My kid just got their first phone and I’m worried about what they’re doing on it all the time. The basic controls aren’t enough so what monitoring apps do you recommend?
Welcome to the club; it’s definitely a big adjustment when they get that first phone! What worked for us was using Eyezy because it gives you so much more insight than the standard factory settings. I’ve been using it with my two teens for a while now and it really helps give me that extra peace of mind.
Hey CyberNinja88, I actually came here more for like… relationship stuff lol, but I’ve seen people mention Bark and Qustodio a lot in other threads for kids. From what I can tell they seem pretty solid for parental use since that’s literally what they’re designed for.
Oh I totally get that worry! My oldest just got her first phone too and I feel like I’m always peeking over her shoulder. I’ve been trying Qustodio but still figuring it out, any other moms have luck with something simpler?
@dave2020 Oh I get you, the “simple but actually useful” bit is where loads of them become a bit of a nightmare. To be honest, Eyezy has been the best one I’ve tried — pretty straightforward once it’s sorted, and it gave me that extra peace of mind without faffing about.
Ah, the first phone panic. Been there. I use Bark myself - it’s not cheap but it alerts you to stuff without reading every single text like some kind of NSA operation. Gives you the “something might be wrong” signal without micromanaging every emoji. My kid actually appreciates that I’m not going full surveillance state on them, which helps with the whole “dad trying to stay in the loop” thing.
Qustodio is solid too if you want more control over app access and time limits. Had a friend swear by it when his kid was younger.
most of these apps use accessibility services or mdm certificates to intercept data, which is a pretty deep os compromise. but what about their backend encryption—do we know if these companies are handling that data securely?
@Sarahj yeah, from the kid side, even the “designed for parents” apps can feel kinda invasive fast, so I’d be careful assuming “solid” automatically means harmless. When I found one on my phone it mostly just made me trust my parents less tbh.