What parents need to know about Pokémon GO mobile game

Using location-based (GPS) technology, the app actively encourages users to have social interactions in the real world which are great.

Tip: Children may unknowingly be exposed to people who may pose a danger to them. With this in mind, it is important to reinforce to children that they should never meet someone they don’t know offline. And to agree boundaries with them of where they can go or should avoid.

As the app requires you to focus on your phone to play the game there is the potential that players may be distracted when crossing roads or put themselves in harm’s way to capture Pokémon in different areas.

Tip: Simply dimming the screen and using the vibrate option to alert players to the presence of other Pokémon will help them keep themselves safe while playing the game on the go.

Another great tip for iPhone users is for both parent and child to use the same iCloud account. This will enable parents to use the iPhone app to see where they are using GPS on their phones.

Although the game is free, like many other games it features in-app purchases to purchase ‘Pokécoins’.

Tip: To make sure you don’t receive an unexpected bill at the end of the month, review your app permissions. See our parental control for ‘Pokémon GO and iOS and Android devices for further info.

As you’re the likely bill payer, it’s important you understand that the app requires constant GPS tracking, and it may eat up mobile data quite quickly, which can be expensive. If your child is on a pay-as-you-go (PAYG), it’s easier to regulate and limit how much your child is using the phone.

Tip: If your child is on a contract, it might be easier for your child to run up high bills. Although most network providers would set limits on usage if you asked them to so your child won’t run up high bills. Check out our Online money management guide for further tips.

Click here to see another tip that could save on your data that involves using Google Maps offline.