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Parental Monitoring Apps- A Need of the hour in 2021

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Parental Control Apps

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It has been shown by the research that more than 75 percent children under the age of 8 are using mobile phones, so long gone are the times when mobile phones and other electronic devices were considered to be only belonging to adults.

It is no surprise that internet can expose inappropriate content to the children, and the children being adolescent are unable to differentiate from right to wrong.

Nearly, 80 percent of the parents are concerned about how much violent and sexual content there is in the media. It is for this reason why parental apps are so important.

What are Parental Apps?

Parental apps are used to keep an eye on the children both offline and online and help you find out what they are doing on their smartphones.

The apps can limit the screen limit for children, block them from viewing certain content or website, track their physical location, monitor phone and app usage, and let you see who they are communicating with online.

How do parental apps work?

Different apps work differently. Some of these apps allow to put a filter on the content which restricts the child’s access to inappropriate content, websites and apps. Other controls the time usage of your child or restricting them from using the phone after a specific time.

Some apps also monitor the kid’s text messages, physical location and, social networks, emails and other activities. To track social media accounts parents, need the valid credentials for their child’s social media account. These apps go through the messages, emails and social media posts of the child and send alerts to parents about any potential dangers.

Finding the best parent control app can be a bit intimidating because each app offers something different from the other.

However, we have done a bit of the work for you to help aid your search to find the parent monitoring app in 2021

Net Nanny

It is overall the best parent monitoring app and great for iOS.

  • Reasons to buy: 

    i) Great web design

                             ii)Excellent web filters

                            iii) Near parity between Android and iOS versions.

  • Reasons to avoid:

    i) No call/text monitoring

                               ii) A bit expensive

Zift/net nanny is the best parental monitoring app out of all the apps we tested, it comes with an intuitive design and has a great parity on Android and iOS which makes it a great app as it has not been affected by the Apple’s latest privacy policy. Net nanny can track your child location, search history and set time allowances and performs equally well on both the platforms. Several dozens app can be blocked using iOS version and all are blocked by the android one.

It has recently added content screening for social media platforms including Instagram, facebook, tiktok instead of blocking or restricting them entirely.

However, the drawback is that it cannot monitor calls or texts on any smartphone, though no app can do that on iOS but several can do that on android.

Norton Family

It is the best parent monitoring app for android.

  • Reasons to buy:

    i) Great web filters and monitoring

                             ii) Unlimited devices

                             iii) Works with windows

  • Reasons to avoid:

    i) Expensive for a single device
    ii) No geo-fencing

It is an ideal for Android (Windows) for a family having many children and the best app that a parent can pick, as it is offering nearly every feature that a parent could want from one of the best parent control apps.

This app provides services such as location tracking, time-scheduling, web filtering and its monitoring capabilities work on both android and iOS but it lacks some services on iOS. Norton’s time allowances and app management is unavailable on iOS. Geo-fencing is not available on either platform.

However, it comes with a premium price.

Kaspersky Safe Kids:

It is simply the best covenant among all the parent control apps.

  • Reasons to buy:

    i) Very affordable

                                 ii) Provides many free features

                                 iii) Monitors PCs, Macs too.

  • Reasons to avoid:

    i) Confusing user interface

                               ii) Web portal slow at times

Like Qustodio, Kaspersky allows you to monitor your kids safely on Android, iOS, PCs as well as on MAC OS. It is very economical as its paid tier is only $15 annually and its free version also provides several features such as fixing time limits, filter websites and manage other apps.

Kaspersky geo-fencing works on both androids and iOS as do its web monitoring and device scheduling. But app management is limited on iOS and texts/calls cannot be monitored on iOS due to Apple’s privacy policy no application in no way can request for access to the call log of an apple device.

Another useful feature which has just been added is the that it lets you block specific You tube searches and see You tube search history but this feature is only available to the paid users and is works on Windows, android and iOS but not on Macs.

Qustodio:

     It is the best multi-control support among the best parent monitoring apps.

  • Reasons to buy:

    i) Wide feature set

                             ii) Monitors Macs, PCs, Chromebooks and Amazon fire Tablets.

                             iii) Powerful call texting monitoring on android.

  • Reasons to avoid:

    i) Expensive

                               ii) Outdated web portal

Qustodio has software for Macs, PCs, iOS, Android, Chromebooks, Amazon fire tablets. It has also allowed you to set time limits for individual apps and individual devices. It has also limited location tracking which works on both Android and iOS. Only a few dozen apps can be monitored on iOS as opposed to all apps on Android. Web filtering is more powerful on iOS, while calls/ text messages monitoring feature works only on android.

However, its one major downside is that it can be darn expensive costing up to $138 per year.

Our Pact:

        It is the best parental control app to get kids involved.

  • Reasons to buy:

    i) Excellent design navigation

                            ii) Gets kids actively involved

  • Reasons to avoid:

    i) Limited web filters

                               ii) No call or text monitoring

                               iii) Can get expensive

It is the most powerful control app for iOS which was hobbled by an apple rule change. Though, Apple expelled Our Pact from its apple store in early 2019 but the same year in July it eased up on its restrictions.

At its peak, it was the only parental app that could block any iOS app. However, it can still do it on Android. It gets kids involved in managing the daily allowance of the screen, it blocks all porn but it cannot monitor text/calls even on android.

Sikander is a versatile writer with a knack for engaging readers on a wide range of topics. Whether he's exploring the latest tech trends, delving into the intricacies of politics and policy, or offering insights on lifestyle and wellness, Sikander's writing is always insightful, informative, and thought-provoking. In his free time, Sikander enjoys traveling, reading, and exploring new hobbies.

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