App: Disney Mobile's Family Alerts
Companies: Disney Mobile/mPortal (IP messaging solution)
Why it's a top app: Disney Mobile's mPortal-powered messaging solution has the family chiefly in mind. While SMS is part of an all-included package for subscribers to Disney Mobile, the IP-based messaging service between family members is free and, maybe more importantly, takes precedence over all other incoming messages (SMS, MMS) on the family members' phones. So if mom sends her children a text message it's the first thing they see when they look at their phone, regardless of whether their friends texted them numerous times afterwards. What's more, the child or family member who receives the message can't use their phone until they acknowledge the message--how's that for commanding your child's attention? IP messaging is also a faster solution, since it requires no acceptance or additional clicking on the receiver's end. And the companies argue it moves faster than the sometimes unreliable standard SMS service. While the simple efficiency of this service has been lost in the shuffle of other more flashy MVNO fare, it's a top app that squarely highlights the growing focus on the mobile user as family member.
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