Discover solutions to monitor children online: 10 best monitoring apps for parents

Today, children are also discovering the world through electronic devices: this can be both a beneficial activity and a disruptive one, especially given the vast amount of information available to young children. When parental monitoring apps collect data on children's mobile device activity, all this information is available to parents. Let's keep up with digital parenting trends and discover the best products available.

Why should parents use monitoring apps?

It is said that parents have the best interests of their children at heart, but this does not mean that the child should feel under control because the risk is to obtain the opposite effect. The use of hidden monitoring apps is the response of modern parents to the growing freedom of action and speech on the Internet: these apps allow them to be flexible in controlling their child and, at the same time, to be as informed as possible about the activities carried out online by the little ones.

Knowing that not everyone online has good intentions towards a child who is naturally vulnerable to danger, it is possible to remain “in silent listening” until it is necessary to intervene and respond promptly to block attempts by malicious people.

How Parental Monitoring Apps Work: Easy and Smart to Use

We have been evaluating different types of software for years. Parental monitoring apps are easy to use, just follow a few simple steps:

• Check compatibility with target device
• register an account on the website of the chosen app;
• purchase a subscription
• Install the app on the target device

Precisely because of their characteristics and purposes, Android and iPhone monitoring apps for parents are often structured as “stealth” apps, which means that during the installation process or in the settings, it is possible to hide the app icon itself and it will work without the phone user noticing. To connect your child’s device with your monitoring app account, you first need to know the device’s operating system.

These apps have versions that work with and without root for Android devices: in some cases, it requires the installation of an apk file on the child's phone. For iOS devices, there are solutions that exploit the jailbroken and others that do not require it: in the first case, the app is installed directly on the phone, in the second it uses the iCloud backup system for control.

Top 10 Parental Monitoring Apps to Monitor Your Kids' Online Activities

We live in an age where not only children’s behavior in the real world requires our attention, but also their behavior online. The following best iPhone monitoring apps for parents and Android solutions allow you to not only observe, but also analyze your children’s online activities over time, filter the content available to them, and limit their use of certain apps and websites. Let’s take a look!

1. uMobix: a complete control

How do you know if the product you choose offers high performance and is one of the best monitoring apps for parents? After analyzing which programs your children spend the most time on, such an application will provide you with a convenient interface where you can see all the data. uMobix has been around for several years now, ensuring that your needs as a concerned parent and user are met adequately. You can get qualified and fast customer support directly in the online chat and be sure to try it as one of the free monitoring apps for parents with a trial version.

Your little one – who soaks up information like a sponge – or a teenager – who definitely considers himself an adult – needs support in developing a proper understanding of the Internet. As their guardian, you will find it easier to manage this process with the help of these built-in parental control features:

• Monitoring all incoming and outgoing messages and calls
• tools for analyzing their actions on social networks, including full access to Instagram and Facebook accounts, the most popular instant messengers, media files and contacts
• GPS location and immediate position of the child
• Live streaming service with the ability to record from your phone's camera and listen through the microphone
• Browser activity monitoring
• access to deleted data
• remote application removal, service blocking.

2. Life360: a virtual compass

Parenting and childcare is a long journey where you may need a compass. In the truest sense of the word: Life360 is suitable for both parents, children and other close relatives when you want to stay connected and be aware of the location of any family member.

Using one of the best location tracking apps for parents, you will be perfectly coordinated by creating frequent routes and adding favorite places to reach them at any time while driving. With just one click, your child can send you a signal for help and you will immediately see where you need to go. Also with just one glance you can be sure that your family has reached their destination as planned.

3. Cocospy: Safe and Anonymous Monitoring

Using one of the popular parental monitoring apps, you have the opportunity to focus on other important things, relax and forget for a moment about the need to constantly keep an eye on your children, when there is more than one. Cocospy app works in stealth mode and leaves no trace of its work except what you see on your user panel. You can count on the following features:

• in-depth monitoring of Internet activities
• access to call and message history, contacts, including deleted ones
• monitoring activity on the most popular social networks such as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp
• I check the keylogger entries to know everything that was written on the device during the day
• more in-depth GPS tracking features.

4. FamiSafe: a limit on network usage

Keeping your kids safe is possible if you take preventative measures before a risky situation occurs. Once you are aware of it, a tool like FamiSafe, one of the best monitoring apps for parents, will take care of the rest. If you want to promptly detect and eliminate suspicious content on your child’s device, this software does a great job of managing screen time and limiting apps remotely. It is no surprise that visual content on YouTube and TikTok is particularly appealing to kids: you can let them have fun, but also block inappropriate content when necessary.

As one of the free monitoring apps for parents (there is a three-day free trial before purchasing a yearly package), FamiSafe has a lot to offer, including location tracking, web usage, etc., but what makes it unique is that it has solutions for many platforms: Windows, Mac, iPhone/iPad, Android, and Kindle.

5. iKeyMonitor: Real-time monitoring

This is another worthy representative of parental monitoring apps that offers plans for monitoring iPhone, Android, Windows, and Mac devices. Additionally, it also falls under the category of free phone monitoring apps for parents who want to try out some monitoring features for free before purchasing the product.

So, the basic features – which are free – include access to contacts, SMS and call history, GPS locations, calendar entries, notes and so on. To appreciate the full range of services of this spy mobile app, You need to purchase a plan – among the advanced features there is an option for recording phone calls, spying on social networks and instant messengers, websites and a keylogger function.

6. eyeZy: The Monitoring App for iPhone and Android

When it comes time to admit that the only way out might be to use iPhone or Android monitoring apps, parents have a lot of choices. What makes eyeZy an interesting choice on this list is that this app offers 24/7 chat support and contains all the main monitoring features. To use all the features on iPhone, you will need to jailbreak it.

The app uses screen and keystroke recording feature to provide the widest possible control over the activities on the target device.

7. Verizon Smart Family

Those looking for a digital monitoring partner may also want to consider getting more value from their Verizon subscription and creating a Verizon Smart Family account. Payment for the service varies depending on whether location tracking is included; as one of the phone monitoring apps for parents, Verizon Smart Family will help you:

• monitor and limit children's calls and messages
• track their actions in browsers and applications
• Remotely disconnect your internet connection

Overall, this product provides tangible help in monitoring your child's web and app activity, tracks their precise location, and lets you send alerts when your child tries to cross an app-imposed limit.

8. Custodio

While your child is surfing the Internet, you need to be ready to intervene at a moment’s notice. The ability to do so remotely, such as using parental cell phone surveillance apps like Qustodio, offers many other benefits.

By logging into your account, you will see all the insights into your child's digital life on the dashboard, including text messages, calls and contacts, including blocked ones. On the dashboard, you will see the frequency of social media use and activities, and in just a few clicks you will have the opportunity to set a new internet time limit for your child.

Parents often turn to parental control apps for iPhone or Android phones to make their children feel safer when they are walking alone. With Qustodio, you can see their location at any time or receive an SOS notification from your child if they are in danger.

9. pcTattletale

pcTattletale belongs to Android apps for parental monitoring and is also advertised as a solution that can be integrated into corporate systems or to monitor the quality of employee work on Windows.

On the one hand, this product offers a comprehensive overview of the activities on the device using the screen recording feature; on the other hand, the dashboard seems unwieldy, unlike previous iOS or Android monitoring apps in this review, so it’s up to you to decide. Additionally, the software has managed to tarnish its reputation associated with a possible leak of shared content.

10. Bark

Bark has developed a range of online and physical products to help parents supervise and control the content their children view online, putting the safety of their little ones first.

Using online solutions, you can:

• scan what the child sees to find inappropriate content
• block websites and receive notifications about attempts to access them
• Set free time for your child to use the phone
• other options for monitoring children's online activity

Conclusions

Looking at these 10 best monitoring apps for parents, you can definitely choose the one that best suits your needs. To make the experience easy, choose products that offer customer support, a free trial, and a modern design.