Children and mobile devices can be a dangerous combination. Check out the free and paid applications and tools that you can use to track and restrict your toddler’s mobile usage, whether she’s only learning to use your family tablet or iPad or your teen has her smartphone. These apps may be helpful if you want to give your kids some online privacy and freedom but are concerned about cyberbullying, too much screen time or the need for wifi taking over your family’s existence. Know that new applications are released all the time, so start teaching your children about social media protection and “internet citizenship” at a young age.
If you want to keep track of your children’s smartphone operation in today’s world, you’ll need a parental control service that operates well on both mobile and web devices. On intent or by mistake, kids will get into all kinds of trouble with their mobile phones (or tablets), so they start doing research about the Best Mobile Apps. Perhaps they waste so much time looking at a laptop every day, or they use age-inappropriate websites and applications. In any situation, a robust parental management app will help you regain control and keep an eye out for something that might hurt your children.The best parental control tools for smartphones and tablets will assist you with keeping tabs on your children both online and off. They’re necessary if you want to know what your children are up to on the internet. This parental-control software will watch your children’s whereabouts, see who they’re talking with, set regular screen time limits, and ban inappropriate websites. Some of these applications can record phone calls and emails, and others can also provide you with the content of text messages and other messaging channels. Here you can check out the Best Phone Monitoring Apps for Parents. They’re most effective when used as part of a larger strategy for teaching the children to be responsible online. That means you’ll need to speak to your children about what they can and shouldn’t do online, as well as how you want them to behave and how you’ll track their phones and tablets.
- Bark
The bark is the most basic as well as the Best Parental Control Software for 2021 we tested, but it provides adequate security. According to the firm, it has prevented 16 school shootings and reported 10,000 cases of self-harm. It employs a sophisticated algorithm that scans social media posts, tweets, text messages, and images for red flags. The level of surveillance can seem intrusive, but Bark just alerts you to posts or photos that it flags as potentially harmful. This allows you to remain informed of your child’s activities without requiring them to hand over their phone for review. You will handle each problem with your child, and you receive specialized warnings to unique warning signs.
- Qustodio
Qustodio is one of the most robust Best Monitoring Apps for Parents, and we appreciate that you can choose between a free standard version and a paid version with additional features. You can check out all of the premium features for three days, which is good but still the shortest trial time we’ve seen. The panic button is one of our favorite Qustodio features. The panic button can be accessed via the Qustodio app on a smartphone by children. You’ll get an automatic warning alarm when they press the bell, and thanks to location monitoring, you’ll be able to pinpoint precisely where your child is when they call for assistance.
- Net Nanny
Net Nanny has many usability and a good reputation, but it’s challenging to set up and costs a bit more than other choices. If you only want to cover one desktop computer, you can buy Net Nanny for Windows (around $40). Still, with the Family Protection Pass ($55–$90), you can protect between five and twenty computers, including tablets and smartphones. Net Nanny proved to be the most challenging parental control app to set up in our research, taking nearly an hour to get it up and running on only one computer. We were pleased by how easy it was to restrict links to particular websites and applications once Net Nanny was installed, and the remote time-out feature was a significant success.
- Kaspersky Safe Kids
For a low price, Kaspersky offers a variety. With all of Kaspersky’s premium services, you can cover up to 500 computers for about $15. While we believe that most people should not need this level of security, we appreciate that Kaspersky allows parental control defense accessible to families of all sizes. Low battery warnings are one of Kaspersky’s most groundbreaking features. You’ll be notified when your child’s phone has to be charged. This means no more excuses like “my phone died” when you inquire why your child didn’t answer your call or text message. There is a free edition, but it is minimal; if you want anything other than a content filter and screen time control, you will need to upgrade to the premium plan.
- MamaBear
This software has many useful functionalities, such as social media surveillance, location tracking and warnings, and many more. It’s classified as a worry-free all-in-one app. One of the most valuable features is social media monitoring. MamaBear allows you to monitor activity on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook and see whether users add new badges, check-ins, or post photographs. By creating a restricted words list, you will be alerted when offensive vocabulary or signs of abuse are posted on their profiles. You will also get updates if your teen exceeds the speed limit you set. There are many plan options available, including one that is entirely free.
- Norton Family
The power and features of Norton Family are perfect for Android (and Windows) families with many children, providing virtually every functionality a parent might expect from one of the Best Phone Monitoring Apps for Parents. The position tracking, time management, and site filtering and logging features of this service are available on iOS and Android. Still, Norton’s time allowances are only available on its Windows and Android apps. The iOS software does not support app management or text message tracking. Geofencing isn’t available on any smartphone platform. If you purchase one of Norton’s more expensive antivirus suites, such as Norton 360 Deluxe, which is often priced as low as $50 a year, you’ll get Norton Family for free.
- OurPact
OurPact, once the most effective parental-control app for iPhones, was crippled by an Apple rule update in late 2018 that removed geofencing, position monitoring, and time limits from the service on iOS. Apple secretly removed OurPact from the App Store in early 2019, but it was returned in July of that year after Apple relaxed its constraints. OurPact was the only parental-control software we checked at the time that could handle and block any iOS app. It also can do that for Android users. OurPact also involves children in managing the regular screen time allowance that you send them, and it does a decent job in scheduling.
- Screen Time
Screen Time is a fantastic app for tracking and arranging your children’s mobile use. Unfortunately, at least on iOS devices, it doesn’t do anything else. Just Android users have access to app management and page filtering. Screen Time also has perplexing upcharges for position monitoring and browser filters, arguably essential features that come standard with most parental-control applications. We liked how Screen Time allows you to provide extra screen time to kids who do chores or do good deeds. However, you can’t ban applications on iOS, and there’s no call or text tracks, hence the new addition of geofencing and location history.
- ESET Parental Control for Android
ESET Parental Control for Android sticks to a single platform. Still, it falls short even there, missing text message and call tracking (and number blocking) functionality and imposing clumsy restrictions on the features it does provide. The free version of ESET Parental Control for Android includes app monitoring and time management, as well as position tracking and geofencing, which you’ll get if you pay for a subscription. (There’s a 14-day free trial available, as well as significant discounts on multi-year subscriptions.) We also liked the feature that allows a child to send an SOS message to specific phones with only one press.
