Best Parental Control App for Android Download

With 4 kids who spend way too much time on their phones, I needed to observe an app that, despite Android'southward new regulations, could still be effective in filtering, limiting, and monitoring my kids' Android devices.

I've tested over 50 parental control apps to find which features worked the way they were supposed to. Most of the apps I tested weren't whatsoever good (including the pop Google Family unit Link) for a combination of the post-obit reasons:

• The time management tools didn't actually block the phone
• The web filters either didn't work or were easy for the kids to bypass
• The app failed to send alerts to the parent business relationship
• The app kept crashing afterwards installing it

I did notice v apps that stood out to me and that I felt comfortable using with my family unit and recommending for yours. If you desire the quick answer, the best one I used is Qustodio which has the most customizable features and is extremely easy to use. Information technology gives me all the data I need regarding what my kids are doing on their phones, on a well-designed dashboard. I institute the web filter and screen fourth dimension tools to be very intuitive, and most chiefly my kids didn't have a manner to bypass them. You don't have to accept my word for it, when you can try information technology run a risk-free, with Qustodio policy of 30-day money-back guarantee. When I tried information technology myself and asked for my money back, I apace received a full refund three days subsequently my request.

Monitor Your Kids With Qustodio!

Quick Guide: Here's a rundown of the best Parental Control Apps for Android in 2022

1. Qustodio Spider web filter with 47 categories, multiple time management tools and a very organized and easy to navigate parental dashboard
2. Bark: Specializes in monitoring social media networks and email accounts but weak on location tracking
3. mSpy: Keylogger and screen recorder,just it has no spider web filter.
4. Norton Family unit: Customizable web filter, schedule based screen fourth dimension tools, but poor social media monitoring
5. Net Nanny: Fantabulous internet filter but the YouTube Monitoring feature doesn't work well

• Where is Google Family Link?
• How I tested and ranked Parental Control apps on Android

one. Qustodio – #1 App for Android with Potent Web Filter and Screen Time Direction Tools

Cardinal Features

• Advanced time management tools
• GPS Tracking and Geofence
• Spider web filter has 30 categories
• Access parent dashboard from any device
• No root required on Android devices

One of the things that really impressed me while testing Qustodio was how they handled a change in Google policy regarding monitoring phones.

Instead of just removing the Call and SMS monitoring feature, they made a full version of the app available through the Qustodio website. This showed me that they are dedicated to creating the best possible Parental Control program. There is too a version of the app available through the Play store, with the Calls and SMS Monitoring disabled, for those who don't demand the characteristic or are just more comfy downloading apps directly from Play.

At that place were many standout features where Qustodio was better than the competition.

In my firm, and I'k bold information technology's the same everywhere, there is a never-catastrophe boxing over screen time. The time management feature on Qustodio settled that issue in a heartbeat. I was able to set both a daily schedule and a daily limit on all my kids' devices. Non only that, but since I can assign one child a tablet and a telephone, they couldn't use upward their screen time on the phone and so go on the tablet.

Monitoring the time spent on apps and games is some other area where Qustodio performed really well. I was able to set a fourth dimension limit for each app and block apps that I didn't think were advisable.

This may be my favorite parental control app for Android, but it'due south not perfect. The biggest issue I had is with the SOS characteristic. In my opinion, this feature has a lot of potential, if my kids are ever in trouble, they can click the SOS button, and I should get a bulletin immediately with their location. Unfortunately, the feature was a petty buggy, and I got the alert in the Promotions tab of my e-mail.

In order to work, Qustodio needs Admin rights on any Android device. This seems a bit scary, and the three warning pages that you take to click through don't make information technology any easier. However, it is a standard requirement of all premium monitoring apps. Without it, Qustodio can't run in the groundwork, block apps, or set fourth dimension limits.

The app will run in the background of your kid'due south devices, and during the testing period, my kids told me that they didn't notice the battery draining any faster than it did before installing the app.

All of the Qustodio plans come with the same great features. The only divergence is the number of devices you lot desire to protect. Information technology comes with a thirty-solar day coin-back guarantee, which I tested past requesting a refund later using it for 22 days. True to their word, Qustodio didn't ask questions and gave me a full refund later on iii days.

Try Qustodio for Android Risk-Free for 30 Days!

2. Bark – Best for Monitoring Social Media Accounts and Strong Spider web Filter with 17 Categories

Key Features

• Monitors 25+ Social Media networks
• Sends detailed alerts to the parent dashboard
• Recognizes slang, emojis, and triggering keywords
• Unlimited devices
• 7-twenty-four hours free trial

I found Bark to be a little dissimilar from most of the parental control programs I tested. It specializes in monitoring social media networks and can access letters, posts and recognize certain trigger words, including slang terms related to bullying, profanity, alcohol, drugs, and weapons, in over 25 popular social media apps.

Bark takes screenshots of anything that triggers an alarm and sends an email or SMS (based on your preferences) to the parent account. The alerts can likewise be seen in the parent dashboard.

Unlike other parental control apps that but monitor some of the social media activity, Bark connects with your children'south social media and email on an account level. This ways that you'll be able to encounter what they're posting and who they are chatting with even if they are using a second phone or logging on from a friend's device.

The web filter is a recent upgrade on Bark and information technology works really well. It has 17 categories, and you tin can cull which ones you desire to activate and prevent your kids from viewing that type of content. It can recognize slang, emoji'southward and pictures, and the team backside Bark knows what to block or transport a parental warning when information technology appears.

The screen fourth dimension functions allow me to shut off the internet on the device at dark, and then I know that my children are watching Netflix or texting their friends when they should be sleeping. It also has an instant lock characteristic and so I tin shut it downward when I need them to focus on something other than a screen.

I got the Bawl Sr plan because it includes all the premium features and has a 7-solar day free trial. While this is less than what the other apps offer, I was very happy with the gratis trial since I could fully exam it without giving any of my credit card details.

Endeavor Bark for Gratis for seven Days

3. mSpy: Comprehensive Monitoring Tools such every bit Keylogger and Screen Capture

Key Features

• Access to call logs, SMS, Chats, and Social Media activeness
• Geo-tracking and Geofence capabilities
• Block specific app use
• Updates data every 5 minutes

When I installed mSpy on my son's phone, in that location were no more secrets. The app spec uses a combination of a screen recording software that takes a screenshot at a set interval and each time a new action occurs on the phone and a keylogger that stores everything typed on the device. The information is then stored on a surprisingly piece of cake-to-utilize parental dashboard, which fabricated it easy to gyre through all the data. This is how I can see everything on my child's telephone.

mSpy does a lot more than just screen recording software, it also has powerful monitoring tools. Once connected, it shows me a list of any app that is installed, and I accept the control to cake any app that I find inappropriate or dangerous for my child.

The app is a solid GPS app for Android, with a geolocation feature that displays the device'due south real-time location. I tin can gear up "Condom Zones" and "Forbidden Zones" and receive alerts each time my child enters or leaves one of these zones. I found this helpful in making sure he was coming home at nighttime, leaving for schoolhouse in the morning, and staying away from certain locations.

mSpy recently updated its app, removing the need to root the device. However, I yet needed access to the telephone for a few minutes to install the app.  . It came with a 14-day coin-back guarantee, simply I found that they will first try and solve your issues before issuing the refund.

Monitor Your Child'due south Android with mSpy

iv. Norton Family: Smart Web Filter and Multiple Screen Time Management Tools – Works on Unlimited Number of Device

Cardinal Features

• Comprehensive spider web filter
• Gear up screen time limits for all Android devices
• Block apps you don't want your kids using

I am very happy with how Norton Family performed while I tested it on my kids. I was able to fix limits for how much time they could spend on their phones per day, cake inappropriate websites, and track their location in real-time so I know exactly where they are (the location tracking only works in the US, Uk, Canada, Commonwealth of australia, and New Zealand).

The dashboard is the control centre of the app. I tin log in from any device and view all the data regarding my kids' online activities. I tin can likewise make adjustments to the web filters and screen time limits, check out the kids' existent-time location and see what they are searching for on most major search engines.

1 feature that stands out is the School Fourth dimension pick. Information technology's perfect for remote learning or fifty-fifty homework fourth dimension. You can create a list of websites that your child needs for school or doing homework, and block everything else. This ensures that kids won't exist watching YouTube or hanging out on TikTok instead of doing their work.

You can try Norton Family for yourself free for 30-days without having to enter any payment information. At the finish of the free trial, if you don't desire to keep using Norton Family, simply stop using it. Your account will automatically be changed to a limited costless account with no admission to the advanced features.

Effort Norton Family unit Free for 30 Days

5. NetNanny – Contextual Web Filter and Remotely Lock Android Devices

Key Features

• Split up Android apps for parents and kids
• Set up Screen time limits
• Enforce Google SafeSearch

NetNanny for Android is an piece of cake-to-use program. At that place are two apps bachelor in the Google Play store, ane for parents and one for kids. When you install the child's app, you will have to give the app permission to access the GPS, contacts, phones, apps, and more. Additionally, NetNanny needs to accept Admin rights to run in the groundwork and monitor your child's devices, which is standard for any expert monitoring app.

I liked that I was able to manage my kids' devices through the parent app, without needing to get on my PC. It gave me access to the parent dashboard so I could adjust the daily fourth dimension limits, block or pause my kids' devices, and cheque in on their location.

I thing I liked was how NetNanny overcame some of the obstacles it faced with monitoring some Android apps. My kids quickly figured out a hack to bypass the NetNanny filters, by using the YouTube and Google apps, I didn't become reports in the dashboard regarding searches or videos watched. Nonetheless, I was able to stay one pace alee and block access to the apps, forcing them to use the browser.

One time they were using the browser, I started getting notifications regarding YouTube and Google searches on the dashboard.

The time management feature worked perfectly on Android, for both the daily limit and schedule. The kids tin bank check how much time they accept remaining before the device locks, and when it locks, all they get is a screen saying "Oh No! The internet is blocked."

While there is a GPS and Geofence option, I discovered that my kids were able to turn off the GPS characteristic on their Android phones, and I didn't see a way to prevent them from doing so through the app.

NetNanny offers a 14-day money-dorsum guarantee, then you can test all its premium features take a chance-free (I tested their refund policy and got my money dorsum in five days).

Get NetNanny Risk-Free

To put it frankly, despite its popularity, Google Family Link wasn't very good and then I didn't include it. It didn't accept very long for my 12-twelvemonth son to detect a way to employ his phone when it was supposed to be locked. My other major consequence with Family Link is the lack of a web filter or any existent monitoring features.

I initially liked that it not only showed me how much fourth dimension my kids spent on their phones, but it also breaks it upward per app. However, I saw that it wasn't always authentic (or non even close in some cases) and while it told me that 1 of my kids spent iii hours on YouTube, there was no indication of what she was watching or searching for. I would retrieve that since both YouTube and Family unit Link are Google products, having this information would be included.

Another major trouble with Google Family Link is when a child turns xiii, Google gives them the option of removing the supervision features from their account. Non only that, but whatever kid who is even a piffling tech-savvy can simply create a new business relationship, using a simulated birthday, and their parents volition have no thought.

This was a long process where I bought over 50 parental control apps and tested them out on my children's Android smartphones and tablets.

• Tin can my kids bypass these filters: I challenged the kids to endeavour and notice hacks or workarounds to avoid the filters. If they were successful, I tried blocking their hack, for case, many programs can't monitor Android apps simply have a feature that lets me cake the apps. The programs that didn't have a way for me to block the kids hack, I left off the list.
• Time direction tools: Screen fourth dimension addiction is a very existent trouble, and therefore finding a solution was a priority. Once more, I challenged the kids to utilize the phone or apps when information technology was supposed to exist blocked, and if they could – I didn't include the app on my list.
• Ease of use: Monitoring the kids' Android devices shouldn't be that difficult to manage. From downloading to setting upwardly the limits, I wanted to brand sure that you don't accept to be a tech or Android genius to get started. Therefore, whatever plan that required an Android root was immediately eliminated.
• Customer Support: I put the customer service teams to the test. I used the Live Conversation feature (when available) and checked if they were using real people or bots. I opened tickets and sent emails to test the response time, and I always tested the money-back policy to see if they would honor it and return my money.

Are there free parental control apps for Android?

While there are a lot of costless apps that claim to monitor or limit your child's Android device, I wouldn't recommend them for several reasons. Well-nigh of the apps that were promoted as "Complimentary" were just a marketing tool that was used to create an account. It included some limited features, only if you actually wanted to monitor the Android device, you'd take to purchase a subscription to get access to all the features.

Any app that was completely free, and didn't have a "pro plan" or "premium features" made me wonder "What's the grab?" How does that company make money, and what are they doing with the data they collect from my child'due south phone?

If yous desire to attempt a parental control app for complimentary, have reward of the Qustodio xxx twenty-four hour period coin-dorsum guarantee. After using it for costless for a month, you'll have enough data to run across if it'southward worth purchasing the app.

Tin can I monitor my child'south Android from my iPhone?

All of the recommended apps on this list work with both Android and iPhones. This ways that y'all can download the iPhone app for yourself and come across the parent dashboard, conform the settings, and receive all the alerts.

Can I monitor my child'south Android device without them knowing?

For many of the apps, information technology depends on how tech-savvy your kids are and if y'all're using spider web filters and screen time limits. These features will immediately let your kids know that yous're monitoring them. The simply parental control app that I've tested on Android with a stealth fashion that I recommend is mSpy. You will need access to the device for effectually v minutes for the installation, just once it's on the phone, the installed software has a generic name and it runs in the background.

Can I see SMS and text letters on my child'south phone?

Google made a policy modify and restricts parental control apps from the Play Store if they tin read text messages.

Notwithstanding, at that place are some apps, such as Qustodio, that accept the option to download the app from its website and record incoming and outgoing text letters. Y'all can even endeavor information technology yourself and cheque how it works at no chance to you with their thirty-day money-back guarantee.

With so much going on, it's difficult for us parents to continually stay on peak of our kids, particularly when they are on their phones and tablets. Parental Control apps should exist an essential function of your parenting toolkit. Throughout my all-encompassing testing, Qustodio was consistently the best of the bunch, thanks to a customizable web filter and flexible screen time tools that my kids couldn't bypass.

Qustodio comes with a xxx-solar day money-dorsum guarantee so you can try it out for yourself at no risk to see if it works for your family. I put their refund policy to the exam and asked for my money back later 22 days. The customer support chop-chop approved my asking and I got my money back inside three days.

Try Qustodio Risk-Free for 30 Days

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