9 Best Parental Control Apps: iOS & Android (2024)

Discover the best parental control apps for iPhone and Android. Protect your kids with the most reliable parental control software.
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Key Takeaways

Today's children are exposed to ever-changing technology, which can pose risks to their mental and physical health.

Luckily, there are parental control apps that can help monitor your child's activity on their phone or other smart device. Parental control apps can also limit the content and hours the phone is used.

In this guide, we're going to look at the best parental control apps for iPhone and Android devices. We'll also give you tips for choosing the application that best suits your needs.

The size of the global market control apps parental was around 898.5 million in 2020. The market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 11.6% and reach around 2.15 billion by 2028.

The chart below shows the size of the parental control market in millions [2019-2028].

Parental Control Market Size

tip : Look at the features and devices that parental control apps support. This will allow you to choose the parental control application that meets your specific needs.

List of the best parental control apps

Here is a list of the best and most popular parental control apps for monitoring your child's activities:

1. mSpy.

The best solution for keyboard and screen recording.

mSpy Dashboard

mSpy is a cell phone spy app popular that allows parents to track their child's cell phone activity. In this tutorial, we are going to look at the key features of mSpy.

Features

  • mSpy is easy to set up and use, taking less than 5 minutes to set up.
  • Parents can track their child's cell phone activity, including location, calls, text messages, and social media activity in real time through their mSpy dashboard.
  • The information transmitted by the application is encrypted with bank-grade encryption, guaranteeing the confidentiality of the data.
  • mSpy can also function as a screen recorder and remote keylogger for increased parental control.
  • Key features include a GPS tracker, SMS tracker, call log monitoring, keylogger, and screen recorder.

Pricing

  • 1 month - $48.99/month, 3 months - $27.99/month, 12 months - $11.66/month.
  • 7-day free trial

With the ability to monitor every keystroke and tap recorded on the target device, it's hard to miss out on any activity taking place on your kid's phone with mSpy by your side. It's easy to use, has a comprehensive surveillance dashboard, and operates in complete secrecy. It is an application that we recommend to all parents.

Try mSpy Now

2. uMobix.

The best for monitoring social media, call logs, text messages, and location.

uMobix

uMobix is a feature-rich parental control application that allows parents to monitor their child's smartphone. It offers numerous features to spy on the target device and obtain accurate information about the child's activity.

Features

  • Tracking incoming and outgoing calls with timestamps and duration
  • Remote recovery of all photos and videos
  • Location of the target device in real time thanks to the geolocation function
  • Monitor over 30 social apps, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Viber
  • Keylogger

Pricing

  • 1 month - $48.99/month, 3 months - $27.99/month, 12 months - $11.66/month.
  • 7-day free trial

uMobix is a comprehensive parental control application, which offers a lot of useful features to monitor child activity. With social media monitoring, real-time GPS location, and the ability to remotely record media files, uMobix is a great option for parents who want to monitor their child's activities on their smartphone.

Try uMobix Now

3. FamiSafe.

The best for controlling screen time.

FamiSafe

FamiSafe is a parental control application that focuses on preventing children from becoming digitally addicted. It allows parents to monitor their child's phone activity, set screen time restrictions and schedules, and quickly detect and remove harmful content.

Features

  • Screen time control with the ability to set specific restrictions and times for locations such as home or school
  • Controlling the use of YouTube and Tiktok
  • Detecting explicit content in messages, social media applications, and websites
  • Real-time location tracking
  • Geo-fence

Pricing

  • Monthly plan: 10.99
  • Quarterly plan: $20.99
  • Yearly plan: $48.79
  • Free trial: 3 days

FamiSafe is a very comprehensive and effective parental control application to prevent children's digital addiction.

Screen time control, real-time location tracking, and explicit content detection features are very useful in keeping children safe.

If you're looking for a parental control app that focuses on preventing digital addiction, FamiSafe is a great option.

4. Cocospy.org.

The best solution for remote monitoring, parental control, and monitoring.

cocospy

Cocospy is one of the easiest parental control apps to use and comes with a remarkable stealth mode. This application will transmit all the information about your child's cell phone activity in just a few steps.

Features

  • Cocospy is easy to use and has a stealth mode.
  • Parents can track all incoming and outgoing calls, text messages sent and received, social media activity, and online browser activity in real time from their connected, web-based Cocospy dashboard.
  • Features include social media spying, GPS location tracking, geo-fence, SMS and call log tracking, and stealth mode.

Pricing

  • Android: Premium - 9.99/month, Basic - 39.99/month, Family - 69.99 (annual purchase)
  • iOS: Premium 10.83/month, Basic - 99.99/month, Family - 399.99 (with annual purchase)
  • No free trial but a free demo is available.

Cocospy is one of the best parental control apps available on the market due to its user-friendly interface and rich features. With Cocospy, parents can track their child's online activity, including their social media use and the websites visited, with additional details such as timestamps and frequency of visits.

5. Bark.

The best solution for monitoring social media, apps, texts, and emails on kids' iPhone, Android, and Amazon devices.

bark website

Parents need monitoring tools to protect their children from online dangers. Bark is a parental control tool that offers a range of features to monitor your children's online activities.

Features

  • Compatible with Android, iPhone, and Amazon mobile devices.
  • Monitor over 30 popular social and web applications.
  • View text messages and emails.
  • Screen time management.
  • Filtering websites.

Pricing

  • Bark Jr: $5 per month
  • Bark Premium: $14 per month
  • Free trial: Yes | 7 days
bark Pricing

Bark is one of the monitoring tools that are top-rated by parents, offering protection from online dangers by monitoring children's activities on social media, email, and text messages.

Additional features like screen time management and website filtering add an extra layer of protection for your kids.

If you are a parent who is concerned about keeping your children safe online, Bark is a great choice.

6. FamilyTime.

The best solution for managing apps, websites, emails, and texts on a child's iOS and Android devices.

FamilyTime website

FamilyTime is one of the best parental control apps for mobile devices. The app is easy to use to manage multiple devices from a mobile app or web portal. It takes care of Internet filtering, contact and call logs, text messages, and application usage monitoring.

Features

  • Works on Android and iOS devices
  • Internet filter and application blocker.
  • Limit screen time.
  • SOS/panic button.
  • Geofencing and location history.

Pricing

  • MyFamily: $2.25 per month per device
  • MyFamily2: $1.46 per month per device
  • MyFamily3: $1.25 per month per device
  • MyFamily5: $1.15 per month per device
  • Trial: Yes | 3 days
FamilyTime Pricing

FamilyTime is an affordable parental control application for monitoring a child's activities on mobile devices. It has an easy to understand user interface that allows you to quickly set up and monitor multiple devices.

8. Qustodio.

The best solution for monitoring and managing your child's macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, Kindle, and Chromebook devices.

Qustodio

Qustodio is the best parental control app that you can use on desktops and mobile devices.

Features

  • SMS and call tracking
  • Child locator
  • Application blocking and time limits
  • Youtube/Facebook monitoring
  • Panic button

Pricing

  • Small plan: $4.58 per month
  • Average plan: $8.08 per month
  • Large plan: $11.50 xper month
  • Free trial: Yes | 3 days
QuStodio Pricing

The app allows you to view and manage access to apps and websites on your child's devices. It also supports extended activity reports, allowing you to monitor your child's screen activity in detail.

9. Net Nanny.

The best solution for monitoring social media and controlling child activities on macOS, iOS, Android, Windows, Kindle, and Chromebook devices.

Net Nanny website

Net Nanny is another parenting app that you can use to monitor your kids' activities on desktop and mobile devices. The application allows you to filter content, block applications, and limit display time. It also provides instant alerts when your child accesses dangerous online content.

Features

  • Content filtering
  • Managing screen time
  • Controlling the digital fingerprint
  • Real-time alert on content related to drugs, pornography, guns, and suicide.
  • Blocking applications

Pricing

  • 1 device: $4.17 per month
  • 5 devices: $6.66 per month
  • 20 devices: $10.83 per month
  • Free trial: Yes | 14 days
Net Nanny Pricing

Net Nanny is one of the best parenting apps recommended by the experts at Tom's Guide. The application is one of the most accurate at blocking children's activities on the Internet and on the phone.

FAQs

How can I monitor my child's phone without them knowing?

Parental control apps allow you to view your child's devices on the phone without them knowing. As the name suggests, you can use these apps to control your kids' activities on the phone.

Can I control my child's phone from mine?

By using a parental control app, you can control your child's phone using your phone or computer. To do this, you can download the application on your device.

Can I turn off my child's phone temporarily?

Parental control apps allow you to schedule the times when your child can't use the phone. For example, you can program the phone to turn off at your child's bedtime.

How do I restrict my child's access to the Internet?

Open the parental control app and find your child's device. Click on web browsing and type in Internet addresses that you think are not appropriate for your child. You can also limit your child's access to certain websites by clicking Allow only these websites.

At what age should a child have a telephone?

Parents should allow supervised smartphone use from the age of 13. According to experts, there is a high risk of overuse of technology among young children, which leads to physical and mental health problems.

Summary.

FamilyTree and Bark are recommended parental control apps for monitoring a child's activities on iOS and Android devices. Qustodio is the best parental application for monitoring and managing access to applications and website content on mobile and desktop devices.

ScreenTime is the best free parental control app for Android devices. If you want to monitor your child's activities on iPhone, you can use Moment, which is available for free on the AppStore.

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