5 Best Spy Apps For Parents To Monitor Their Device Remotely

Cybercrimes are on the spike for the past few years. Crimes like identity theft, cyberbullying, phishing, cyberstalking, cyber extortion has become a part of our life now. And you know what, teenagers are the keen target of the people doing these malevolent acts.

As a child, they might not hesitate to share their personal information with unknown people they meet online. In fact, they might even share their intimate photos without giving a thought to the dire consequences they might have to go through.

As a concerned parent of a teenager, it becomes your duty to secure your kid from all the online threats just as you protect them from all the physical perils.

Doing this alone can be tough, rather impossible. Here are some online guardians for your teen that can monitor their online activity like no one else could ever do.

These cell phone-related perils can be faced by any kid regardless of the operating system or phone they use, that is, Android or iPhone. That’s why we have covered the best spy apps for parents for both worlds.

Quick links to different sections of the article:

• Best Monitoring Apps For Parents
• Is Kid Monitoring Useful?
• FAQs

5 Best Monitoring Apps For Parents

#1 FamiSafe

Don’t let your kids fall for the evil intentions of anyone by securing them with FamiSafe.

This specially designed for kids app can keep a check on their cell phone or PC activities and update you about them from time to time. Using FamiSafe you can even put restrictions and control the use of their phone activities making it the best Android and iOS spy app for parents.

Alerts On Words

You don’t want your teen to use bad words while talking to someone, do you? Similarly, you’re anxious to know if they search for any sort of explicit content on browsers or apps like YouTube, right?

FamiSafe can curb out this anxiousness with its Explicit Content Detection feature.

Putting this feature in use you will get notified whenever some wrong words are used by the child in any app on their phone.

Adding your own words is also made possible by the app. Just click on the three-dot icon that you see on the top and click on Add Suspicious Words.

This feature of FamiSafe works excellently as it doesn’t just monitor the use of wrong words sent by your teen but if the person on the other hand sends a message with wrong words in it to your kid, even then you’ll get notified.

Location Tracking And Geo-Fencing

Skipping their classes and going for a city tour or to a party might be common for your teen. And all this time you will be thinking that my child is working really hard for their upcoming exams.

It’s your right to know the truth. With the location tracking feature of the app, you can always know about the current location of the teen anytime you want.

You will see a red pointer indicating the current whereabouts of the child.

You don’t have the whole day to stick to the computer screen and track each and every moment of the teen, right?

There’s no need for you to glue yourself to the computer screen. With the Geofencing feature of FamiSafe, you can create a fictional fence. Now whenever that fence is crossed by your teen, you will get notified immediately.

The minimum area of the fence is 100 meters and the maximum fence range is 1000 meters.

App Use And App Blocker

No parent would ever want their child to get addicted to their cell phone or any particular app on their phone.

But unfortunately, the games on the device and the social media apps installed on their phone are made in such a way that users can spend hours on it without realizing it.

And if you too notice your kid spending countless hours on their phone then it’s time to do something about it.

With FamiSafe, you can check the time that they spend on each app on their phone. If the time on any particular app is more than necessary then you can simply block it.

Now, for the time you don’t remove the block, they won’t be able to use that particular app.

Web Content Filtering

If you get to know that child is surfing on the internet, you will always be in a worry that if they are accessing something not meant for them.

FamiSafe has a solution to this problem as well. By simply toggling on the button adjacent to various categories, you can restrict your child from accessing content related to that.

But this feature didn’t work up to our expectations. While the child will not be able to access some adult websites, they might be able to access others.

Screen Time Tracking And Screen Time Limit

Screen Time Tracking feature is of great use if you want to know how addicted your teen is to their phone. And it won’t just give you the data for a particular day but for about a month.

After seeing their screen time if you think some restrictions need to be imposed then the Screen Time Limit feature will help you.

Just set the time for which you want your teen to use the phone or PC. Once that time elapses, they won’t be able to use any app on their device.

If they have already used the phone a lot then you can directly block the use of their device.

YouTube Control

If you think deliberately then you’ll realize that YouTube is not that safe for your kids either. It’s easy to find stuff on YouTube that is not worth watching for a kid.

So if you want to know what all videos do your little ones like to watch on YouTube then the YouTube Control feature of the app will help you out.

Other Features

The list of FamiSafe features doesn’t end here. There are plenty of other features that are equally useful. These features include Location History, Smart Scheduling, Suspicious Photos, and so on.

Click Here to Try FamiSafe

#2 Qustodio

If you give first priority to your kids then you’re definitely going to love this amazing kid monitoring app right here.

Qustodio has plenty of features to offer to make it a perfect choice to keep the kids safe. Let’s see what these features are.

Daily Time Limits And Restricted Times

Cell phone addiction is something that even the adults are a victim of. So how can you expect your teeny tiny to escape from it when they have a cell phone 27/4 with them.

Qustodio has something that can help you out here.

By using the Daily Time Limits feature of the app, you can set the time for each day for which you want your child to use their phone or PC.

And if you think they have already used their device enough then just click on Block to stop the use of the phone instantly.

Some of you might not like to set a timer for which the kid can use their PC. In fact, you might be ok with the fact that your child can use the phone whenever they feel like it, except for the hours they need to study and sleep.

This is possible with the Restricted Times feature of Qustodio.

Simply select the slot for which you want to restrict the phone use. Now there’s no way they can access their phone at the selected times.

Web Filtering And YouTube Monitoring

Do you know what’s easier than breaking a cookie? Breaking the security to access adult sites on the internet.

The AI of Qustodio automatically blocks the adult websites that contain anything related to nudity, violence, gambling, and so on.

And to be honest, Qustodio is quite an expert in filtering web content. But not so much that you don’t have to do anything manually.

By adding the link to the particular website in the given box and clicking on SAVE, you can block the use of that website manually.

Restrictions and limitations can be set on YouTube if you think the app is used in access or used in the wrong way.

To check out the list of videos watched by teens, you need to click on the here option. By toggling off the button, you can restrict the use of the YouTube browser on their device. Set the time of use if you don’t want to block the use of the app instantly.

Games And Apps

Due to the excess use of the computer or cell phone, your teen might jumble up their sleep time or study time. This needs to be fixed ASAP!

If you think particular apps are more responsible for it then it’s time to block the use of those apps or at least set a timer for their use.

Calls And SMS

Calls and SMS feature is supposed to show you the list of people that call and message your teen. But to our surprise, this feature didn’t work at all.

If you add some numbers under the call exception heading, the teen might still receive a call from those numbers.

There’s a slim chance that this feature didn’t work just for us but maybe it works perfectly for you. You can figure that out using the 3-day free trial of the app.

Location Tracking

If you can’t monitor the location of your teen with a spy app then simply don’t purchase it. But thankfully, Qustodio doesn’t fall in this category.

You need to enable the location tracking feature of the app by going to the Location section.

Once enabled, Qustodio will send you the location of the target person every few minutes.

Other Features

Almost everyone has a Facebook account these days, and most probably your kid has one too. Qustodio knows that the Facebook account of the child needs to be taken care of. That’s why it has come up with the Social Monitoring feature.

The Panic Button is another important feature of the app. It lets your child contact their known ones at the time of emergency. Just enable the feature and add the trusted contacts. Whenever the child senses some danger, they can press the SOS button and you will receive a message that the child is in danger. Their current location will also be provided in the message.

Click Here to Try Qustodio

#3 KidsGuard Pro

Who knows when your teen does something that needs to be taken care of immediately. But you can only take immediate action if you get to know about their online activities immediately.

It means you need an app that can give you instant updates on all the cell phone activities of the child. And when it comes to instant updates, there’s no app that can compete KidsGuard Pro spy software for parents.

Call Logs And Record Calls

Keeping yourself up to date with the calls that your little ones are receiving is necessary as they might be in contact with someone unknown.

The moment they receive or make a call to someone, KidsGuard Pro updates that call on its online portal.

Simply getting to know about the call made or received is not going to help much. It’s better to listen to that call using the Record Call feature of the app.

Listening to the recorded calls is possible either by downloading the recording or by listening to it right on the portal remotely.

Browser History

If your teen has a phone then they surf on the internet as well. And you know very well that all the things available on the internet are not child friendly.

That’s why KidsGuard Pro’s Browsing History is of great use. You can be well aware of all the websites opened by the child on their device.

As KidsGuard Pro gives a clickable link, you can access the website yourself and see what they were watching.

Location Tracking And Geofence

KidsGuard Pro is one of the few apps that give access to advanced features. So how can you expect the app to not have a Location Tracking feature?

You can check the current whereabouts of your child anytime you want. All that needs to be done is, going to the Location Tracking feature of the app.

Kids never understand that how dangerous it can be for them if they go to the crowded part of the city. But as a parent, you need to see that they never step in that area. You can use the Geofence feature for that.

Just set an imaginary fence anywhere in the city. Now whenever they enter or exit that area, you’ll be notified immediately.

Social Media And Instant Messaging

Now comes the main reason why having spy software is a boon. KidsGuard Pro will make you aware of all the conversations and activities that are done in social media apps like Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, and so on.

Similar to social media, instant messaging apps like WhatsApp and LINE are also trackable with the app.

The tracking of messages and activities is done via screenshots and text so there’s no chance of leaving anything unchecked.

So if you were always looking for an affordable spy app for Snapchat or any other social app, then KidsGuard Pro is the end to your search.

Photos And Video Preview

Your son/daughter might be storing some adult media in their phone. They might have either received it from their friends or downloaded it from the internet. Whatever be the case, you should get aware of the existence of such media.

The Photos section will have all the photos stored on their device and the Video Preview section will show all the videos from their phone.

You can download the photos and videos on your device as well.

Capture Screenshots And Take Photo

Do you notice your child engaged with their phone for endless hours? If yes then it’s better to know what is seizing their attention so much.

Let’s just capture the screen of their phone and see what’s grabbing their attention so much.

When you go to the  Capture Screenshots section of the app, you will see a Take Screenshots option. Clicking on it will take remote access to the phone and click screenshots of the target phone screen.

Similarly, the Take Photo option will take remote access to the child’s phone camera. By clicking on the Shoot button, you can command the teen’s smartphone to click some photos for you.

This way you can see the people your child is spending their time with.

Other Features

The list of features of KidsGuard Pro is not complete yet. There are plenty of useful features that are going to help you in your monitoring.

These features include the list of contacts of the target person, Calender feature, Wi-Fi Logger, and Keylogger.

Click Here to Try KidsGuard Pro

#4 pcTattletale

Going to the different sections to check the data might be a pain for some people. So how about an app that shows you most of the data in just one place and in the most unique way possible?

pcTattletale is what we are talking about. Owing to its unique working, the app works only on Android devices. This app is not compatible with an iPhone.

Live View

How would you feel if you can stream the screen of your little ones remotely and track all their phone activities in real-time?

It would be a great experience, isn’t it? This is possible with the Live View feature of the app.

Once enabled, you can see the screen of the target person right on the online portal of pcTattletale. The live recording that you will see might be 10-12 seconds late than what’s actually going on the phone, so it’s an experience that you are tracking them in real-time.

Recorded Videos

Watching the phone screen live is fun but it’s not possible to glue yourself to the computer screen just to watch all their activities.

You will definitely have to turn off your PC and quit tracking their activities for some time. But does that mean that you have to give up on their tracking for that time? Of course not.

Till the time you are offline, pcTattletale will record their activities in the background. Once you are done with the work and back online, you can check the recordings by going to the Activity on option you see on the top.

You can even download the recordings for a particular date by clicking on the download icon.

Click Activity

Addiction to the cell phone of your teen is one of your greatest fears, right? Why not keep a track of the time for which they use their phone every hour.

Click Activity feature will make you aware of the number of clicks made on the teen’s phone every hour.

Based on the number of clicks, you can well assume if the child’s phone use is more than what’s necessary or if it’s still within the limit.

Location Tracking

Kids roam in the most engaging parts of the city without giving any thought to the circumstances they might have to face. It can lead to incidents like a collision with a vehicle, getting lost, or maybe getting abducted.

But you as a parent cannot bear such an incident. Let your words be a line carved in stone and never let them go to the places you don’t want them to go.

By tracking their live location whenever you want, there’s no way your kid can lie to you about their whereabouts. If you notice them at some unwanted place, then you can call them immediately and tell them to come back. All these features combined make pcTattletale one of the best spy app for parents for Android.

Click Here to Try pcTattletale

#5 uMobix

Let’s discuss another app for parents to manage their kids in the most effective way possible. uMobix gives the quickest results from the child’s Android phone and iPhone.

The data is synced within a second so you will be up to date with all the activities of the child.

Address Book And Calls

Your child might be in contact with some people that are not fit for them and might be trying to drag your child into bad habits.

But if you have the list of their contacts handy, you can most probably figure the odd one out.

Under the Address book section of uMobix, you can see all the contact names and their phone numbers.

If you suspect some number in the list to be the one that’s not fit for them then you can check if there’s ever a call made or received by that number. For that, you have to go to the Calls section of the app.

You can check the date and time of the call if the call was received or made, and any other essential information as well.

Location Tracking

Do you suspect your child of bunking their classes and going to their friend’s house instead? If yes then you can know the truth with the Location feature of the app.

You will get instant updates on the location of your son/daughter along with the history of locations that were visited before.

Keylogger

Your child types hundreds of things in various apps on his phone. But whatever they are typing, is it something that’s ok for a child or they are using some adult language?

Know the truth with the Android Keylogger of the app.

Here in this section, you can see all the text typed in various apps like Amazon, WhatsApp, Instagram, and so on.

Social Apps

No child tracking can be complete without the tracking of social media apps. uMobix can deliver all the social media reports in its respective social media section.

The tracking of all the social media apps is done via high-quality screenshots and the updates are given with a drop of a hat.

As there’s no limit to the number of screenshots that you receive, you will not miss checking anything important.

Given the top drawer quality of social media tracking, it’s easy to say that uMobix is the best WhatsApp, Instagram, Kik, or Snapchat spy app for parents.

Browser History

Everything on the internet is available right away, just a single click and BOOM! you have entered the world of porn.

But you can stop your little ones from becoming porn addicts if you can check their browsing history. When you go to the Browser history section of uMobix, you see all the links that were opened by the child.

Just click on the link to directly check the website that was opened by them.

Photos And Videos

Internet is not the only place where your child can watch adult content. Your child might have received photos and videos from some of their friends that are not good for them to watch.

Using uMobix, you can check all the photos and videos that exist on the kid’s phone. You will see all the photos from the target phone even if they are previous or previous to previous years old.

Downloading the photos and videos is possible.

Click Here to Try uMobix

Best Spy Apps For Parents: Is Kid Monitoring Useful?

Some of you might not consider the tracking of a child worth it but that’s not completely wise.

There are hundreds and hundreds of perils that the child will come through, both online as well as offline. And you as a parent need to make sure that they tackle every problem in their life. But if they are about to take some wrong step, you can always be there to rectify their mistakes.

And maybe you even save your kids from major problems someday, all thanks to these best spy apps for parents.

FAQs

What Is The Best Monitoring App For Parents?

If you are looking for an app that gives you the option to control their phone remotely then FamiSafe is the best monitoring app. If you are looking for the one that has the most advanced features then KidsGuard Pro is the best monitoring app.

Can I Track My Child's Phone Without Them Knowing?

Using an undetectable spy app, you can monitor your kid's phone activities without them knowing.

Can I Stop My Child From Using Phone At Night?

There are features in both Qustodio and FamiSafe that can restrict phone use at night.

Should Parents Monitor Cell Phones?

Looking at the online dangers, it can be easily said that parents should monitor the cell phone of the kids.

What Is The Best Free Parental Control App?

If you are looking for free spy apps for parents then you should go for Qustodio. The app has a free plan, but it won't offer many features.