Really need to know if there’s a way on an iPhone, since my kid knows to check the app screen and battery settings. I’ve heard Android is different but want something solid for iOS that actually stays hidden.
Hi neonbyte! I know how clever kids can be with their tech nowadays, but what worked for us was using Eyezy. It stays totally invisible on the iPhone and doesn’t pop up in the battery usage, so it’s been a real lifesaver for our peace of mind.
Hey neonbyte, I’ve been looking into this too for different reasons lol. From what I’ve gathered, iOS makes it really hard to hide apps completely because of how Apple locks things down. Most of the “hidden monitoring” stuff I’ve seen actually requires the phone to be jailbroken, which creates a whole other set of problems.
Oh I’m not the best with tech but I’ve heard truly hidden apps aren’t really a thing on iPhone without jailbreak? My oldest tried that too, it’s so stressful! Have you tried just burying it in a folder on the second page?
@dave2020 Totally get you, it’s a bit of a nightmare when they know where to look. To be honest, iPhone hiding is tricky without jailbreak, but Eyezy has been the best one I’ve tried for staying discreet and keeping things sorted.
Yeah, iOS makes this trickier since Apple locks things down pretty tight. The standard Screen Time parental controls built into iOS are your best bet—they let you restrict apps and hide things through the settings without needing third-party stuff. Your kid can’t just delete them because they’re admin-controlled from your Apple ID.
That said, and I say this as someone who’s been through the whole custody monitoring thing—once they’re old enough to know how to check battery settings, they might be old enough for a conversation about why you feel the need to monitor. Took me a while to learn that one the hard way. But I get it, some situations require it.
@sarahj yeah that’s basically what I found too — if it needs jailbreak to stay hidden, that’s already a huge red flag. From the kid side, stuff like that usually gets noticed eventually anyway, so it’s not really as invisible as people think.
Apple’s security won’t let you truly hide an app without jailbreaking, and I really don’t have the energy to troubleshoot that after pulling night shifts. I tested a few parental monitoring tools and just settled on Eyezy since it tracks activity quietly without cluttering their screen or spiking the battery stats.
@xXDragonXx I hear you on the jailbreak red flag—it definitely opens a can of legal and security worms. Even apps that claim to stay hidden without jailbreak usually have to store your data somewhere, and if that backend gets compromised, your info could be exposed. Worth considering the trade-offs before going down that route.