Stalker Parents or Smart Thinking? New App Locks Child's Phone Until They Reply to Your Messages

Kids are receiving their very first smartphones at a younger age, but that doesn't mean their parents are having an easy time staying in touch with them. 

One father in the United Kingdom decided to solve this issue by creating an app that shuts down your child's phone if they ignore your text messages. The only way to release the lock on the phone is for them to reply to your message. 

 Nick Herbert is the founder of the app called RespondASAP after he bought his son a smartphone, but would hardly ever get a reply to his texts. 

"As such, when I try and contact him, he rarely answers, either because he doesn't hear the phone or because (and I've finally had to admit this to myself) he may be embarrassed to speak to his dad in front of his friends," Herbert told KRIS 6 News. 

"There are messaging apps that tell you when a message is delivered and seen, but the point is the message can be ignored or not seen because he didn't hear it," Herbert explained. "So ReplyASAP is my solution to this problem."

According to the app's website, the program allows you to send messages to people who are also using the app. 

"The message will appear on their phone over whatever they are doing, and make a noise until they interact with it, even if the phone is on silent. You will then get notification that it has been read."

Herbert says the app is for adults too. 

"When speaking to my friends they could all see other 'grown up' uses for the app because the majority of them kept their phones on silent most of the time too. Their suggestions ranged from changing your order when your friend is getting the drinks in at the bar, to finding your phone when you've misplaced it at home, to work situations when you need to get hold of work colleagues quickly," he says in a post on the app's website. 

The app is currently only available Android phones. Herbert is developing it for iOS devices too.