Lost the location of your kids somewhere? Cannot spot them in the park now? Does your child tuck his phone when you walk in the room? Not sure of what children do all day on their phones? Want to keep a track of your child’s’ activities?
Well, then, you are in the right place. In this article, you will learn about some of the best parental control apps to keep track of your child’s’ activities. But, what is the need for these parental apps, and how can they help you? These parental control apps would help you monitor your child’s’ mobile usage; track their physical location; to monitor and add restrictions on their screen time, searches, and would also allow you to block a few apps which you feel aren’t made for children.
Parental control apps will let you keep a track of your child’s’ activities throughout the day and would also allow you to add restrictions to some of their activities, obviously, if you want to. Now, let us have a look at some of the top picks in the parental control apps niche.
1. ZIFT/Net Nanny Parental Control App
Zift/Net Nanny is considered to be the best parental control app. It offers excellent web-filtering technology along with a modern, intuitive design. Among all the parental-control apps, it is the closest to having feature parity between its Android and iOS versions. Hence, the best parental control app for Android and iOS.
Features
Net Nanny offers services that include location-tracking and can also set time schedules and allowances on both platforms. The iOS version of the Norton lets you block several apps on your kid’s phone, and the Android version would let you block all the apps, which you want to.
The only thing that Net Nanny can’t do on a smartphone is to monitor calls or texts. No parental control app on iOS can perform the function, but several on Android can do.
Pricing
You can get access to all the functions on the Net Nanny Family Protection Pass which comes at US$54.99/year.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Great design Excellent web filters Near parity between Android, iOS versions |
No call/text monitoring A bit expensive |
2. Norton Family Parental Control App
Norton Family’s features are ideal for Android and Windows. For households who have many children, Norton Family is the best parental control app. It offers nearly every feature that a parent would want from any of the best parental control apps.
Features
The Norton Family Parental Control App can track your child’s’ location and has excellent web-filtering, time-scheduling, and monitoring capabilities. These features work both on iOS and on Android. Thus, the best suited parental control app for Android and iOS.
Norton’s time allowances are only functional for its Android and Windows software. If you have the iOS app, then the text-message monitoring and app management won’t work. Norton Family doesn’t offer any geofencing on either of the mobile platforms.
Pricing
Norton Family will cost you nothing if you spring in for Norton’s most expensive antivirus suite, like, for example, Norton 360 Deluxe, which is often discounted to as little as $50 per year. At this price, getting Norton Family along with Norton’s excellent antivirus protection is a no-brainer, unless your kids use Macs instead of Windows PCs. If you don’t want to buy the antivirus protection, then Norton Family Premier would cost you US$49.99.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Great web filters and monitoring Unlimited devices Works with Windows User Friendly Setup |
Doesn’t support MacOS No geofencing |
3. ESET Parental Control for Android
ESET Parental Control for Android sticks to only a single platform and doesn’t shine even there. It lacks text-messages and call-monitoring and doesn’t even offer number blocking. But, it still does have a few functions which might just work for you.
Features
The time and app management, to which you would get access to, in the free version of ESET Parental Control for Android, works well, and so do the geofencing and location tracking, which you will get in the paid version. ESET Parental Control offers an excellent feature that would let your child send an SOS to the designated numbers with a single tap(the main reason I’m writing about the app in this article)
Pricing
You can have access to the premium features of the ESET Parental Control App by paying US$29.99/year. Still, in my opinion, the $29.99 yearly plan is not at all worth shelling out for, unless you get an ESET Smart Security Premium bundled up with it.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Nice location features Unlimited devices One-click SOS |
Confusing user interface No call or text monitoring Android only |
4. Qustodio Parental Control App
Qustodio has software for Android and iOS PCs, and for Amazon Fire tablets as well. It would serve you with a bunch of features that would help you monitor your child’s’ activities. Qustodio is one of the best functioning parental control apps for Android and iOS.
Features
Qustodio works on a total of 4 platforms. It would let you set time limits for individual apps and devices. Qustodio provides services that include location tracking, which works on both Android and iOS. The parental control app, finally, also added a geofencing option in it during the fall of 2019. Qustodio also added a Family Locator feature in September 2019, which shows you where all your kids are, at once.
Qustodio lets you manage only a few dozen apps on the iOS, as compared to all the Android apps. Web filtering of Qustodio is more potent on iOS, while text and call monitoring work only on Android.
Pricing
Qustodios plans come in three options, Qustodio Premium Small costs US$49/year, Qustodio Premium Medium costs US$87/year, and Qustodio Premium Large costs US$124/year. One big drawback Qustodio has that it can get darn expensive, costing up to $138 per year for 15 devices. In early 2019, Qustodio had experimented with offering a much cheaper three-device plan for $40 per year, but that did not last long.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| A wide feature set Monitors iOS, Android, Macs, PCs and Amazon Fire tablets Powerful call and text monitoring on Android |
Can get very Expensive Has an outdated web portal |
5. OurPact Parental Control App
This most powerful parental control app for iPhones, once, was hobbled by an Apple rule change in late 2018 that nixed the services like geofencing, location tracking, and time allowances on iOS, which the app provides. In early 2019, Apple had quietly expelled OurPact from the App Store, but in the same year, in July, after Apple had eased up the restrictions on OurPact, it was reinstated.
OurPact is a mobile parenting app that allows parents to manage app access, monitor location & device usage, and filter web content on children’s iOS and Android devices.
Feature
At its peak, OurPact is the only parental control app that can manage or block any iOS app. It can also provide the same function on Android devices.
OurPact gets kids involved in managing the daily screen time allowance that you give them, and also does a good job of scheduling. Also, its website filtering simply blocks porn. OurPact can’t monitor texts or calls at all, even on Android. However, you can always block messaging apps, and OurPact remains a joy to use.
Pricing
You can have access to all the features of OurPact by getting a subscription of US$84/year.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Excellent design and navigation Gets kids actively involved |
Limited web filters No call or text monitoring Can get expensive |
6. Kaspersky Safe Kids Parental Control App
Like Qustodio, Kaspersky Safe Kids allows you to monitor your kids’ activities on Macs, PCs, and on smartphones as well.
Features
Kaspersky offers geofencing and location tracking, which work on both Android and iOS. Other services that Kaspersky offers are web monitoring and device scheduling, which, too, can be operated on iOS and Android. But app management on iOS is limited, and the iOS version can’t monitor texts or calls at all. So, this parent control app is functional for both, Android and iOS.
Kaspersky has included a new feature within itself, which lets you block some specific kinds of YouTube searches and would also let you review YouTube search history, only if you’re a paid user. This function would work only on Android and Windows if, obviously, you have the YouTube app installed. Still, if you don’t feel a need to read your kids’ text messages, then Kaspersky Safe Kids is worth considering.
Best Safety Gadgets & Apps for Your Kids
Pricing
Kaspersky is the best bargain among the parental apps. What’s even better is that Kaspersky’s paid tier comes only for $15/year. You would also get a 7-day free trial for the app. Its free plan would let you set time limits, filter websites, and manage other apps.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Very affordable Lots of free features Available on Monitors, PCs, and Macs too |
Confusing user interface Web portal can get slow at times |
Conclusion
These parental control apps would prove as a great help for you. What is more better is that almost all these parental control apps are functional in both Android and iOS. They would surely lessen your burden and worry about your child’s’ activities. These apps are perfect for you if your child’s’ age ranges between 4 to till they become mature(it totally depends on you about when you have to consider them as “mature”) Even if you are to be parents, you should have some knowledge about which parental control apps you should make use of, later when your child grows up a bit. Hope this article helped you.
