If you’re a parent, then you know how important it is to keep an eye on your kids’ online activity. It’s a good idea to have some sort of parental control on the smart phones they use, especially if they are young, and don’t have the ability to critically analyze the content they come across while browsing the internet.
This article will discuss the best apps for parents to monitor Android devices. We’ve combed through dozens of options, and these are our top picks!
Table of Contents
Best Apps For Parents To Monitor Android
The best parental control apps for Android and iOS give you an idea of what your kids are doing online, which should give you some peace of mind or at least alert you to what’s going on. Many also offer Windows and Mac software for your kids’ computers, providing an all-encompassing view.
If you’ve got young children or teenagers, you know it can be hard to see what they do online. Do they have Snapchat, WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger installed on their phones? Do you even know what those apps are?
Or have you seen your children hiding their phone screens as soon as you walk into the room? If so, then they’re probably concealing something from you and you definitely need one of the best parental control apps.
The best parental control apps for iOS and Android can also help you find a child’s physical location or tell you if the child isn’t in school during school hours, rivaling the abilities of the best GPS trackers for kids.
They can tell you to whom your kids talk online, can schedule and limit kids’ internet-access time and can block inappropriate websites. A couple of these apps log calls and texts or can even show you the content of texts and instant messages, although Apple and Google now make it more difficult to do so.
Overall, these apps work best when they’re part of a comprehensive approach to teaching kids how to behave responsibly both online and off. Talk to your children about how to act online and to be wary of uncomfortable situations. Listen to them if they think your approach is too heavy-handed. And be clear with them that you’ll be monitoring what they do online.
One note: We don’t review any parental-control app that can run in “stealth” mode so that the child won’t know it’s there. Such apps are often used to spy on spouses or other adults, and this so-called “stalkerware” can be a factor in domestic abuse.
We also stay away from apps that can record phone conversations. Doing so without the consent of at least one party involved is illegal throughout the United States, and several states require all parties to consent.
There’s no parental exception to phone-recording laws. Courts have ruled that a parent cannot record a child’s conversation with another person unless the parent truly believes the child is in immediate danger.
What are the best parental control apps?
No parental-control app is perfect, but Net Nanny consistently delivered the best mix of web filtering, location tracking and app management on both Android and iOS devices. It also works on Amazon Kindle Fire tablets, Windows, Macs and Chromebooks that support Google Play.
Norton Family offers almost all the features a parent could want, including recently added geofencing, although its app-management abilities don’t work on iOS. Along with smartphone and tablets, it also monitors Windows PCs but not Macs.
Many antivirus products, including some from Norton and Kaspersky, have parental controls built in. To see how well those stack up against the stand-alone services, please see our overview of the best (and worst) antivirus software for parents.
All these parental-control apps can see and do more on Android than on iOS, due to Apple’s tighter app restrictions and system control. If you’re really serious about keeping tabs on what your kids do online, get them Android phones.
Just be wary of any Android parental control app that you need to “sideload” on your own. There’s usually a good reason that app isn’t in the official Google Play store. (We’ll make an exception for Qustodio, whose sideloaded version has abilities the Google Play app doesn’t.)
Editor’s note: Future, the parent company of Tom’s Guide, has chosen to stop doing business with Russian companies, including Kaspersky. We remain committed to helping our readers to source and find the best products and will offer multiple alternatives in the categories affected.
Parental-control-app news & updates
— Norton has added geofencing and automatic location alerts, plus customizable schedules for school days.
— Qustodio has added support for Chromebooks using Google Play and a browser extension.
— ESET Parental Control for Android is cutting its subscription rates for multiyear plans, with two years of service going for $45 and three years for $60, representing discounts of 25% and 33%, respectively.
The best parental control app you can get
The best parental control apps: Net Nanny
- Net Nanny
The best parental control app out there
TODAY’S BEST DEALS
VISIT SITE
REASONS TO BUY
+Intuitive, consistent design
+Unmatched web filters
+Reliable geolocation and time management
REASONS TO AVOID
-A bit expensive
-Lacks some features on iOS
Net Nanny, which we think is the best parental control app, has a modern, intuitive design and excellent web-filtering technology that analyzes pages rather than just blindly blocking them and lets you create filters of your own.
Among the parental-control apps we tried, Net Nanny comes closest to having feature parity between its iOS and Android versions. It can track your child’s location, display their location history, and set time allowances and schedules equally well on both platforms.
The iOS version lets you block more than 100 apps on your kid’s phone; the Android one lets you block them all. The built-in App Advisor gives you a heads-up on which new apps you should watch out for. (Tom’s Guide readers save $10 off each of Net Nanny’s plans.)
Net Nanny also includes content screening that works within social media apps and services, including Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, instead of blocking or allowing them entirely.
The only thing Net Nanny can’t do on a smartphone is monitor calls or texts. No apps we tested can do that on iOS, but a couple still do on Android.
Read our full Net Nanny review.
Kaspersky Safe Kids parental control app review
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Kaspersky Safe Kids
The best bargain among the best parental control apps
TODAY’S BEST DEALS
VISIT SITE
REASONS TO BUY
+Very affordable price
+Full-featured on both free and paid tiers
+Monitors PCs, Macs as well
REASONS TO AVOID
-Web portal slow at times
-Poorly designed mobile apps
Like Net Nanny, Kaspersky Safe Kids lets you monitor and control your kids’ activities on PCs and Macs as well as on smartphones. Even better, Kaspersky’s paid tier is only $15 per year (there’s a 7-day free trial) for an unlimited number of child devices, and its free plan lets you set screen-time limits, filter websites and manage other apps.
The paid plan monitors social networks and offers location tracking and geofencing that work in both iOS and Android, as do Kaspersky’s web monitoring and device scheduling. But app management is limited on iOS to blocking apps that have age restrictions.
Likewise, a feature that lets you block specific kinds of YouTube searches, and review YouTube search history if you’re a paid user, works on Windows, iOS and Android, including the YouTube Android app — but not on Macs.
The drawbacks, and they are minor, are that the mobile apps are clumsily designed, the web portal can be slow, and the web filters may not work with lesser-known browsers. Still, if you don’t feel a need to read your kids’ text messages (and in which case you’d need Qustodio), then Kaspersky Safe Kids is well worth considering.
We must mention that Kaspersky is a Russian company, although it has many operations around the world. It’s not yet clear whether the current Russian invasion of Ukraine and the resulting economic sanctions on Russia will affect the operations of Kaspersky software. For more on this issue, please see our note about Kaspersky software at the end of this page.
Read our full Kaspersky Safe Kids review.
Norton Family parental control app review
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- Norton Family
A strong option for kids who use Android and Windows
TODAY’S BEST DEALS
Norton Family Premier
$49.99/year
VISIT SITE
at Norton
REASONS TO BUY
+Great web filters and monitoring
+Unlimited children and devices
+Works on Windows
REASONS TO AVOID
-Mobile apps could be improved
-Doesn’t work on Macs
Norton Family’s power and features are ideal for Android (and Windows) households with many children, offering nearly every feature a parent could want from one of the best parental control apps, including recently added geofencing.
This service’s location-tracking, time-scheduling, and web-filtering and -monitoring capabilities work on both iOS and Android, but Norton’s time allowances are only for its Windows and Android software. App management doesn’t work in the iOS app at all.
However, Norton Family has very strong web filters, even on iOS, monitors Hulu as well as YouTube, and has a new feature called School Time to keep children focused during remote-learning class time.
Norton Family comes free if you spring for one of Norton’s more expensive antivirus suites, such as Norton 360 Deluxe, which is often discounted to as little as $50 per year. At that price, getting Norton Family along with Norton’s excellent antivirus protection is a no-brainer, unless your kids happen to use Macs.
Read our full Norton Family review.
OurPact parental control app review
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- OurPact
The best parental control app for iOS devices
TODAY’S BEST DEALS
OURPACT
REASONS TO BUY
+Excellent design and navigation
+Powerful iOS feature set
+Covers up to 20 child devices
REASONS TO AVOID
-Limited web filtering
-Can get expensive
Once the most powerful parental-control app for iPhones, OurPact’s abilities have been whittled down a bit by Apple, which temporarily threw OurPact out of the App Store. However, it can still manage or block any iOS app, just as it can on Android.
OurPact also gets kids involved in managing the daily allowance of screen time that you give them, and it does a good job of scheduling. Its Premium Plus plan lets you get screenshots from the child’s device, even on IOS, and you can block messaging and texting apps even if you can’t read the messages themselves.
Yet its website filtering simply blocks porn, and the time-management interface is a bit clunky. OurPact will tell you where your child is, and its geofencing will tell you when a child arrives or leaves specific locations, but it can’t tell you where your child has been.
Despite these drawbacks, OurPact’s well-designed interface and intuitive features make it a joy to use, especially if your kids have iPhones.
Read our full OurPact review.
Google Family Link parental control app review
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- Google Family Link
Well designed, very competent and totally free
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REASONS TO BUY
+Utterly free
+Solid design
+Excellent performance
REASONS TO AVOID
-Doesn’t support kids’ iPhones
-Very limited web filtering
Google Family Link is the only option on this page that’s totally free. You may be pleasantly surprised by how powerful and useful it can be — as long as your kids happen to have Android phones or tablets.
Google Family Link gives parents control over the system permissions each individual app has on a child’s Android device. No other parental-control app we’ve reviewed has that ability. It also lets you decide which kind of apps, or any apps at all, your child can download from Google Play.
There’s no iOS version of the Google Family Link child app, but parents can use either iOS or Android to monitor kids’ devices. We recommend Android for kids’ apps anyway, as the Android versions of all these apps give parents much more insight and control.
A few drawbacks: Google Family Link has only one web filter, against “mature sites,” and it doesn’t work perfectly. The same single filter is available for YouTube. Location tracking is a bit primitive, and there’s no geofencing. But the time-management features work well.
If you’re primarily concerned about the apps your kids use, Google Family Link may be everything you need. And if you want an app that can do more, Google Family Link will work well alongside one of the other options on this page.
Read our full Google Family Link review.
Qustodio parental control app review
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- Qustodio
Wide multi-platform support, and can still log calls and read texts
TODAY’S BEST DEALS
Qustodio Premium Small
$54.95/year
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Qustodio Premium Medium
$96.95/year
Qustodio Premium Large
$137.95/year
VISIT SITE
at Qustodio
REASONS TO BUY
+Wide feature set at all prices
+Broad multi-platform support
+Call, text monitoring still possible on Android
REASONS TO AVOID
-Fairly expensive
-Unreliable web filtering
Qustodio supports iOS and Android devices, Amazon Fire tablets, Macs, PCs and Chromebooks. It also lets you set time limits for individual apps and individual devices.
This service’s location tracking works on both iOS and Android, as do its geofencing and a Family Locator feature that shows you where all your kids are at once. You can manage about 6,000 apps on iOS, and all Android apps, but the web filtering doesn’t work that well on either mobile platform.
However, Qustodio is one of the only apps we’ve recently tested that can still log a child’s texts and calls, view the content of text messages or block phone numbers, at least on Android — and you have to sideload a special version of the app from Qustodio’s website for it all to work. But if these features are important to you, then Qustodio may be the app to get.
The biggest drawback is that Qustodio can get darn expensive, costing up to $138 per year for 15 devices. (Tom’s Guide readers get a 10% discount.)
Read our full Qustodio review.
Best parental control apps: Screen Time
- Screen Time
Does one thing very well
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SCREEN TIME
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REASONS TO BUY
+Intuitive design
+Handles access well
+Task/reward system
REASONS TO AVOID
-Pricey upcharges for location tracking, filters
-No text or call monitoring
Screen Time — not to be confused with the “Screen Time” feature in iOS — does an excellent job of managing and scheduling kids’ device access. Unfortunately, it doesn’t do a whole lot else, at least on iOS devices. App management and web filtering are for Android only.
Screen Time also has baffling upcharges for location tracking and web filters, both of which are arguably essentials and come standard with other parental-control apps. (You can get both features in the 14-day Screen Time premium trial.)
We did like how Screen Time lets you dole out additional, yup, screen time to kids who perform chores or good deeds. But you can’t block apps on iOS, and there’s no call or text monitoring at all, although geofencing and location history were recently added.
Read our full Screen Time review.
Best parental control apps: ESET Parental Control for Android
- ESET Parental Control for Android
Leaves room for improvement
TODAY’S BEST DEALS
ESET Parental control for Android
$29.99/year
VISIT SITE
at ESET UK
REASONS TO BUY
+Nice location features
+Unlimited devices
REASONS TO AVOID
-Confusing user interface
-No call or text monitoring
-Android only
ESET Parental Control for Android sticks to a single platform, but it doesn’t shine even there, lacking text-message- and call-monitoring (and number blocking) features and implementing clunky controls on what it does have.
The app management and time management you receive with the free version of ESET Parental Control for Android do work well, as do the location tracking and geofencing you’ll get if you pay for a subscription. (There’s a 14-day free trial, plus steep discounts for multiyear plans.) And we liked the feature that lets a kid send an SOS message to designated phones with a single tap.
Still, the $30 yearly plan is not worth shelling out for unless you get it bundled with ESET Smart Security Premium. That’s because Kaspersky Safe Kids does more than ESET Parental Control for Android on four times as many platforms and at half the price.
Read our full ESET Parental Control for Android review.
Best parental control apps: MMGuardian
- MMGuardian
The only app that can read messages on iOS
TODAY’S BEST DEALS
MMGUARDIAN
REASONS TO BUY
+Wide Android feature set
+Granular controls
+Can read texts, messages on iOS
REASONS TO AVOID
-Can get expensive
-Terrible user interface
MMGuardian has nearly every parental-control feature you might want on Android phones, including the ability to log, block and read text messages, and log and block calls.
It’s also the only app we know of that can still read texts and messages on iOS, although it can’t block them, thanks to Mac and PC software that combs through an iPhone’s backups.
But the user interfaces are outdated and frustrating on both platforms. The iOS and Android smartphone apps offer location tracking and excellent web filtering, and MMGuardian now has an artificial-intelligence component to spot nudity in saved images.
Time management and screen-time scheduling are Android-only, and the separate MMGuardian app for Android tablets has no location tracking.
On iOS, MMGuardian’s app management is primitive, and there is no call blocking. But if you’re really interested in what your child is texting, especially on iOS, then MMGuardian is worth considering.
Read our full MMGuardian review.
How to choose the best parental control app for you
What you need from a parental-control service mainly depends on how old your kids are. If you’re the parent of children under 12, you absolutely want to be able to block objectionable websites, but you might also consider an app that’s available on Amazon Fire tablets.
If you’ve got teenagers, you might want to let them have a look at objectionable things online, but only if you’re aware of it. You might also want to see whom your teens are talking to in messenger apps, and to see where they are late on a Friday night. And you might want to consider a service that monitors your kids’ Windows and Mac devices as well as their smartphones.
The best parental control apps will offer, at a minimum, a website filter, location tracking, screen-time limits including a scheduler, and an app blocker that works at least on Android.
Useful extra features include geofencing, which alerts you if a child’s phone leaves a designated “safe” area like school or a relative’s house. Most of these apps let you monitor your child’s phone from a desktop computer web interface as well as your own smartphone.
A couple of these apps let you block and log the calls and texts a child makes and receives, and even read a child’s text messages, but they require extra steps to do so. But none lets you listen in on a call, because that’s illegal.
See the chart below for what each of our reviewed parental control apps offers.
Feature comparison chart
Feature (bold = free) ESET Parental Control for Android Google Family Link Kaspersky Safe Kids MMGuardian Net Nanny Norton Family OurPact Qustodio Screen Time
Price Free to $30/year Free Free to $15/year Up to $70/year Free to $90/year $50/year Free to $84/year Free to $138/year Free to $40/year
Number of devices Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited 1 to 5 1 to 20 Unlimited 1 to 20 1 to 15 1 to 5
Platforms Android Android Android, iOS, Windows, Mac Android, iOS Android, iOS, Kindle Fire, Windows Android, iOS, Windows Android, iOS Android, iOS, Kindle Fire, Windows, Mac, Chrome OS Android, iOS
Web portal for parents Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Call logging None None None None None None None Android only None
Text logging None None None Yes None None None Android only None
Text content None None None Yes None None None Android only None
Call blocking None None None Android only None None None Android only None
Text blocking None None None Android only None None None Android only None
Geofencing Yes None Yes None None Yes Yes Yes Yes, extra fee
Location tracking Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes, extra fee
Location history Yes Yes None Android only Yes Yes None Yes Yes, extra fee
Web monitoring Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes None Yes Yes
Web filter Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Extra fee, Android only
Time limits Yes Yes Yes Android only Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Scheduling Yes Yes Yes Yes (limited on iOS) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
App management Yes Yes Yes (limited on iOS) Android only Yes (limited on iOS) Android only Yes Yes Yes, Android only
App blocker Yes Yes Yes (limited on iOS) Yes (limited on iOS) Yes Android only Yes Yes Android only
How we test and rate the best parental control apps
Evaluation criteria
We focused on parental control apps that emphasize proactively setting up filters and limits before your child uses the phone rather than merely tracking activities after the fact. We took the following criteria into account.
Price: What is the cost of the service and how many children and devices are covered?
Installation: How easy is it to install and configure the app across each device?
App management: What level of control does the app provide regarding the monitoring, blocking, or restriction of app usage? Does the app let you see all the other apps on the child’s device?
Filtering: What kind of filtering tools does each app offer? How effectively does the app filter out content that you deem inappropriate?
Time management: What kind of tools does the app provide for restricting the amount of time your child spends on his or her device(s)?
Texting and messaging management: Does the app let you see the content of your child’s text messages? Can you create rules for, or block specific contacts? Are you notified of new contacts? Does the control extend beyond the built-in messaging apps? Can you block messaging apps altogether?
Location tracking: Does the app let you find your child in an emergency? Does it log of their previous locations? Does the app let you create geofenced areas?
Our most recent testing was done on a Lenovo Yoga C940 running Windows 10, a Google Pixel 4XL running Android 11, and an iPhone 12 running iOS 14.2.
We tested each app on every platform that it supported twice, from installation to uninstall. We typically monitored activity from the Lenovo Yoga C940, but for apps that offered control from a smartphone app we tested those features typically from an iPhone.
The best Android parental-control apps remain considerably more robust than their iOS counterparts in most cases, with only OurPact offering feature parity among those apps that we tested.
We note areas in which there are discrepancies in the functionality offered on each platform, but we are not providing distinct ratings and reviews for the iOS versus the Android version of each app.
With regard to call and text monitoring, Apple and Google have made it nearly impossible for any app to do so. Qustodio gets around this by offering a special version of the Android app that users can sideload; MMGuardian replaces the standard SMS app with its own on Android, and uses PCs or Macs to comb through phone backups on iOS.
best parental control app
If you intend to monitor your children’s device activity in the modern age, you need a parental control service that works well on mobile platforms, in addition to desktops. Kids can get into all sorts of mischief on their mobile phones (or tablets), either on purpose or by accident. Maybe they spend too much time every day staring at a screen or use age-inappropriate sites and apps. In any case, a good parental control app can restore your sense of control and help you keep a cautious eye out for anything that can harm them.
Be sure to have open and ongoing conversations with your children about the importance of responsible device usage, so they don’t immediately scheme to get rid of whatever app you install or find some clever workarounds. Check out our article on what parents of connected kids need to know if you don’t know where to begin.
Where’s Kaspersky?
Kaspersky Safe Kids was in this roundup for quite some time. We have, however, opted to remove the company’s parental control software from this list.
Although Kaspersky has long faced controversy for its connections to Russia, we have continued to endorse many of the company’s products. That’s partly because our work at PCMag focuses on the products themselves, not their geopolitical ramifications. Also, despite accusations of being in cahoots with the Russian government, no evidence has ever been provided to definitively prove Kaspersky was a bad actor.
However, on March 27, 2022, the FCC issued a warning that labeled the company a national security threat. This came after several other organizations and governments dissolved their relationships with Kaspersky in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. While we stand by our evaluations of Kaspersky products, we felt this latest development warranted a different response. We have removed Kaspersky’s products from our “Best for” lists, and added a statement to all our Kaspersky product reviews.
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How to Monitor Your Kids’ Mobile Devices
Parental control apps can help you maintain control in a variety of ways. Some of the most common types of monitoring include web content filtering, app blocking, time management, and location tracking. We dive into more detail about these top features below. Keep in mind some of the products we highlight are mobile-only solutions, meaning they cannot monitor your child’s activities on Macs or PCs. If these platforms are your greatest concern, make sure to check out our roundup of the best parental control software.
Most parental control services work similarly. You install a monitoring app on every device you want to keep tabs on and manage settings and restrictions from either a web desktop or a parent-focused mobile app. Changes you make on any devices take effect immediately. We appreciate those services that offer flexible device management.
Pricing and Platforms
Most parental control apps require you to pay for an annual subscription based on the number of devices you monitor. Prices range anywhere from $10 to $30 for monitoring one or two devices and go all the way up to over $100 in some cases if you want 10 or more licenses. Circle Home Plus requires a hardware device and, eventually, a premium subscription to get its full capabilities. That said, there are some exceptions. Some services, like Locategy, operate on a freemium model, albeit with some limitations that don’t apply to the premium edition. Others, like Kaspersky Safe Kids and Norton Family, do not restrict the number of devices you can monitor.
Parental control software tends to be more powerful on Android than on iOS, since Apple locks down app permissions and device access. Most parental control apps for iPhones require you to install a mobile device management (MDM) profile for all the features (especially those related to app management and time restrictions) to function correctly.
For monitoring iOS devices, consider using Apple’s Screen Time tools, which rival the for-pay offerings of standalone competitors. Apple’s built-in (and free) solution is account-based, meaning it keeps track of data across all a child’s Apple devices. Apple already included a good range of app-blocking and web-filtering options within the Restrictions section of its main settings app. Microsoft (Family Safety) and Google (Family Link) also offer first-party parental management solutions, which we cover in more detail in our guide on how to manage kids’ screen time. We also have a feature on how to manage parental control settings on every game console.
Web Filtering
The hallmark feature of any parental control app is its ability to prevent kids from accessing inappropriate or dangerous websites. Many apps bundle a proprietary browser that makes it easier for the services to manage, track, and control browsing activity. This makes more sense than trying to reverse engineer support for every conceivable mobile browser. As such, most of these apps instruct you to block every other browser or restrict your child from installing any other apps at all.
Some parental control utilities don’t force your child to use a proprietary browser. Rather, they leverage VPN technology, running internet connections through a local app to enable content filtering. You’ll see the VPN icon when such a utility is active. The presence of this icon doesn’t mean the child’s connection is secured by a full-scale virtual private network, nor that the device’s IP address is masked.
Most of these browsers operate similarly in that they block access to websites that fall under banned categories, including all the biggest offenders, such as file sharing, gambling, pornography, and violence. The best examples have no trouble picking up on HTTPS-encrypted traffic and blocking access to anonymizing proxies. Some apps, such as Net Nanny, let you create custom web-filtering categories, and the vast majority let you add specific rules for custom domains. Others can lock Safe Search settings and block profanity. The quality of web history reporting also varies from service to service.
App Monitoring, Messaging, and Time Restrictions
One area in which most mobile parental control solutions excel is in their ability to prevent children from using certain apps. This can come in handy for parents looking to prevent their kids from using social media apps, messaging services that are difficult to monitor, or browsers that get around the defined web filters. Still, it can be difficult to keep track of every new app your child installs. Better yet are those services, such as Boomerang, that automatically block new apps your child installs until you explicitly approve them. Mobicip gives you the option to whitelist only the apps you want your child to be able to use.
App blocking works differently on iOS. You can block access to system apps such as Safari, Camera, and Siri, if you wish. You can also disable the iTunes Store and App Store and ban in-app purchases. Some parental control apps can even remove app icons completely from the home screen, so there’s no chance your kid can access them.
One thing you won’t be able to do with most parental control apps is monitor calls or SMS, MMS, and encrypted messages. You can block secure messaging apps, but Boomerang and Qustodio are the only options aside from Apple’s ScreenTime function we tested that allow you to monitor SMS messages and call data. This capability is only for Android devices and is not built into the app versions on the Google Play store; instead, you have to sideload a custom version of the app.
Time restrictions are another major feature of parental control apps. Some services, like Norton Family and Locategy, let you specify how many total hours (or minutes) a day your child can spend on any given device as well as a schedule for when they can use it. Qustodio lets you set up schedules for specific apps and device usage, as well as specifying a total time allotment for your child that applies across every piece of hardware they use to access the internet.
Location Reporting
A mobile parental control app should at the very least be able to keep track of a child’s current location and some historical location data, too. It’s also important for them to offer some level of control over notifications and the frequency of location reporting, to avoid bombarding the parent with useless data. Both Qustodio and Norton Family offer these features.
Some services, including Locategy and Boomerang, go one step further, letting you construct geofences around a location. For the uninitiated, geofences are digital boundaries around a physical location that help parents keep track of when a child arrives at or leaves a given location. Kaspersky Safe Kids even lets you add a dimension of time to a geofence, so you can easily make sure a child stays where they are supposed to be throughout the day. Boomerang offers a unique feature that lets you draw custom geofences on a map; other apps just create a circular radius around a point you define. Android and iOS themselves also let you track your kid’s location.
Microsoft Family Safety users with an active Microsoft 365 Family subscription can monitor their teen’s driving habits with the Drive Safety feature and Drive History reports. The reports alert the Microsoft Family Safety group if the monitored person accelerated quickly or braked hard during their last driving session.
Talk to Your Kids
Although the range of features parental control software supports is impressive, no system is perfect. If your children want to get around the limitations you impose, they will likely be able to do so either by using unmonitored devices or finding ways to wipe their devices clean of the controlling apps. Thus, it’s worthwhile to take the time to talk with your child about why you have installed monitoring software in the first place. After all, digital safety and security are worthwhile topics for everyone. It’s better to approach these conversations honestly, rather than have them find out on their own and stop trusting you. Especially for older children, it’s also important to listen to your child’s specific privacy concerns, rather than just setting rules and restrictions that may otherwise be seen as arbitrary.
Conclusion
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