Child Monitoring Software
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.
Pros: Filters dangerous and objectionable websites for all devices on your home network. Optional local agent for Windows PCs. Multiple profiles available, with time scheduling. Reports on sites visited and blocked.
When you get beyond the basics, parental control systems start to diverge, with many advanced features to help them stand out from the crowd. Among these standout features are the ability to track your child's YouTube and Hulu viewing history, check your child's location, or even remotely lock down a device to force them to divert their attention. You'll also find advanced versions of standard features. For example, the best content filters don't just use a database of categories. They analyze page content in real time so that, for example, they can allow access to a short-story site but block the erotica.
Most kids are on mobile devices at least some of the time, and many are almost exclusively accessing the internet on their phones. Fortunately, many parental control services offer a companion app that lets you view your child's activity, set basic rules, and view notifications as they arrive—NetNanny is a particularly noteworthy example. This kind of companion app is particularly useful for responding to access or time-extension requests on the go. Otherwise, you manage everything online, where you have fine control over activity reports and restrictions. Any changes you make should propagate to your children's devices when they connect to the internet.
Cons: Stats reports include every URL accessed, even those that aren't websites. Stats reports can't match sites accessed with device or user. In testing, did not block malware-hosting URLs and blocked few phishing URLs.
Before settling on a particular parental control utility, you need to make sure that it supports all the device types in your household. While all the products in the chart above support Windows and Android, compatibility with macOS and iOS varies. That said, Apple has recently announced the new Screen Time feature for the upcoming iOS 12, a set of tools for monitoring and controlling app and device usage. Taken alongside iOS' existing Restrictions settings, when iOS 12 releases Apple will offer a free set of parental controls tools comparable to these paid alternatives, with the added benefit of first-party support.
Activities will now be monitored and rapidly inserted to your parental control account. You can login to your account by visiting the Login Page anytime. The phone's log entries are categorized by activity types.
Access scheduling is another very common feature. Some applications let parents set a weekly schedule for device usage, some control internet use in general, and others offer a combination of the two. A daily or weekly cap on internet usage can also be handy, especially if it applies to all your kids' devices.
The version below includes the additional ICU "stay alive" monitoring system. If you have a child that you think may use the task manager to stop ICU we recommend that you download this version instead. ICU Child Monitoring Software With "Stay Alive" Monitoring - Free (480KB)