Child Monitoring Software For Iphone
You can't set up a geofence, and you're unable to remotely lock a device the way you can with PhoneSheriff. Net Nanny also doesn't offer much insight into your child's texting habits, but the ability to monitor social-media activity is built into the $60-a-year Family Pass.
When you configure ESET, you can automatically set web filters based on subjects, which are easy to adjust with a thumbs-up/thumbs-down interface in the app's parent portal. Adding websites that might otherwise be blocked is a little less intuitive, though you can easily OK emailed requests from your kids.
Go to the appropriate Order Page and complete all sections and agree to the Parental Control Legal Requirements. Click Next and then enter your billing information. Then complete the order and check your email.
Remote Device Control Most smartphone parental control apps have tools that let you remotely lock your child's phone, backup important data and even remotely wipe the phone if necessary. Some of the apps we reviewed, including Qustodio and WebWatcher, run invisibly on the target device, while others, such as Net Nanny, are visible no matter what. Choosing an invisible app can make it more difficult for your child to bypass the restrictions on their phone.
Parental-control apps for smartphones can help parents track their kids, see with whom the children are communicating, block kids from reaching objectionable or dangerous websites, and even help kids understand the value of limits in a digital world while preventing them from accessing adult content or texting with strangers.
Parents concerned with how much time their kids spend on Android devices and the apps and websites they're using may want to consider ESET Parental Control. This parental-control app prizes simplicity and easy setup, though you give away some of the more precise control you'd enjoy with the Android versions of Norton Family Premier and PhoneSheriff.
The app doesn’t require a rooted Android smartphone or jailbroken iPhone to work, which makes it impressive that it can track a number of instant messaging apps, though its list of features is slightly better on Android. The app can track the phone’s location, app usage, and web history but doesn’t have time restrictions or filtering tools. In this sense, you use WebWatcher to monitor your child but not to control their phone.
Note: Retina-X Studios, the maker of PhoneSheriff and Mobile Spy, no longer takes new orders for either app following a break-in into company servers in March 2018. For the time being, we've removed both apps from the carousel above.
Because of the restrictions Apple puts on mobile device managers for iOS devices, finding a program that can monitor what your kids are doing on their iPhones can mean forgoing the features that are most important to you.
While it's one of the tougher programs to install, PhoneSheriff offers a robust set of features and makes them relatively easy to use. It's an effective way to monitor all age groups, though its features come in particularly handy when it comes to preteens.
Bottom Line: Norton Family's top-notch web interface and wealth of features make it easy for parents to track and manage their children's activity across their many devices, though it doesn't work on Macs.