LockedIn vs Lightspeed Systems: School Devices vs Student Phones (2026)
LockedIn vs Lightspeed Systems (2026): Lightspeed filters the web, monitors classroom screens and manages school-issued devices and the school network; LockedIn locks the apps a school blocks on the iPhones and Android phones students carry. What each covers, the gap between them, and how schools run both.
ComparisonsBy Brian Ohebshalom and Noah Fakheri, LockedIn’s co-founders
7 min read
Disclosure: LockedIn makes one of the products compared here. We describe each one as fairly as we can; if something about another product is wrong, email hello@lockedinapp.co and we’ll fix it.
Lightspeed Systems makes software for the devices a school issues and the network it runs: web filtering (Lightspeed Filter), classroom screen monitoring (Lightspeed Classroom), device management (Lightspeed MDM) and student safety monitoring (Lightspeed Alert). None of it locks the personal phone in a student’s pocket. LockedIn does: the apps a school blocks lock automatically while the phone is on campus during school hours and unlock after the last bell, on the iPhones and Android phones students already carry. The two cover different devices, so a school going phone-free can run both. Here is what each one covers, with Lightspeed’s side taken from its own site.
What Lightspeed covers
From Lightspeed’s product pages, checked October 23, 2026:
- • Lightspeed Filter. Web filtering for K-12, with an on-device agent for Chromebooks (a Chrome extension), Windows, Mac and iPhone or iPad (an iOS app installed through device management). For devices without the agent, such as guest devices and student phones, Lightspeed’s SmartShield filters DNS traffic on the school network from a virtual appliance on a school server. Lightspeed says Filter is designed for CIPA, FERPA and NIST-aligned environments and exports user-level logs of searches, sites and blocked attempts (Lightspeed Filter; BYOD and IoT protection).
- • Lightspeed Classroom. Teachers view, lock and record student screens and limit tabs and browsing, and Lightspeed Hall Monitor adds digital hall passes. Lightspeed’s own FAQ says Apple prohibits third-party screen monitoring on iOS, so Classroom works on Chromebooks, Windows and Mac; it identifies each device by serial number and the logged-in user (Lightspeed Classroom).
- • Lightspeed MDM. Manages a school’s Apple, Windows, Android and ChromeOS devices from one console: apps, policies, timed restrictions (including locking a device to a single app), and tracking lost or stolen equipment (Lightspeed MDM).
- • Lightspeed Alert. Scans online activity on devices running Lightspeed’s agents and extensions for signs of bullying, self-harm, violence and other risks, with Lightspeed safety specialists reviewing alerts around the clock (Lightspeed Alert).
All of it is built around devices the school owns and traffic on the school’s network. Lightspeed draws the same line itself: a post on its blog about phone bans contrasts school Chromebooks with “personal phones that schools couldn’t monitor” (Lightspeed blog, Nov. 25, 2025).
What LockedIn covers
- • The phone students already carry. Students install the free LockedIn app on their own iPhone (iOS 16.2 or later) or Android phone (Android 10 or later). There is no device-management profile, so the school never takes control of a family’s phone.
- • Locks automatically on campus. The apps the school blocks lock while the phone is on campus during school hours and unlock after the last bell. The lock runs on the phone, so it holds on school Wi-Fi and on cellular data alike.
- • Calls stay open. Students can always call home or 911, and the apps the school allows keep working.
- • Workarounds flagged by name. The dashboard flags a new or second device until an administrator approves it (Fake Device), a phone that stops checking in (Possible Uninstall), a faked GPS position on Android or location switched off (Mock Location), time in blocked apps (Using Blocked Apps), and a student on the roster who never installs the app (Never Installed).
- • Emergency Mode. One tap from an administrator starts it on every phone on campus. Calls always work, and each student is asked “I’m safe” or “I need help,” with a live map of who has answered. It doesn’t replace 911.
- • Privacy limits. During school hours LockedIn checks whether the phone is on campus and locked. Outside Emergency Mode it keeps no location coordinates, and it never collects messages, photos, browsing or which apps a student opens (privacy policy).
- • Set up in about a day. Your campus boundary, your bell schedule and a roster from Clever, Veracross, Blackbaud, OneRoster or a CSV, then a launch week with staff training and a family letter.
Lightspeed and LockedIn side by side
| Lightspeed Systems | LockedIn | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | School-issued Chromebooks, laptops and iPads, and the school network | Students’ own iPhones and Android phones |
| Web filtering for CIPA | Yes, Lightspeed Filter | No; LockedIn isn’t a web filter |
| Classroom screen monitoring | Yes, on Chromebook, Windows and Mac | No |
| Device management (MDM) | Yes, Lightspeed MDM, for school devices | None; no profile on the student’s phone |
| Locks apps on a student’s own phone | No | Yes, on campus during school hours |
| A student’s phone on cellular data | Outside SmartShield, which filters the school network | Still locked; the lock runs on the phone |
| Workarounds on the phone | Not covered | Fake Device, Possible Uninstall, Mock Location, Using Blocked Apps, Never Installed |
| Emergencies | Not a phone-unlock tool | Calls always work; one tap starts an “I’m safe” / “I need help” roll call |
| What it looks at | Searches, sites and screens on school devices; Alert scans online activity for safety risks | Whether the phone is on campus and locked; never messages, photos or browsing |
| Pricing | Quoted on request (pricing form) | Quoted per student, per year; pilots and a Title I subsidy (how pricing works) |
Where Lightspeed is the right tool
If the problem is what students do on school laptops and the school network, Lightspeed is built for it: CIPA filtering, classroom screen management, managing a fleet of school devices, and safety monitoring of online activity. LockedIn does none of those, and doesn’t try to. Keep your filter and your MDM.
Where LockedIn is stronger
- • The phone in the pocket. A phone-free policy is about personal phones, and a network filter can’t see a phone on its own data plan. LockedIn locks the blocked apps on the phone itself, wherever its connection comes from.
- • No device management on family property. LockedIn is an app the student installs, with no MDM profile, so families keep control of the phone and the school sees only what it needs during school hours.
- • Proof the policy holds. Per-student lock status and flagged workarounds, on record for your board, rather than a rule teachers have to police by eye.
- • Emergencies. Calls to 911 and family always work, and one tap starts Emergency Mode and a roll call, so a phone-free day never stands between a student and help.
- • A light footprint. No pouches, no hardware at the door and nothing to install on school servers; setup takes about a day.
Running Lightspeed and LockedIn together
The two don’t overlap. A school can keep Lightspeed Filter and Classroom on its Chromebooks and its network and put LockedIn on students’ phones, with the acceptable-use policy covering school devices and the phone policy covering personal ones. Your board then gets one answer to “what are we doing about devices?”: school devices filtered and managed, personal phones locked during the school day.
Check your state’s law first. Where it requires phones to be stored away from students, LockedIn works alongside that storage rather than replacing it; the state law directory lists what each state requires.
See also
- • LockedIn vs GoGuardian: another filter and classroom suite for school devices
- • LockedIn vs Securly: web filtering and MDM compared with a phone lock
- • MDM vs app-based phone solutions: why device management doesn’t fit personal phones
- • Student phone management software guide: every category, side by side
More LockedIn vs competitor comparisons
- → LockedIn vs Bark for Schools — safety monitoring vs a phone lock
- → LockedIn vs Brick — a personal focus tag vs a school-run lock
- → LockedIn vs CLocked — class-mode school app vs campus-boundary lock
- → LockedIn vs Doorman — classroom tap-in vs campus-wide phone lock
- → LockedIn vs GoGuardian — school-device web filtering vs student phone lock
- → LockedIn vs LanSchool — classroom management vs campus phone lock
- → LockedIn vs LOQT — UK timetable app vs campus-boundary lock
- → LockedIn vs Mobile Guardian — MDM vs BYOD student phones
- → LockedIn vs NIX — phone left at home vs phone locked on campus
- → LockedIn vs NuKase — lockable phone case vs a school-run phone lock
- → LockedIn vs NutKase Phone Pouches — Velcro pouch vs a school-run phone lock
- → LockedIn vs Off The Device — airplane-mode reminders vs a phone lock
- → LockedIn vs Pinwheel — kids’ phones vs a lock on students’ own phones
- → LockedIn vs Pocket Points — a rewards app vs a school-run lock
- → LockedIn vs Securly — web filter vs student phone lock
- → LockedIn vs The Commons App — geofenced “airplane mode” app vs campus-wide phone lock
- → LockedIn vs TRUCE Family — family-installed app vs school-run lock
Sources
- Lightspeed Systems, Lightspeed Filter
- Lightspeed Systems, BYOD and IoT Protection for Schools (SmartShield and Cloud DNS Filter)
- Lightspeed Systems, Lightspeed Classroom (product page and FAQ)
- Lightspeed Systems, Lightspeed MDM
- Lightspeed Systems, Lightspeed Alert
- Lightspeed Systems blog, When Cell Phones Go Away: How Chromebooks Keep Student Support Accessible (Nov. 25, 2025)
Lightspeed’s pages checked October 23, 2026. Lightspeed Systems, Lightspeed Filter, Lightspeed Classroom, Lightspeed MDM and Lightspeed Alert are trademarks of their owner. Spot something out of date? Email hello@lockedinapp.co.
Frequently asked questions
Does Lightspeed lock students’ personal phones?
No. Lightspeed Filter, Classroom and MDM are built for school-issued devices and the school network. For student phones on school Wi-Fi, Lightspeed’s SmartShield filters DNS traffic on the network, but nothing locks the apps on a student’s own phone. LockedIn does: the apps the school blocks lock automatically while the phone is on campus during school hours.
Can Lightspeed filter student phones?
Only on the school network. Lightspeed says SmartShield filters agentless devices, including student phones, from a virtual appliance on a school server. A phone on its own cellular data doesn’t go through that network. LockedIn runs on the phone itself, so the lock holds on Wi-Fi or cellular.
Does Lightspeed Classroom work on iPhone?
Lightspeed’s FAQ says Apple prohibits third-party screen monitoring on iOS, so Lightspeed Classroom works on Chromebooks, Windows and Mac; Lightspeed says its MDM can manage Apple Classroom on iOS. LockedIn works on students’ own iPhones (iOS 16.2 or later) and Android phones (Android 10 or later).
Can a school use Lightspeed and LockedIn together?
Yes. They cover different devices: Lightspeed filters and manages school devices and the school network, and LockedIn locks the apps the school blocks on students’ own phones during school hours. LockedIn runs on the phone itself, so it doesn’t depend on your filter or your MDM.
How is LockedIn priced compared with Lightspeed?
Neither publishes a list price. Lightspeed quotes on request. LockedIn gives each school or district a written quote per student, per year, based on enrollment and number of campuses, with no hardware to buy; pilots are available and Title I schools can apply for subsidized or fully covered access.
Topics: Lightspeed alternative, Lightspeed vs LockedIn, Lightspeed Systems phone management, Lightspeed Classroom phones, student phone management software