A parental control app helps you monitor the activities of your children both online and offline. These applications allow you to track actual locations of your kids, monitor their communication on the internet, limit their screen time, block websites you deem unfit for them, and so on. It has become absolutely essential for parents nowadays to keep an eye on children of the digital age.
There are several excellent parental control apps available in the market but, the dilemma is that no app provides all features in a single package. I explored my Spectrum internet deals to get the best one so I could figure out which parental control apps would serve you best. What I found out is that before going for any app, check whether it covers location tracking, web filtering, and app management. These three aspects are the most important ones.
Another thing to look for is compatibility, meaning it is ideal to look for an app that works well with both Android and iOS devices.
#1. Norton Family
This app is one of the best parental control software and offers services such as location-tracking, web-filtering, device monitoring, and so on. These services work perfectly on both Android devices as well as those using iOS except for the screen time-limitation features. This feature is only available on Android devices.
#2. Qustodio
This app is amazing as it is compatible with devices that run on iOS, or Android. It also works well with Amazon Fire tablets and users of Macs and PCs can use it without any issue. Qustodio provides services that include setting screen-time limitations, limited location tracking, web filtering, geofencing, Family Locator feature, and more. This app allows you to manage all applications on Android devices whereas, only a few apps can be managed on devices using iOS. Another feature that is exclusive to Android devices is the monitoring of texts and calls. Since it offers a lot of features on a single platform, it is quite expensive too.
#3. Kaspersky Safe Kids
Kaspersky Safe Kids is another great software that can be used on PCs, Macs, and smartphones alike. It may look even more appealing as it is far cheaper than Qustodio. It offers features like setting screen-time limitation, web filtering, and app management, etc. The location tracking and geofencing features of this app are compatible with both Android and iOS devices.
#4. Net Nanny Parental Control
Net Nanny Parental Control app is known to be popular among parents as it offers excellent web-filtering features with a user-friendly and modern design. Of all the apps mentioned above, this is the only app so far that provides similar features for Android and iOS users. Net Nanny not only tracks kids’ location but also saves their location history. Moreover, it offers screen-time limitation, app management, and more.
#5. FamiSafe
FamiSafe is another great app that is popular among parents for being an all-rounder. It is best for monitoring the activities of not just kids but also teenagers. It allows parents to track their child’s location, save and display location history, limit screen-time, web-filtering, and so on. in addition to that, it is an intelligent app that detects and sends instant alerts in case of harmful messages or inappropriate content. It is compatible with Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, and even Kindle Fire.
#6. Bark
The last in this list is a software named Bark. It provides protection for kids from various online threats including malcontent. It is popular among parents because it enables them to monitor text messages, social media accounts (like Facebook or WhatsApp, etc.), and emails, etc. Its ability to track so many platforms makes it an attractive choice for parents. Where other parental control apps only allow you to manage apps on your kids’ devices, this application enables parents to track the content of their kids’ actual conversations which includes images and video files. Its smart feature also detects and sends alerts for potential threats such as cyberbullying.
How to Choose the Best One?
Before choosing any parental control app, you should consider certain aspects. For instance, the age of your kids, what services are you looking for, your budget and device compatibility, etc. The app you decide to use should provide you with at least the basic services such as location tracking, setting screen-time limitation, blocking inappropriate content, app management services, and so on. For example, if your child wants to look for Spectrum customer service, that would not be an issue. On the other hand, if he/she starts to search for questionable things such as pornographic images, the parental control app would block access to such content and alert you promptly.
