Children are growing, and sometimes they can use their phones in the way you don’t like, make wrong choices or find bad friends. As parents, we must regulate their behaviors and explain what is right and what is wrong.
However, it’s sometimes difficult to communicate with adolescents. Often, they stop trusting their parents and try to be more independent. Undoubtedly, we should provide a certain degree of freedom to our children, but too much freedom may result in unwanted consequences.
Here are just some of the reasons why parents should consider paying closer attention to their child’s digital life:
- Cyberbullying is on the rise – 57.3% of adolescents and children have experienced some form of cyberbullying.
- More and more teens are using multiple accounts on social media in order to keep some parts of their lives more private.
46% of teens have tried some kind of illegal drug by the time they’re in 12th grade; buying and selling drugs is mostly done online.
Thus the best parental control apps to monitor a child’s phone are the solution to trust but verify. This is a necessary measure as sometimes the health or life of your child may depend on you.
Why Do the Best Parental Control Apps Exist?
Many parents are really concerned about their child’s digital life. They know that modern youth prefer to communicate through various mobile devices.
Their messengers contain information about their friends, what they do in their free time, and with whom they communicate. In some situations, checking someone’s private cell phone activities might be necessary to understand what’s going on in your child’s life.
Children can often take their own safety and privacy online for granted, so it’s crucial to always be aware of what’s going on, and take action before a situation becomes serious.
The following information lists some of the more dangerous aspects of digital life that teens face:
- Criminals easily exploit social media for predatory purposes, such as kidnapping, grooming, and human trafficking.
- 24% of teens, aged 14 to 17, have been involved in some form of nude sexting.
- 61% of all teens who’ve sent nude photos admit to having been pressured to do it at least once.
- Internet addiction has been linked to a number of mental health problems, like depression, isolation, and anxiety.
Of course, not all children would allow keeping their gadgets under surveillance. And here special parental control solutions might really help.
Many parents do not want to ruin their relations with children, but knowing where your kid is now and what they are doing could help a lot to save a lot of nerves.
Best Parental Control Solutions to Consider this Year
We have gathered the most reliable and popular phone monitoring solutions to track your child’s device.
They run on all modern OS, have different customer support options, and a great variety of spying functions.
If you have ever used any of the following solutions to track your kid, please leave your review below the post for our readers.
# 1 mSpy
mSpy is available both for iPhone and Android. Your child will never know you’re tracking his/her actions when using mSpy because it works in the background.
It offers a variety of indispensable spying features any parent might be looking for to ensure that their kids are safe:
- Tracking SMS and instant messaging apps like Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, etc.;
- Keylogging;
- Call logging;
- GPS tracking.
Besides these functions, mSpy also comes with other unique spying features, such as:
- Blocking applications that aren’t safe for your children;
- Blocking websites you don’t want them to access;
- Screen recording, and more.
When working, this app doesn’t consume much battery and runs unnoticed, all while providing a full overview of the target device.
The best choice for parents: mSpy has a support team that is available 24/7; this app comes with a great variety of spying features to choose from; it doesn’t require a jailbreak to spy on an iPhone; prices start from $26.99/month.
#2 uMobix
uMobix allows monitoring of all popular social media and dating apps along with a keylogger function, location tracking, and call logging. It allows users to monitor existing and deleted messages, along with seeing any deleted or renamed contacts. It’s available for both Android and iOS. Some unique features the app offers are:
- Real-time audio and video streaming;
- Remote control;
- Disabling messages;
- Storage regulation – all while remaining undetected.
The best choice for parents: uMobix is a spying app with a simple interface, with a great variety of spying functions which include Stream tracking as well as monitoring of such popular apps as Tik Tok, Snapchat, etc; without needing to root or jailbreak the target device. There is also a free trial option on the app’s website to test the software. Its prices start from $49.99 /month, however, if you choose 3 months plan, you’ll get the software for $27.99 /month.
# 3 Hoverwatch
Hoverwatch differs from other similar apps because except for Android, it’s compatible with Windows PC and Mac as well. The scheme of using it is very easy: use your valid email to sign up, install the software on the target device, and start monitoring.
Make sure, however, that the target device has been rooted beforehand. The key features of Hoverwatch are as follows:
- Facilities to monitor calls and messages – both incoming and outcoming calls can be tracked with the help of this app.
- Tracking social media accounts – activities within Facebook, Snapchat, and WhatsApp can be monitored as well as media files.
- Tracking geolocation – the current location of the target device is available.
There are also specific features that HoverWatch provides which are not found elsewhere. These are:
- Agenda Tracker: keep track of all calendar notes, to-do lists, and appointments.
- Taking photos from the front camera – this is the unique feature of Hoverwatch: the front camera can be remotely activated to take photos. Each time the owner of the target device unlocks the screen or calls someone, the app makes a photo.
- Monitoring laptops and PCs as well, not just Android phones,
- A free trial is available.
The best choice for parents: HoverWatch is a good option because it has all important monitoring functions + call recording feature, it has versions for computer tracking. There is a free trial of the software, so you could test it before buying. The price starts from $28.94/month. With this solution, you can track several kids at the same time.
# 4 FlexiSPY
FlexiSPY is one of the most functional apps to monitor a child’s phone. When browsing the FlexiSPY website, you can find the following features:
- Control panel to monitor the device of your child remotely;
- It’s compatible with all Android and iOS smartphones/tablets, including the latest models;
- Stealth mode doesn’t allow you to detect that you monitor the targeted device;
- Online customer support;
- Guidelines related to the use of the apps to monitor a child’s phone;
- Opportunity to monitor social media (Facebook, Skype, WhatsApp, WeChat, Instagram, Tinder, etc.).
This app allows you to monitor multiple aspects of your child’s phone including deleted texts, recording calls.
The best choice for parents: FlexiSPY is the best for its versatility of features – this app offers not only a call recording function, but also call interception possibilities if needed, and it comes with a 24-hours free trial.
# 5 Bark
Bark is an app made in collaboration with psychologists and youth advisors with the aim to create an effective and reliable solution for family safety.
Some features to note include:
- Custom screen time management for apps,
- Supporting over 30 social media sites along with YouTube,
- SMS monitoring,
- Email and text alerts.
Parents can rest assured that they will be alerted upon any sign of potential danger thanks to Bark’s 24/7 detection service.
According to their website, Bark has detected over 320 thousand severe self-harm situations and brought in over 1 thousand online predators to the police.
The best choice for parents: This app is an excellent solution for those looking for an affordable app to foster a healthy online environment and behavior.
Common Features of Apps to Monitor Child’s Phone
To summarize, apps to monitor a child’s phone have several common features:
- The apps are available for Android and iOS;
- Parents can monitor incoming/outcoming calls, messages, and social media of their children remotely;
- Parents can track the current and past geolocations of their children;
- Tracking the current and past Wi-Fi connections used by your children;
- Featured with user-friendly dashboards to choose the functions you currently need;
- Parents can easily download these apps using the internet within several minutes;
- You need to install the app on the target device and start monitoring.
Differences
The majority of apps to monitor a child’s phone are available on Android and iOS, but some of them (HoverWatch) can monitor a PC or laptop as well. Also, you can control the time spent in front of the screen by using appropriate settings. In addition, Hoverwatch can automatically take photos of the current location and activities of your children.
mSpy offers special features targeting the protection from theft or loss.
FlexiSPY offers call recording and call interception possibilities.
Therefore, parents can choose the app that meets their individual requirements. We provide a review of the most popular apps to monitor a child’s phone to guide you through this topic.
How to Choose the Best Parental Control App?
When choosing a parental control app, keep in mind your specific needs.
- For example, parents will have different concerns with children and teenagers, so age is something to consider.
- Next, what kind of mobile devices are they using most of the time, and for what purpose? Some apps offer only phone and tablet coverage.
- Aside from that, if the child has to commute to school and back, it might bring about a need for GPS tracking in case something happens.
- So choose the app you know will meet your specific needs, and if possible, try their demo versions first.
Is child phone monitoring possible for free?
The short answer would be here – no, BUT there are free trial versions that some software providers offer. Thus, you may test this or that spyware absolutely for free and see if it is a good one for you.
For instance, Hoverwatch has a free trial option for 3 days, uMobix allows you to try the software for 7 days for only $3, and FlexiSPY offers you to test it for free for 24 hours.
More spying apps that have trial versions you may find here.
What a person should understand while looking for absolutely free monitoring apps is that they simply do not exist. If it is good reliable spyware, which is going to be installed on your child’s device and send you all the tracking information, it will cost you money. However, usually, their prices are not that high and really affordable.
Any software development requires resources: people and time. What is more, good spyware should have 24/7 customer support, it should be updated to new versions regularly as well as new spying features should appear. Thus, it is clear that it simply can’t be free.
Protecting Your Children by Monitoring Their Phones
There is a wide variety of apps to monitor a child’s phone having different functions. Parents can choose from this variety of app that meets their needs.
Tracking your child’s activities may cross the borders of privacy, but web safety should be in the first place. Also, you never know when these apps can help save the life of your child because this world is sometimes unpredictable. With the help of these apps, you can guarantee the mental and physical safety of your children.
While phone surveillance remains the best solution, it’s important to remember that children should also be taught beforehand about the different kinds of dangers they might face online.
Not only teaching them to recognize signs of danger – but also ways to respond to them can be an effective method in preventing unwanted situations.
