Background
Bark was created with the needs of parenting in a tech world in mind. We recognize there are times when you may need to stop all internet access on a profile’s devices but still allow them access to phone calls and text messages in the event of an emergency. So we created the Pause feature for use in those times!
Pause the Internet
STEP 1: Before your rules can take effect on the applicable device, make sure that you've set up mobile screen time & filtering or in-home screen time & filtering.
STEP 2: While logged in to your dashboard, select the Wi-Fi button under a profile:
STEP 3: Then, it will ask you how long you want the Pause to last.
That's it! 🎉 It will then change to reflect that the devices under that profile are all paused, as seen below. This blocks all internet activity on all of the child's devices after a few minutes.
NOTE 1: Even when paused, the VPN on your child's device still allows communication over the local network, meaning Wi-Fi backups to a computer and Wi-Fi printing are still able to happen uninterrupted.
NOTE 2: On regular Androids, doing this does not block cellular text messages (SMS) nor cellular phone calls. However, pausing the internet does block internet-based messaging. On Bark Phone™, doing this blocks the text messages but does not block cellular phone calls.
Resume the Internet
If your child is reporting that all of their internet-based apps are not loading, you may have unintentionally paused the internet for that child in your dashboard. The good news is, you can easily resume the internet at the click of a button!
Need additional assistance?
Check out our Screen Time Troubleshooting Guide. We're also happy to help. Don't hesitate to reach out to us!
