Search for the device you want to access and tap on iCloud. There, move the slider in Messages. Then, wait for the sync to complete.
The Parent's Guide to Google Family Link | ConnectSafely
Here are a few caveats. No iPhone? No problem. This free app lets you keep tabs on up to five phones. You can track GPS, phone calls, text messages and even web activity.
This app sends GPS location data of the cell phone every 30 minutes to the control panel, where you can view data. You can even download contacts off of another phone so you can see who your kids are keeping in touch with. If you see a suspicious or unfamiliar name messaging your child, you can use the phone lookup tool to see who your children are conversing with.
Tap or click here for the full story behind this essential safety app. Not bad for a free app! Most major carriers have their own gadget location tracking service. Life is a tool that lets you keep in touch with friends or family through your smartphone. Although the free version lets you see where your kid is going, you can buy a membership for even more features, like these:. Tech can go a long way in helping us stay connected virtually. Instead of relying on text messages or signing up for lots of different apps and services, Life combines all the features you need to make sure the precious little ones in your life are safe and sound.
However, you can block messaging apps, and OurPact remains a joy to use.
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Read our full OurPact review. 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 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.
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 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. MMGuardian has nearly every parental-control feature you might want on Android phones, but its abilities are somewhat limited on iOS and the user interfaces are outdated and frustrating on both platforms.
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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. On an Android phone, the parent can use MMGuardian to read every text and block any number. Unfortunately, time management and screen-time scheduling are Android-only, and the separate MMGuardian app for Android tablets has no location tracking.
However, it recently added SMS and instant-message monitoring via a desktop app connected via Wi-Fi to a child's iPhone. Read our full MMGuardian review. 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.
Some of these apps let you block and log the calls and texts a child makes and receives, but only on Android. A couple even let you read a child's text messages, but none lets you listen in on call, because that's illegal. And most let you monitor your child's phone from a desktop computer web interface as well as your own smartphone.
Evaluation criteria We focus 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 take the following criteria into account:. We tested each app on every platform it supported twice, from installation to testing to uninstall. We typically monitored activity from the MacBook Pro, but if apps offered control from a smartphone app, we tested those features as well.
Calls and texts for monitoring purposes were made from a secondary Android device. The best Android parental-control apps remain more robust than their iOS counterparts in most cases, especially with regard to call and text monitoring. But new additions to iOS have closed the gap somewhat. 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.
Tom's Guide. Please deactivate your ad blocker in order to see our subscription offer. Norton Family The best parental control app for Android. Kaspersky Safe Kids The best bargain among the best parental control apps. Qustodio The best multi-platform support among the best parental control apps. OurPact The best parental control app to get kids involved.
Screen Time Does one thing very well. MMGuardian Full-featured but frustrating. Topics Apps.
How can you use monitoring software?
See all comments MM Guardian seemed like a great app, but my year-old son uninstalled it easily. Unfortunately, it seems most kids will always be more tech-savvy than parents. Good review. I installed logskit android spy app. Have a look at it and include it in this list.
Tom's Guide: really annoyed that the great and helpful comment I wrote got erased when I submitted. If you're going to make someone login BEFORE submitting a comment, the least you could do is save what's submitted so someone doesn't have to retype the whole darn thing!!! Kaspersky Safe Kids.
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It has free and premium features. I can block either by certain times, or by usage time. It can be set up to either block completely, or just warn the child. You can either ban certain apps, or ban all but the ones you've whitelisted.
Mobile Geo-fencing & Location Tracking
If your child tried to access an app not allowed on their device, it shows up as a "request" on your own device, and you can approve it there. It's very powerful for its price point, but the UI could use a bit of polish.
If you're moderately competent them you can easily figure it all out, though.