The best parental control apps for Android in 2019

When it comes to keeping your kids safe, don’t listen to anybody telling you what to do. You know the rule – better safe than sorry. Since you won’t be able to attend them day and night, you should find a method to keep track of their activity and know they’re in a secure location, no matter which grade they’re in or how old they are.

Fortunately, I can gladly say: welcome to 2019! Today, there are many online apps providing help with this issue. We will present to you some of the best ones.

The Zift Parental Control

The Zift Parental Control app is specially designed to help parents get more control over their children’s phones. Your child could have a whole life online that you don’t know anything about and he or she can even put him/herself in dangerous situations. Maybe they are being bullied, or perhaps they are bullying someone else.

Although communication is the key to solving these type of problems, parents might not always know how to deal with these situations. When you see that teen suicide, cyber-bullying and gaming addiction are problems that youngsters face more and more often, you need to draw the line and do something about it.

Game changer: by using this app, you will be able to see every single app that your child has on his/her phone, on yours. You will also get a master alert on your phone if your child navigates on inappropriate websites. You can also choose which app/website to block on their phones (e.g. pornography).

Qustodio

Another app for concerned parents, Qustodio is easy to download and simple to use. Using this app, you can

• Block inappropriate content on your kid’s phone – even in private mode!
• Balance screen time – limit their screen time across their devices
• Control their games and apps – block games or apps that you consider inappropriate
• Monitor their social networks – see how much time they spend on social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, etc.
• Monitor their calls and SMS – see whom they’re talking to
• Block specific contacts and track their location – use it in an emergency when you can’t get ahold of them!

ESET Parental Control for Android

Another cool app to use if concerned about your child, ESET allows you to use the next features for free:

• Monitor their activities online
• Guard their application
• Set time limits and budget limits for their games
• Get basic reports on their activity

“If you are upgrading to a Premium, you can also use web-guard filtering, safe search, the child locator, geofencing, and get full activity reports on their activity,” says Dana Julian, Director at ESET and writer at Dissertation Writing & Co.

Norton Family

Norton Family is the best app for busy parents. Once you install it on your kid’s phone, you’ll have full access to their service data. You can also block their apps by simply clicking on the one you want to stop working. If you do that, your child will get a notification that the content for that feature is restricted. However, they will not be notified of why or how that is.

If you’re concerned about your child consuming drugs and hiding it from you, Norton can help with this too. Also, if they try to watch something disturbing and inappropriate for their age, you can lock that content. To go extreme, you can also block their entire phone or disable the internet on it.

The pros are numerous, but we must also mention the cons: this app causes your child’s phone to function super slow. Also, your kids won’t be able to capture screenshots anymore.

Surfie

One of the best things about Surfie is that it monitors your child’s activity online. This app gives you immediate access to their contact list, so you know whom they correspond with and whether these conversations could potentially be dangerous or damaging to them. You also have the option to pick which content or gaming applications to block or even shut down.

To prevent your child from cyberbullying, Surfie has developed a keyword alert. When your kid uses one specific target word when sending or receiving messages, the app will send you an automatic alert. For instance, if you choose “don’t tell” as the keyword alert, you’ll get notified whenever they write or receive a text containing these particular words. Then, you can use Surfie to block your child’s phone until you can sit down and discuss the situation.

“The only downside of Surfie is that it doesn’t track calls,” shares Maya Clive, dissertation expert and PhD candidate.

FamiSafe

FamiSafe offers a number of great features including activity reports, app tracking and blocking capabilities, screen time tracking, web blocking, parental reports, and a family locator. Additionally, with one FamiSafe account, you can connect up to 5 devices for monthly plan, 10 devices for quarterly plan, and 30 devices for annual plan. The app is available for iOS and Android and plans start at $9.99 per month.

Wrapping Up

Now you can stop worrying about your child by using these helpful tracking applications. Of course, also make sure you communicate with your children and let them know how you feel about their activity. Even if these apps are beneficial for concerned parents, they should by no means replace a sincere discussion with your kids.