Parents, here's how to lock the volume of your kids' Android phone or tablet so Pokemon Go won't drive you nuts

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"Kids these days," said no parent ever when they discovered how easy it is to keep your toddler's mind occupied and torso still, while watching a cartoon on the tablet, or playing a game on the smartphone.

Kids constantly grabbing your phone/tablet, and launching all kind of stuff on YouTube? Every parent in the digital age has clashed with their curious offspring's unique ability to hit the loudest vids every time they grab something with a touchscreen lying around, all the while they are, in fact, gunning for their favorite cartoon.

While not exemplary parenting, the kids' addiction with the mesmerizing stuff happening on the touchscreens before them can easily be transformed into a more interactive undertaking, blending the physical and virtual for a more realistic experience. Yes, we are talking about the latest Pokemon Go craze and its background music and sounds that can drive you nuts when blasted the whole day at full volume, while you are scouting for the beasts with your kid. 

We are also talking about those mighty annoying noises that your kids' Android phones or tablets are emitting on a daily basis, and by daily we mean all day. Sure, you tell them to lower the volume, but the second you turn your back around, the game is changes and on at full blast again. What to do? Fret not, as there is an extremely simple way to just set a maximum volume on the device, and fuggedaboutit - here's what you need to do:

1. Download Volume Lock and install in on your kids' phone or tablet - there are plenty of apps at the Play Store that promises separate volume management, restrictions and locking, but we found that this one works well in most of the cases and is rather easy to setup;

2. Fire up the volume locking application, and you will see individual sliders for each sound category - for voice calls, media, alarms, notifications, and so on - just like in your Android device's sound settings menu;

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3. Move the sliders around a bit to determine what volume suits you to carry a decent dinner conversation without constantly yelling at your kid to tune it down;

4. The "Media" slider should be your target in particular, as that's the one that determines how loud videos are run, or games are played. Move it to about a half, or even a third, depending on how tolerant you are to loud noises;

5. After you've moved all the respective sliders where you want them to be, but especially the "Media" one, just tap on the "Lock" checkbox opposite to the slider, and set the upper range of the phone or tablet's sound volume;

6. That's it - your kid will only be able to move the crescendo to the preset upper level with the volume keys, instead of always running it at full blast, even if they mash on the volume up key as if there is no tomorrow;

7. Say thank you, and make sure you hide the Volume Lock app icon in an obscure folder, or altogether, so that the kid doesn't unlock the volume while tinkering around the touchscreen, and marveling at the new icon that has appeared all of a sudden with the idea that this is some sort of a new game that popped up while they were sleeping.

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