Parental Control: TOP 5 Recommended Apps for Android and iOS

Parental Control: TOP 5 Recommended Apps for Android and iOS
9 min read
15 September 2022

When parents buy a smartphone for a child, they reckon on the rational use of the gadget. But let's be honest: a phone first of all is a toy for a child. There are many temptations in the virtual world. And after a while, the parents begin to wonder: is it normal that a child spends so much time "on the screen"? How can we find out what he or she is doing there and whom communicates with? How to protect the child from the risks? Is it possible to limit the activities?

The special applications allow you to control the time on your phone, monitor web-site visits, and restrict access to the unwanted programs. They make life easier for the parents. One can find out at any time where the child is, what he or she is doing on one's smartphone, whether the child is at risk. It is quite enough to breathe a sigh of relief or to protect the child from risk in time.

The task of the parents is to ensure the safety of their children online. Special apps can reduce the level of anxiety and save the time for adults. The applications monitor the location and behavior of the small users 24/7. Therefore, the child is always under supervision even at school, on a walk or during a country excursion.

The parental control apps have many functions. The possibilities of the programs are admirable. Depending on the specific software, the parents can:

  • Find out what the child is interested in;
  • Determine what he or she is doing now;
  • Restrict from dangerous web-sites and apps;
  • Create safe limits for activities;
  • Prevent visiting web-sites with adult content;
  • Protect the device from virus infection;
  • Limit the screen time;
  • Set the lock time (for example, overnight);
  • Prohibit web surfing during certain periods (for example, in the morning);
  • Block any online purchases;
  • Prevent the installation of violent games;
  • Protect against money betting web-sites;
  • Disable silent mode on the smartphone;
  • Turn on the gadget's microphone and listen to what's around;
  • Configure automatic exit from applications;
  • Block the downloading of unwanted files;
  • Determine the location of the child;
  • Configure zone boundaries with an intersection alert;
  • Track contacts and block unwanted ones.

There are many applications for parental control, but hardly a few deserve users' attention. In fact, there are only several reliable programs. In order to make it easier for you to choose, we have prepared a rating of the six best mobile apps. The effective monitoring can be organized with any of them. Install, set up and be sure: the child is under supervision and will not be able to avoid control.

Qustodio

A good app with the principle of a "network filter", which allows you to control several devices at once. Regardless of the browser used, it effectively blocks the unwanted web-sites. It also controls the screen time of applications: the parents themselves set how many minutes a child can spend in front of the screen. This protects young users from the consequences of prolonged gadgets usage.

Qustodio is also able to filter calls: the parents can block unwanted numbers. SMS monitoring is available, as well as determining the location of children. When in troubles, the small users can activate the SOS button: all family group members will receive urgent notifications.

Disadvantages: no Russian interface. When the SOS function is activated, the parents receive an email. This is not the fastest and the most reliable way to notify.

Compatibility: Android, iOS.

Price: $8.08 per month or $96.95 per year. The license applies to 10 devices.

Kaspersky Safe Kids

A well-known company has created a solution to ensure the children safety. In particular, the app protects against smartphone infection with viruses during web surfing. It blocks the access to the questionable web-sites.

The program meets the expectations of many parents. Thus, the free version has a time limit to use applications in the child's gadget. When purchasing a license, you can monitor your child by GPS, find out the battery level data, track the small user activity in social networks, create graphs of the smartphone usage. Automatically generated reports show what the child is looking for online and which applications were opened the most often.

Disadvantages: it is not always possible to connect children's profiles in social networks. The safe mode in YouTube and Google is activated forcibly and cannot be canceled (as long as the control application is installed).

Compatibility: Android, iOS.

Price: $4 per month and $12.12 per year.

Parental Control Kroha

One of the best apps which can help you to monitor children. It combines the functions and advantages of competing programs and makes it possible to control literally all the functions of the children's smartphones. For example, the basic set of options provides the opportunity to find out as accurately as possible where your child is in a real time.

The option of determining the daily limit of smartphone usage deserves a positive recommendation, as well as adjusting the time spent on individual applications.

One can develop an activity schedule for a small gadget owner: how many minutes can be spent in each of the programs. The geofence setting is available (if the child goes beyond its boundaries, the parents will be instantly notified). Here you have the opportunity to control all of the data coming from the 11 most popular messengers. The parents can track the calls and SMS, monitor the phone book and photo gallery, set filters for visiting websites and YouTube channels. One license allows you to connect up to five devices to your account, using them in different roles (to choose from: "Parent" or "Child").

The effective parental control for children also includes a health care. The developers have created several options for this. Kroha provides two additional modes: "Night" (protects the eyes from harmful blue spectrum radiation in poor lighting), as well as "Eye Protection" (controls the distance from the eyes to the screen, preventing the development of myopia in the child).

Disadvantages: none.

Compatibility: Android, iOS.

Price: $2.36 per month, $11.82 per year, $30.4 — unlimited for five devices.

McAfee Safe Family

A multifunctional product from a well-known antivirus developer. The application tracks the child's actions in the gadget and protects from the negative impact of prohibited content. Among the available functions there are blocking unwanted applications, limiting the time to use certain programs, setting time frames and breaks (for lunch, sleep, etc.), banning the smartphone usage in the early morning.

For adults, Safe Family generates the reports on how children used their gadgets. You can literally find out what your children are doing: which sites they visit, where they are. Blocking unwanted social networks, tracking in Family Locator, creating usage scenarios based on standard templates ("School", "Vacation", etc.) is available.

Disadvantages: blocking individual applications and tracking search queries is impossible. It is difficult to find a child because of an inaccurate GPS tracker. Inconvenient interface.

Compatibility: Android, iOS.

Price: $7.99 per month and $49.99 per year.

ESET Parental control for Android

Parental control for free includes monitoring applications on a children's gadget and tracking screen time, setting daily limits for games and banning entertainment programs during the study hours. The licensed version includes web protection and a GPS tracking function for the child.

ESET Parental control has to collect data about the child's azzzctivities, which are then available to parents. You can configure the access to age-appropriate games and content. With web control activated, a small user will not be able to download prohibited web-sites. The instant lock option is useful in cases where a maximum concentration is needed from the child.

Disadvantages: the app will not work without a constant access to the network. No iOS version. The program freezes on older Android platforms.

Compatibility: Android.

Price: $1.99 per month and $20.23 per year.

Having chosen a suitable program for family monitoring, do not install it secretly or forcibly. Be sure to talk to the child beforehand and explain why such a software is needed. Emphasize that this is not surveillance, but a concern for security.

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Alex 9.8K
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