Given the wealth of online technology and mobile devices at the disposal of children today, including the recent release of the iPhone 14 and Google Pixel 7 in the third quarter of 2022, s have never been more important. Whether using iOS or Android smartphones, tablets, watches, etc., monitoring a child's online activity through web filtering, location tracking, and app management is essential to keeping them safe as can be.
From easy-to-use functionality to key-logging, screen recording, geofencing, and more, the best apps in 2022 offer a wide range of options for both Apple and Android s.
NetNanny
Available For Android, iOS
Most tech gurus agree that NetNanny is one of the best overall apps to use for both Android and iOS. In addition to boasting an affordable subscription price ($4-11 per month), and an extremely -friendly UI that allows s to track their entire family's online activity in one convenient place, the app is one of the best customizable web filtering tools on the market.
Compatible with macOS, iOS, Android, Windows, Kindle, and Chromebook devices, the app can track a child's location, show their location history, and set online time allowances. The iOS version also allows s to block up to 100 apps on their children's devices, while the Android version can block 100% of apps. A great tool for screening a child's Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube content, NetNanny is hard to beat in 2022.
Qustodio
Available for Android, iOs
ing Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Kindle, and Chromebook devices, Qustodio is another leading brand for creating safe digital spaces for children. The app features an automatic web filtering system that keeps dangerous content away from kids immediately. Parents can also monitor web and app activity, including SMS, voice, gaming, location, and all major social media platforms, and set daily/weekly time limits for internet usage.
Moreover, Qustodio comes with the Family Locator tool (iOS and Android) that can track a child's physical location using real-time GPS, as well as an SOS panic alert (Android only) that allows children to share their location with parents. With cross-platform functionality and an intuitive online dashboard, few apps allow parents to monitor the full breadth of their children's internet activity.
Kaspersky Safe Kids
Available For Android, iOS
When it comes to the best affordable app for Android and iOS in 2022, Kaspersky Safe Kids is hard to beat. The free plan enables parents to set screen time limits, manage apps, and filter web content. But for just $15 per year, the app can track an unlimited number of a child's devices and create safe virtual boundaries by using in-depth data-tracking and geofencing technology.
Kaspersky Safe Kids also hides adult internet pages from children, allows parents to block access to inappropriate websites (including gambling), monitors web history, displays physical locations, and more. Between its free and affordable versions, the app is a no-brainer for parents looking to keep their kids safe online.
Mobicip
Available For Android, iOS
Often considered the most effective app specifically tailored for cross-platform monitoring, Mobicip allows parents to lock all family devices instantly, block all video and streaming apps and websites, and view up to 4 weeks of a child's internet activity. Between its easy-to-use interface, daily/weekly time limit settings, and concern for customer data privacy, Mobicip is an ideal option in 2022.
Additional Mobicip features include the geolocation tracker to find a child's physical whereabouts, a customizable web filter tool to block any website or app of a parent's choosing, and compatibility with desktop and mobile devices. Beyond the awesome 7-Day free trial, Mobicip's most expensive X-Large subscription plan costs only $8.49 per month.
Norton Family
Available For Android & iOS
One of the most trusted names in internet security, the Norton Family app is pricier ($50 per year) than most, but those who invest in it will get the most bang for their buck. In addition to monitoring internet activity, Norton Family allows parents to supervise their children while online as well.
While Norton Family's high-performing web filtering tools, location-tracking, and time-scheduling are comparable for Android and iOS, it's worth noting that the time-allowance feature and app management tools are only offered for Android. Still, between the Hulu and YouTube blocking and the excellent School Time Feature that keeps kids engaged during remote learning sessions, Norton Family has all safety measures covered.
Google Family Link
Available For Android
The only completely cost-free app no Android should live without, Google Family Link is surprisingly effective compared to its pricier competitors. The excellent performance combined with the inviting UI makes it easy and accessible to use. Moreover, no other controller allows parents to grant system permission over every single app installed on a child's Android device.
While Google does come with its own privacy concerns, the fact the app is completely free to use and still manages to rival the web filtering, location monitoring, and data-tracking of its competitors is hard to overlook. While Google Family Link is not available for iOS, parents can still use iOS devices and all iPhone models to monitor a child's activity once it's installed.
OurPact
Available For Android & iOS
With the ability to monitor up to 20 devices at once, on several iPads for toddlers as well as Android products, enabling parents to restrict or block and manage every single app on kids' devices. The freedom and flexibility are hard to compete with.
Parents can track browser history, block text messages (even indecipherable ones), filter websites, limit screen time usage, locate their children's whereabouts, and more. Through the payment plan ($10 per month), OurPact also allows parents to access screenshots from a child's device.
Bark
Available For Android, iOS, Amazon Fire
When it comes to monitoring a child's email, texts, social media, apps, and voice calls for Android, iOS, and Amazon mobile devices, Bark is one of the most acclaimed apps on the market. For a Bark rate of just $14 per month, parents can monitor over 30 social media apps at once to ensure their child is staying on the up and up.
In addition to tracking texts and emails, Bark's ability to monitor every popular millennial app, from Snapchat, Kik, and WhatsApp to Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, several Apple Watch Face apps, and many more, is what really separates itself from the pack. With its 24/7 Detection tool, Bark even warns parents of cyberbullying, online grooming, suicidal ideations, and the like.
UMobix
Available For Android, iOS
For parents who feel the need to go the extra mile in of espionage and even a breach of privacy to keep their children safe, UMobix is a next-level app that essentially turns them into James Bond. Parents can monitor call logs, use real-time GPS location tracking, record and store a child's keystrokes through Keylogging, and literally spy on social media interactions.
More impressive, UMobix s media files from the targeted device remotely, allowing the utmost secrecy when tracking a child's internet usage. As extreme as it sounds, some parents require the added benefits an app like UMobix offers.
MSpy
Available for Android & iOS
Self-proclaimed as "The #1 Choice in the United States," MSpy takes apps to the highest degree of safety. As intrusive as it sounds, MSpy allows parents to monitor a child's every text tap and keystroke, read social media conversations, pinpoint where they've been and where they're going, access photos they've shared/received, review deleted texts, witness their internet activity, and do it all while remaining undetected. As such, MSpy put parents in absolute God mode.
While many parents will not have to resort to such extremes to keep their children as safe as can be in the physical and digital realm, MSpy is there for those who feel the need to go one step beyond the basic functions of the most popular apps in 2022.