it! But access to the Internet is also a privilege, and it can be a distraction from important things like schoolwork or even just connecting with family.

Circle’s Pause the Internet feature is a parental controls solution that makes enforcing the rules around screen time quick and easy.

No more asking your kids three times to set down the iPad or turn off Netflix and start their homework. You can stop worrying about everyone checking their phones during dinner. And the struggle to block apps during busy times of the day can end now.

Whether you need a specific device to be paused or all the devices in your household, you can do that in one tap with the Pause feature.

Benefits of Pausing the Internet

There’s no big red “easy button” in life, especially for parents. But when it comes to parental controls, the closest thing to that button is our Pause the Internet feature. When you can simply turn off the Internet on connected devices, you won’t have to worry so much about competing with devices for your family’s attention.

Perks of Pausing the Internet

• Have a phone-free dinner together.

• Get homework done without distractions.

• Enforce screen time limits without debates.

• Encourage more outdoor time.

Whatever your reasons may be for limiting Internet access at certain times, the ease of the Pause feature is unbeatable. In just a few taps, you can pause or unpause a single device (like your son’s third arm, i.e. the iPad), pause all connected devices, or, pause a single family member from accessing the Internet, including your workaholic spouse’s phone at dinner.

If one of your kids tends to sneak onto video games when they should be upstairs cleaning their room, you can restrict their individual profile from accessing the Internet completely. Once they’re done cleaning up, you can unpause. Pretty simple, right?

Here’s How Circle’s Pause the Internet Works

Within the Circle app, the Pause the Internet feature can happen at three levels: across all devices, every device assigned to a profile, or on one particular device. Here’s how you can set those three options up.

Pause all devices from the home screen

Without leaving the home screen, you can pause all Internet-connected devices in your home. Start by tapping the Pause icon at the bottom, and confirm when the “Are you sure?” alert pops up.

Your home screen will clearly display that all profiles are paused—that way you won’t forget to unpause them once you are ready. The word “paused” will also appear at the top of the screen.

Pause a profile

Want to shut off just one family member's Internet access? On any profile screen, tap the big Pause button at the top of the screen. Every device assigned to their profile will lose its Internet access.

Pause a single device

Need to drill down even further and just shut off one device's access? You can do that, too. On a family member's profile, tap devices. Select the device you want to pause. Then, tap the Pause button at the bottom of the screen. Paused devices will be clearly marked on the device list so you can easily unpause them later when you want to resume Internet access.

Because it might be easy to forget when an individual device is paused, the Circle app also displays a clear indicator on the home screen’s devices icon in the top right corner. You can learn more about how to identify and assign devices that are connected to your home network here.