Reviews of the Best Parental Control Apps for Android and iPhone 2024

1. Net nanny

Because of its extensive platform support, feature-rich feature set, and reasonable price, Net Nanny is the #1 choice for parental control apps.

Even though Net Nanny is arguably the most established brand in parental control software, it remains one of the most cutting-edge and complete options. Following a brief name change following its acquisition by Zift in 2016, the business returned to using the well-known Net Nanny moniker in May 2019.

Net Nanny incorporates advice from the Zift editorial team and prominently displays Zift’s influence as a digital parenting company through its App Advisor and Family Feed features. 

Regarding web filtering, Net Nanny does it better than most of its rivals. Unlike many other parental-control services, it does not merely rely on block lists; instead, it examines the pages as they are pulled up on a child’s device. Net Nanny uses a scalpel to cut out offensive content from your child’s internet experience, rather than a sledgehammer.

Net Nanny is still the greatest parental-control app available, despite being one of the more expensive options (an annual subscription of $54.99 for up to five devices).

Despite being one of the more established brands in parental control software, Net Nanny never stops innovating by introducing new features. For instance, the app uses more than just site categories and blacklists to filter web content. Rather, it makes use of real-time content analysis to spot possible problems on every website your kid tries to visit.

Pricing

Though you can install and use the Net Nanny app for free, it will only serve as an app-specific parenting guide and a source of pertinent news about digital parenting. Therefore, it doesn’t qualify as a free tier for the actual service.

You must subscribe to the “Family Protection Pass” to access parental controls on your child’s device or devices. This costs $54.99 per year for up to 5 devices or $89.99 per year for up to 20.

If you’re monitoring a single Windows or Mac desktop or laptop, you can opt for the $39.99 per year plan. However, this plan does not include mobile platforms or support for multiple devices.

For the next few years, all of these subscription fees will be discounted by 30% from their regular pricing; this discount has not changed. According to Net Nanny representatives, there are no plans for price increases shortly.

This stability is reassuring, especially since Net Nanny is already positioned among the higher-priced options in parental control software. 

Net Nanny effectively supports all major platforms, including robust Android and iOS performance. 

Set up

You can install Net Nanny from either the website or the mobile app. Net Nanny employs a two-app system, common among parental-control providers, to separate the child app, which often receives negative reviews from children in app stores. Create your account, then set up the child device(s).

Navigate to the installation page on Net Nanny’s website from the child’s device. This page will guide you through downloading the relevant app from the device’s app store and creating a profile for the child, including their name, age, and gender.

On iOS devices, you will install a Mobile Device Management profile to enable Net Nanny’s full functionality and grant the necessary permissions. The process on Android devices is similar, with the app guiding you through granting permissions and approving device management.

Both recent Android and iOS versions do not allow permanent location privileges during installation. To enable location tracking, go to the settings menu and change Net Nanny’s location privileges to “always.”

App Management

With the latest version of its app management system, Net Nanny has removed apps from its parent app and web portal’s primary category. App management was previously a secondary access point, but it is now accessed through the settings.

With over 100 apps eligible for blocking, Net Nanny has slightly more iOS app-blocking capabilities than many of its rivals. Still, this is only a small portion, and OurPact is unmatched by any other service.

If your child has an iOS device and you decide to use Net Nanny, the best course of action is to remove any apps that you find objectionable from the device and activate Apple’s Ask to Buy feature. This way, you can approve all future app downloads.

You can block or approve any app on your child’s Android device with Net Nanny, which gives you total control over their app selection. You will be notified when your child installs a new app, but you will need to use Android’s built-in Play Store parental approval system to limit what they can install.

The Android app management provided by Net Nanny is functional but limited in certain aspects. For example, you cannot schedule particular apps or impose time limits.

A new feature called Social Media Protection by Net Nanny divides social media apps into their own settings page. This feature works with seven apps: Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, Tumblr, Twitter, and YouTube. These apps can apply your current Net Nanny content filters by using the “Protect” option. Furthermore, Net Nanny offers the capability to immediately ban social media applications that do not support the Protect option or to ban social media apps in general.

Web Filtering

One of Net Nanny’s best features is web filtering. Instead of depending exclusively on block lists, Net Nanny examines the content of websites your child visits. By not allowing sites to alter their content, this method drastically lowers false positives and stops them from getting around the filters.

Like many of its rivals, Net Nanny has 14 pre-built categories and provides category-based filtering. For each website that falls under one of these categories, you have the option to allow, block, or display a pop-up alert.

With the “alert” setting, your child can see the content and the Family Feed will show an alert. With its Custom Content Filters feature, Net Nanny allows you to create custom filters in addition to these basic categories. To customize your filter to your liking, give it a name and add as many words or phrases as necessary.

Net Nanny also provides the more common block or allow list, where you can specify particular sites that you want to ensure your child can or cannot access.

When your child tries to visit a blocked site, they will see a Net Nanny screen explaining that the page is blocked. If they believe the site should not be blocked, they can tap a button to request access.

A standout filtering feature from Net Nanny is its ability to mask profanity on the web. This showcases the strength of its live page analysis by covering profane words with the “#” symbol. While the filter isn’t perfect—occasionally missing unusual or compound profane terms—it performs solidly overall. 

Time Management

Like other top choices, Net Nanny provides a full range of time-management tools. In addition to setting daily routines to halt device use or internet access, you can also set schedules, daily time limits, and overall usage caps. Nevertheless, the setup procedure takes longer than it should and is a little complicated.

A small example of this is setting usage limits. It is simple to set limits for a specific day; just select the desired time allowance by tapping on the relevant day in the screentime management menu, but it still requires more work than is necessary.

It only takes a minute to set usage limits, but it could be more effective if the limit could be applied across multiple days. Another striking feature is the ability to give a temporary time boost or reduction for the current day without affecting future time allotments. 

To create a new interval, you tap to decide whether to completely pause the device or just block internet access. Then, an interval appears where you set the start and end times.

The issue was that Net Nanny’s intelligent system often prevented me from setting times as I wanted. However, I discovered that once an interval is created, you can move it by long-pressing and dragging it or by adjusting its start and end times. This method is the best way to handle scheduling, and I believe Net Nanny should make this the primary control because it’s faster and more intuitive.

Once the schedule is set, it offers a full-week view that I like. After learning this new method of managing the schedule, it became easy to make the necessary changes.

Texting Management

Net Nanny lacks call and texting management features, a gap that’s now fairly common in the parental control industry.

On the other hand, you can completely block texting apps with Net Nanny if your child uses an Android device. Qustodio offers that feature for parents who need to keep an eye on or limit their child’s texting and calling.

Location Tracking

Over the past few years, Net Nanny has built this feature set considerably, providing an extremely extensive range of location-tracking capabilities. It offers live tracking, location history and geolocation.

Both the overview screen and each child’s Location tab display live tracking information. It displays a pin on a map with the last known location of each child’s device. Location history provides updates for the past 30 days.

The most recent addition, geolocation, lets you designate places your child has been as “Our Locations.” You can choose to receive notifications whenever your child arrives at or leaves one of these locations.

Even if you choose to opt out of notifications, you can still view location history; Net Nanny will refer to these locations by the name you have chosen instead of just the address. Setting locations in advance would be preferable to waiting for your child to visit them.

Youtube Monitoring

This enables you to see a list of every YouTube video your child has viewed, as well as any searches they have done. It is a good way to monitor how much time your child spends on YouTube, but you cannot block anything from here as it is only monitoring.

You can use your Net Nanny content filters on YouTube as it is included in the Social Media Protection feature that was covered in App Management.

YouTube falls under the Social Media Protection feature discussed in App Management, allowing you to apply your Net Nanny content filters to YouTube. If you want to actively manage what your child sees on YouTube without limiting them to YouTube Kids, these tools are your best solution.

Family Feed

The Family Feed is Net Nanny’s main screen. It shows the location of any child devices right now at the top, followed by a list of their most recent activities.

Although this setup might not be the best for monitoring specific activities if your kids spend a lot of time online, it does provide a handy way to quickly check in on what is happening in real-time or to quickly scroll through the day’s events to identify anything that might need your attention.

App Advisor

This is yet another exclusive feature of Net Nanny, developed by the Zift editorial team to assist you in deciding which apps, games, and services are appropriate for your child. 

Every app listing has a header to let you know if Zift’s team thinks it is safe for kids, then a detailed explanation to guide you in making your own choice.

About chat, live streaming, location tracking, photo sharing, stranger danger (interacting with strangers), and mature content, this feature includes a “Zift Advisory” that lists possible issues with the app.

It begins with a synopsis of the app, then delves into a thorough examination of its features, and concludes with a section outlining the methodology; this is how the  Zift team determines the app’s kid safety. The listing also includes app-store screenshots.

This feature is included in Net Nanny’s App Management section, but it is also freely accessible on the Zift website, where it is accompanied by a ton of articles about digital parenting. Regardless of your familiarity with the most recent well-liked apps, it is a great tool to use when choosing new apps for your children.

Final Thoughts

Net Nanny stands as the top parental-control solution on the market today. Its web-filtering technology outshines every other service, excelling in both effectiveness and feature depth.

The overall feature set of the apps and web portal is nearly perfect, and they are both well-designed and easy to use. The only things left lacking are text/call monitoring, which is currently only available through Qustodio, and full app management on iOS, which requires the use of OurPact. The annual membership cost of Net Nanny is another concern, for which Kaspersky Safe Kids is a great deal.

Despite these drawbacks, Net Nanny is well worth the high price due to its superior web filtering, extensive features, and broad platform support.

2. Qustodio

While Qustodio is one of the few parental control apps that can still log calls and texts on Android, it has a limited feature set on iOS. Qustodio is compatible with most platforms.

With its extensive feature set and wide range of platform support, Qustodio has been a market leader in parental control for almost ten years.

It is only rivaled by Net Nanny in terms of total platform coverage by its compatibility for Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, Kindle Fire tablets, and, most recently, Chrome OS.

Apart from a few noteworthy exclusions for iOS users, Qustodio is among the most feature-rich choices out there. Depending on how many devices you need to cover, Qustodio can be a bit pricey, but its basic 5-device premium plan, which costs $54.95 a year, is comparable to most other services.

The best thing about Qustodio is that it still has call and text monitoring, something that most other parental control apps have stopped offering recently.  Should you find this feature indispensable, Qustodio should be your first choice among parental control apps because of its ongoing support on Android.

Pricing

Qustodio provides a basic free tier that covers a single device, providing web filtering, web and social media monitoring, time limits, and an online monitoring dashboard.

Depending on how many devices you need to secure, you can select from one of three plans for complete premium features. The plans include coverage for up to 5 devices at $54.95 per year, 10 devices at $96.95, and 15 devices at $137.95.

The only difference between them is the number of devices for each paid plan. Each plan includes all premium features and full support across Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, and Kindle Fire. Chrome OS support is more limited, with the Android app managing time and a Chrome extension to limit browsing time and monitor activity.

Installation

The first step is to create your account. After that, the app will ask you to create child profiles by asking you to enter your name, choose a gender, and select one of six available avatars. The avatars are a bit unusual, and you can’t upload a photo of your child.

The next step is to add a device for your child. You can either navigate to Qustodio’s download page or simply download the “Kids App Qustodio” from the appropriate app store.

Like many other parental control services, Qustodio uses separate parent and child apps, as children tend to give their apps poor ratings. You’ll sign into your account on your child’s device, and the app will guide you through granting the necessary permissions, including installing a profile that allows for device management.

If you have only one child with one device, the setup process is excellent, as it guides you smoothly and efficiently. However, if you are setting up accounts for multiple children, it can be somewhat frustrating to have to repeat the process for each child, as the setup must be done one at a time.

This is largely a matter of personal preference, but if you have two or more children, be aware that the setup process is sequential for each child.

Moreover, the more recent versions of Android and iOS do not allow you to grant permanent location privileges to an app via the pop-up dialogue box. To ensure location tracking works, go to the settings menu and set the location privilege to “always.”

Once you have the child app installed and functioning, you can return to the Qustodio web portal or your parental app to customize the settings.

Qustodio pre-fills some settings for individual children, such as web filtering, but leaves most settings disabled by default. You’ll need to adjust these settings according to your preferences for your child.

Uninstalling Qustodio from a child’s device is straightforward, but on Android, it requires the parental password, while on iOS, it requires the device passcode. The parent app will promptly notify you of any tampering, so even if a child manages to bypass these security measures, the app’s presence will be quickly reinstated.

App Management

It does not instantly provide a child’s device with a comprehensive list of all apps. Instead, it adds an app to the list only when the child opens it.

To make sure all of the apps are there, you will need to either manually launch each app on the child’s device or review each one as it appears in the list (with the option to receive alerts each time a new app is used).

Once an app is added to the list, updates are promptly reflected and the feature functions as intended. For each app, you can reset the time limit for the day, block it completely, block it temporarily, and set specific daily time limits.

Android has better app management than iOS. It works with any app on Android, and when a child tries to open an app that is blocked or has expired, a customized screen alerts them to the issue.

App management is more constrained on iOS, despite improvements over the previous versions. Qustodio claims that these features are compatible with about 6,000 iOS apps.

In our experience, the feature occasionally caused a network error instead of an alert when a kid attempted to use a time-expired or blocked app.  Nonetheless, this problem might have been resolved when Qustodio recently switched from a remote VPN to an on-device proxy service.

Filtering

Similar to other features on the Qustodio website, this one benefits a lot from the new look.  Ten of the 29 possible website categories are blocked by default, but you can change these settings to match your preferences

For each category, you can select one of three options: allow, block, or alert. While “block” and “allow” are straightforward, “alert” will flag the site visit in the activity timeline with a “Browsing alert” for the parent.

Although you are unable to add new categories, you can use any of the three previously mentioned methods to make exceptions for particular websites. Although these visits will still show up in the activity timeline, you also have the choice to ignore visits to flagged categories.

The tab for filtering settings functions as the main hub for different features. All unsupported browsers can be blocked; though it is limited to Android, it is a useful feature. You can also enforce Safe Search, disable notifications when your child tries to access a blocked website and block access to websites that are not categorized.

Even though the sites in question were indicated as being in blocked categories in the activity timeline, Qustodio’s web filtering was unable to identify them.

The app tracks and records the websites your child visits. If your goal is to monitor their activity rather than preemptively blocking sites, this feature will be effective.

Time Management

Apart from the app’s dedicated time management features, there are separate sections for controlling screen time, such as Daily Time Limits and Restricted Times. 

In the Daily Time Limits section, you can set time limits for each day of the week using a clock interface, with increments of 15 minutes up to 24 hours. You also have the option to block the entire day or reset the time for that day.

Though this is not something you need to change frequently, it is only a small inconvenience to be able to choose and set multiple days at once, such as weekdays versus weekends.

In Restricted Times, every hour-long window is represented by a colored block, and the entire week is shown on a single screen. You can click or tap on a block to toggle between red for “blocked” and a blue-to-green gradient for “allowed.”

You can quickly set up the week’s schedule with this feature, which functions well despite some dubious colour scheme design choices. On both platforms, parents can easily grant additional screen time to children when necessary.

This is not a category where Apple’s iOS shines. You can still view your child’s activity in the timeline to see if they are staying within the allotted time.

Android users can still use their phones during blocked times, but Qustodio’s “Time’s up” screen will appear if they try to open any apps other than messaging or the phone.

Call and Text Management

Due to Google’s policies, Qustodio cannot offer this feature in the Google Play Store version of the app. To monitor your child’s calls and texts, you’ll need to download a separate version of the app directly from Qustodio’s website and install it manually. This feature is available for Android devices only.

After installing this version of the app on your child’s phone, restart the phone to activate the new features. You will then see the options for call and text monitoring in the parental dashboard.

The call and texting management feature operates similarly to the web filtering section. You can either block all incoming and outgoing calls or restrict specific phone numbers. While you cannot block text messages, you can enable a toggle to view the content of SMS text messages. However, this feature does not cover MMS (photo/video) messages.

Once enabled, this feature worked exactly as promised. Among the apps we’ve tested recently, Qustodio is the only one that still allows you to block calls and read texts. If this is a crucial feature for you, Qustodio should be at the top of your list.

Location Tracking

Qustodio’s location tracking feature enables you to see your child’s current location and location history. This functionality activates automatically on both Android and iOS once the feature is enabled. However, note that the location check frequency is slightly lower on iOS, with updates occurring approximately every five minutes.

Qustodio now includes a geofencing feature, allowing you to designate an address and create a circular boundary with a diameter between 350 and 650 feet. You will receive notifications whenever your child enters or exits this designated area.

Location tracking provides peace of mind by automatically confirming your child’s arrival at home or school. However, I would love to see a couple of improvements to Qustodio’s geofencing. Firstly, it would be useful to have the ability to move the circle on the map, which would help in centering it on specific locations like parks. Secondly, it would be great to have a search function to input locations such as a child’s school or daycare center without needing the exact address.

Despite these minor suggestions, Qustodio has done an excellent job enhancing its location-tracking features, making it one of the most comprehensive parental-control apps available in this area.

Additional Features

• Panic Button

This feature is available only to Android users The Panic Button must be enabled in the parental portal or app and can then be accessed via an SOS button at the bottom of the child’s app.

To activate the Panic Button, the child must press the SOS button in the app and then tap the circular SOS button on the following screen. This action sends an emergency message with the child’s current location to all the trusted contacts you’ve configured within the app. The message can be sent via text and email.

It’s important to note that this feature does not contact emergency services; it only reaches the trusted contacts. Qustodio emphasizes this in the app, but it’s worth repeating.

• Social Monitoring

Social monitoring is limited to Facebook activity. To activate it, you must use a Mac or PC monitored by Qustodio’s desktop software, which adds a tracking plug-in. After this setup, all future Facebook activity will be tracked by Qustodio, regardless of the device your child uses to access Facebook.

This feature is rare among Qustodio’s competitors. Only Kaspersky offers something comparable, while Net Nanny provides content filtering for Facebook but does not offer monitoring.

YouTube Monitoring

This new feature is a welcome addition, as children can encounter plenty of objectionable material on YouTube. You can block access to YouTube on the web and monitor a child’s activity in the YouTube app, including their search history and the videos they watch.

While monitoring worked well on both Android and iOS, I was unable to block YouTube.com on the web on iOS. However, visits to YouTube.com on iOS still appeared on the activity timeline, including a list of any videos watched. So, if monitoring alone is sufficient for you, this feature will still be effective.

Final Thoughts

Qustodio offers a comprehensive feature set and broad platform support, but its web filtering falls short of expectations, and it has significant limitations on iOS. As a result, Qustodio needs to measure up to the leading options in the market.

If you need to cover five or fewer Android devices, require call/text management, and are more interested in monitoring than blocking, Qustodio could be a good fit. However, with these limitations, most parents might find better value in Net Nanny. Kaspersky Safe Kids could also be a suitable alternative for a more affordable option.

3. Norton Family

Norton, a well-known brand in the consumer information security industry, has been around since the early 1980s. While their parental control offering, Norton Family, isn’t as old, it has been a significant player in the market for over a decade.

It seemed outdated when I first reviewed Norton Family a few years ago. However, since shifting from a freemium to a paid model in 2018, Norton has made significant improvements to the service. It now boasts a robust feature set for Windows and Android, though it is less comprehensive on iOS and not compatible with macOS.

The Norton Family provides a wide range of features at a reasonable price. However, similar to many parental control apps, it offers fewer capabilities on iOS compared to Android.

Norton Family, alongside Kaspersky Safe Kids, ranks among the top parental control apps. It is also available bundled with other software from its parent company, potentially reducing the number of subscriptions needed for existing Norton users. Continue reading for our full Norton Family review.

Pricing

In early 2018, Norton Family eliminated its free tier and transitioned to a solely paid option at $49.99 per year. This pricing makes it one of the more affordable parental control solutions available today, with Norton maintaining this cost over time.

The simplicity of offering just one plan is refreshing, minimizing complexity. This comprehensive plan supports unlimited devices and child accounts, making it the only Norton plan you’ll ever need.

For those also seeking an antivirus solution, Norton 360 Deluxe and Norton 360 with LifeLock include subscriptions to Norton Family Premier and excellent Norton antivirus protection. Norton 360 Deluxe is currently priced at $39.99 for the first year and $104.99 per year thereafter.

Norton Family is compatible with Android (6.0 Marshmallow and up), iOS (13 and up), and Windows (7 with Service Pack 1 and up).

Installation

Norton boasts the best setup process among all parental control apps. When tested on Android, it provided a clear checklist linking directly to the necessary settings, ensuring you don’t miss any required permissions.

Although the setup process on iOS is a bit more complex, Norton guides you through installing the VPN and mobile device management (MDM) profile necessary for the app to function.

When setting up the app for each child, you enter their name and select a restriction level based on their age range. This automatically adjusts the default settings to be appropriate for your child’s age.

You will also find a section labeled “Personal Information” where you can add details such as a Social Security number, phone number, email address, or other sensitive information that you prefer your child not share online on Windows. Norton Family will alert you if they attempt to share this information.

Next, install the Norton Family software on any device your child uses, except for a Mac. Norton provides links to its Windows, iOS, and Android apps. Once the app is installed on your child’s device, sign into your parental account and select the appropriate child for that device.

On both Android and iOS, you cannot grant permanent location privileges to any app during the initial installation. You will need to go to the settings menu after installation and set Norton Family’s location privilege to “always.”

Parental Interface

When I last reviewed Norton Family, the parental web portal had undergone a complete redesign, which is still in place. While this redesign is a significant improvement over the previous version, I find it somewhat convoluted and outdated despite the fresh look.

The mobile apps are even less user-friendly, so I highly recommend using the web portal for anything beyond minor tasks or checking alerts.

The parental control portal features a tabbed interface, displaying recent alerts for each child. It also includes a tab for each child and an option to add a new child.

Clicking on a child’s tab provides an overview of six categories: web, time, mobile app, location, search, and video. It also offers quick access to toggling on School Time (which I’ll explain later) or Instant Lock, which immediately restricts a child’s access to their device.

Instant Lock performed well on both the Google Pixel 4XL and the iPhone 12 I used for testing. While it couldn’t block everything on iOS, it did manage to hide all but the core Apple apps.

The web portal is useful for quickly checking your kids’ activities for the day. However, I would prefer an overall activity feed that allows me to jump into each section individually. The need to click on the small gear icon to change settings is unnecessary; the category names should serve as hyperlinks to their respective sections.

App Management

Norton Family’s app management is available only on Android, but it functions effectively. The parental web portal provides a complete list of apps installed on your child’s device, allowing you to toggle any of them to “blocked.”

Unlike some parental control apps, blocking an app with Norton Family doesn’t remove it from the child’s device. Instead, the block functions like a web filter, displaying a full-screen notification on the child’s device to indicate that the app is blocked.

One issue I encountered is that this feature can take quite a while to take effect. While my test device immediately recognized that I had blocked a few apps, the actual blocking did not occur until approximately 30 minutes later.

I observed this delay on multiple occasions, so while it may not be a major issue, it’s important to note that there will be a time lag if you need an app to be blocked or removed right away.

Web Filtering

Norton Family excels in web filtering, offering an impressive range of 47 categories and automatic age-based restrictions for quick setup.

At the top of the web-filtering section, you can fine-tune the age restriction levels. Scrolling down, you reach the “Supervision” section, where you can choose how to manage categories. The “Monitor” option simply displays the sites in that category visited by the child. The “Warn” option alerts the child that a site belongs to a potentially concerning category. The “Block” option prevents the child from accessing the site altogether.

This feature worked seamlessly for me on both Android and iOS.

If a site bypasses the filters or is mistakenly blocked, you can add it to the “Restricted Websites” or “Allowed Websites” lists at the bottom of the web-filtering page by simply entering the relevant URL.

I appreciate that Norton Family allows the child to request access when a site is blocked. The child can check a box to indicate they believe the site is miscategorized and provide an explanation in a text box. While face-to-face discussions are ideal, having this built-in communication feature in the app is a valuable addition.

Time Management

This feature differs slightly between operating systems. On Android and Windows, children receive both a daily time limit and a weekly schedule, while iOS users are restricted to just the weekly schedule.

To set daily time limits, you click on the relevant day and choose the amount of time you want to allow from a drop-down menu. Unfortunately, this feature only supports full-hour increments from zero up to 24 hours. It would be beneficial if the Norton Family offered more precise control over time limits.

The scheduling feature allows you to set separate day and night schedules, with the day running from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. You can toggle 30-minute intervals as either blocked or allowed by clicking on them. The system is smart enough to alert you if the total allowed time exceeds what is possible based on your schedule, which, while unlikely, could help catch any mistakes.

Although the interface is somewhat cumbersome, it’s not a major issue since you likely won’t be making frequent changes. Overall, the functionality worked as expected, which was a positive aspect.

Location Tracking

Location tracking performs exceptionally well, providing both a child’s current location and a comprehensive history of past locations. When you open the map, it shows a selection of the most recent location pings. By selecting a specific date and time window, Norton Family offers detailed location tracking for that period.

Norton Family has introduced a new geofencing feature called “Favorite Locations.” This allows you to receive notifications when your child enters or leaves a designated area, such as home, school, or playground.

Additionally, the “Alert Me” feature lets you set specific times and dates to receive updates on your child’s device location. Conversely, your child can use the “Child Check In” feature to send you their current location.

Additional Features

Emergency contacts

This feature is available exclusively for Android and allows your child to call six designated phone numbers even if their device is locked. This ensures that your child’s smartphone locking won’t cause any unnecessary issues at inconvenient times.

Time extension

When your child has less than 15 minutes of their allowed screen time remaining for the day, they can request an extension directly within the Norton Family app. Similar to the “ask for permission” feature, I appreciate having this functionality built into the app, although a direct conversation can achieve the same result.

Video Streaming Supervision

An increasing number of parental control apps now offer YouTube monitoring, but Norton Family goes a step further by including Hulu as well. The app provides a list of everything your child has recently watched.

Search Supervision

Search supervision offers a quick overview of what your kids have been searching for on the web. On the main page, you’ll see a word cloud of their recent searches, with the option to view detailed results by digging deeper. Additionally, you can enable filtering for search engines such as Google, Ask, Bing, YouTube, and Yahoo.

Monthly/ Weekly report

If you prefer not to receive constant alerts but still want to monitor your children’s web activities to ensure they aren’t exposed to inappropriate content, monthly and weekly reports can be very useful. These reports provide a detailed breakdown of your kids’ online activity via email, helping you stay informed without being overwhelmed.

School time

The latest feature added to Norton Family is School Time, introduced in response to the remote learning needs during the coronavirus pandemic. This feature, available on all supported platforms, restricts your child’s access to potentially distracting websites, ensuring a focused learning environment.

Instead of limiting the child’s overall device usage, which can be challenging since devices are often essential for schooling, you can set a specific duration for the School Time rule. During this period, you can create a custom list of allowed web categories, permitted websites, and restricted websites. The Android app provides a report on which sites were visited during School Time, while the iOS app indicates the total time spent online.

Final thoughts

Norton Family offers an impressive array of features. While some competitors also support Windows, Norton Family stands out by allowing parents to bundle it with other Norton products and services. This makes it an attractive option for those seeking a comprehensive suite of antivirus programs and identity theft protection services.

4. Aura

Aura is an excellent choice for individuals or families seeking a comprehensive solution that includes a password manager, VPN, antivirus, storage, and ID protection. Its user-friendly interface and transparent pricing policy make it easy to use and understand.

Every day, countless threats to your identity emerge across the internet, email, smartphones, and other channels. Just a moment of carelessness can allow identity thieves to steal your information and exploit it, causing losses for you or your family. To safeguard your identity, consider using an identity theft protection service like Aura. This service actively monitors your information and its online presence. If any suspicious activities are detected, Aura promptly alerts you, enabling you to take action and protect your personal information.

Aura distinguishes itself by offering comprehensive identity protection and online security across all of its plans. These plans are flexible and cater to individuals, couples, and families, accommodating households of all sizes. If you have children, Aura’s family plan is especially beneficial, covering up to five adults and an unlimited number of children. Pricing starts at $12 per month with annual billing, and goes up to $50 per month for the highest plan with monthly billing.

• Aura Inc subscription options:

1 month plan – $9 per month ($9 total cost)

Aura’s commitment to identity theft protection includes $1 million in insurance and 24/7 customer support across all plans, making it a key player in any discussion about safeguarding personal information for individuals, couples, or families. With a comprehensive range of features and a steadfast dedication to protecting customers from identity theft, Aura is a reliable partner in the fight against cybercrime. The company’s recent updates to its software and service offerings provide an excellent opportunity to review all its aspects.

Pricing

Aura offers competitive pricing for its individual, couple, and family plans, with savings for annual contracts. All plans include a 14-day free trial. 

The individual and couple plans have similar features, with the couple plan providing double the coverage. The family plan offers the best value, covering up to five adults and including child SSN monitoring and additional digital safety features like parental controls and protections against cyberbullying. While the family plan is pricier than average, it provides extensive coverage. For a more affordable option, consider Identity Guard’s family plan, which offers fewer features.

Aura’s family plan costs more compared to platforms offering multiple licenses, such as Trend Micro, F-Secure, and McAfee. For example, Kaspersky’s 10-license plan is $58.99, while Norton 360 with LifeLock is $99.99. Panda Dome Premium is $75 annually.

Aura requires opt-in for auto-renewal, but the annual price remains unchanged after the first year. You can cancel online or by calling customer support. If canceling during the 14-day trial, ensure you do so before the trial ends to avoid charges. 

To start with Aura, select a plan, start the free trial, provide your personal information, and complete the setup by running a dark web check and activating protection services.

Features

Credit monitoring is vital for identity protection, helping to prevent fraud with your Social Security number and credit profile. Aura Credit Monitoring offers robust identity protection combined with credit monitoring. You can easily lock your credit from the Aura dashboard without needing to contact Experian. To view your credit report, go to the “Credit” section under “Me” on the homepage. Aura tracks all three major credit bureaus (TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax), providing timely alerts for any suspicious activity.

Interface

Aura features a modern, relatively easy-to-navigate design, though it has some drawbacks. Alerts, a key aspect of the service, are somewhat hidden behind menus and could be more prominently displayed on the main screen for quicker access. For example, removing the “Passwords” widget could make room for these alerts. Additionally, dark web monitoring is not prominently featured, which could be inconvenient.

While Aura’s design has improved significantly from its previous clunky version, the current layout still has room for better customization. The interface now offers a streamlined experience with a separate alerts menu and a summary of features and tips. 

The main page emphasizes ID theft protection, with other features like VPN and dark web monitoring less prominent. Users may find this approach suitable, but a modular home screen with customizable widgets would enhance usability for tech enthusiasts.

For assistance, the “Get Help” link in the upper right corner guides using specific features.

Antivirus

Aura’s recent design update significantly improves on the previous clunky version, offering a more streamlined experience with a separate alerts menu and a feature summary on the admin interface. Navigation is easier over time, especially for those familiar with the older version.

The main page emphasizes ID theft protection, with features like VPN and dark web monitoring less prominently displayed. While a modular home screen with customizable widgets would be preferable for tech enthusiasts, the current layout suits various user preferences.

For assistance, the “Get Help” link guides using features.

Aura also offers Safe Browsing via a web extension, which blocks malware and phishing sites to protect your personal and financial information, relying on blacklisting similar to most antivirus solutions.

VPN

For phishing protection, Aura provides Safe Browsing through a web extension. This feature ensures safer web browsing by automatically blocking malware and phishing sites that seek to steal personal and financial information. If you attempt to visit a risky website, Aura will block it and explain why it was flagged as potentially malicious. Essentially, Aura’s approach relies on blacklisting, much like most antivirus solutions.

On the Online Security page, you can view information about the server location being used and the security level of your internet connection. While you can configure Aura to automatically activate Online Security when connecting to unsecured Wi-Fi networks, this setting might not be very useful. It is generally recommended to keep Online Security enabled at all times to protect against malicious websites and online fraud. However, it’s important to note that certain activities, such as accessing websites, streaming content, or playing games, may not be compatible with a VPN connection and could result in losing this protection.

Password Manager

Aura’s password manager is accessible through the My Aura online console, and if you choose to delay the installation, you will receive regular reminders to install it. The password manager is available as a browser extension for all popular browsers, as well as an iOS and Android application. Your Aura account password, created during the initial sign-up, will serve as the master password for the password manager. It’s crucial to make this password long and strong for enhanced security. 

For mobile users, enabling fingerprint logon is highly recommended, as the app tends to time out sessions quickly, requiring you to re-enter your password frequently. Once the password manager is activated, you’ll be prompted to create your first saved password, a straightforward process. We suggest using the browser extension to capture your remaining passwords, as it is much faster than manually entering each one. Occasionally, the extension may fail to recognize new credentials for storage, but such instances were rare and may have been caused by having numerous browser tabs open during the test period.

Customer Support

Aura is well-regarded for its customer service, which has been further enhanced by a recent presentation revamp. Most screens now offer easy access to customer support, with 24/7 phone, email, and live chat options. The live chat feature, though new, includes a chatbot for off-hours and human agents during US business hours. Despite this limitation, Aura’s customer support stands out for its innovation and effectiveness.

Phone support is particularly strong, with knowledgeable and friendly agents, minimal wait times, and efficient issue resolution. The extensive “self-help” resources, accessible through the “Get Help” link, include a wide range of articles and documents. The reduction in marketing emails and the relevance of the remaining ones are notable improvements.

However, if you cancel your service, be prepared for an increase in marketing emails as Aura attempts to understand your reasons for leaving and encourage re-subscription.

Final thoughts

In short, Aura has earned its place among the top identity theft protection services on the market. It offers all the essential features you would expect, including $1 million in insurance coverage to assist with expenses incurred during identity restoration. Through its basic and advanced features, Aura simplifies the process of safeguarding your identity.

Aura makes securing and unlocking your credit easy with its credit lock feature in partnership with Experian. It also includes a credit score tracker to help you improve your credit score over time. The platform provides an updated graph displaying your credit score and offers suggestions for boosting it. Its central control panel allows you to monitor your credit score, access tools to protect against identity theft and safeguard your children’s credit as well. Additionally, Aura enables you to monitor your investment and bank accounts, set transaction limits for monitoring purposes, and actively protect your accounts from fraud attempts. It also monitors the web for potential security breaches, automatically changes passwords for added security, and effectively combats tax refund fraud.

5. Bark

Bark’s app content filtering is more advanced than many competitors, and its SMS and email monitoring features are a positive addition. However, the service falls short in other areas, and there isn’t enough overall to justify the price tag.

Bark was founded in 2015 by CEO Brian Bason, a father of two. Today, Bark is used by over 3,400 school districts and private schools to protect children online.

• Bark Parental Controls subscription options:

1 month plan – $5 per month ($5 total cost)

Bark is a subscription monitoring service that enables parents to monitor their children’s online activity. It can monitor over 30 online platforms, including texts, Instagram, YouTube, and other social media accounts. Once set up, Bark provides ongoing content monitoring of your child’s online activity.

Bark offers apps for both iOS and Android platforms. The Bark app is downloaded onto the child’s device, allowing parents to customize filters and set limits.

When a potential issue is detected, such as cyberbullying, predatory behavior, sexual content, violent threats, suicidal ideation, or depression, parents receive an alert so they can intervene. Alerts can be sent via text, email, or push notification.

Bark also allows parents to set limits on their children’s online time. This includes website blocking to prevent access to unwanted sites and screen time controls to limit usage after bedtime, such as shutting down streaming and gaming. These limits can also be enforced during the school day to improve focus.

Additionally, Bark offers location sharing, enabling parents to keep track of their child’s whereabouts through real-time location sharing and check-ins.

Pricing

Bark offers a variety of plans to protect children online, each with a week-long trial to help you decide if it meets your family’s needs.

The entry-level plan is Bark Junior, which starts at an affordable $5 per month or $49 annually. It includes basic functions such as managing screen time, controlling which websites your kids can visit through filters, and providing location alerts and check-ins to know where your children are.

The higher-tier plan is Bark Premium, costing $14 per month or $99 per year for a significant discount. It includes all the features of the Bark Junior plan and adds the ability to monitor your child’s activity on over 30 platforms, including texts, email, and YouTube. Additionally, it sends alerts to parents if issues such as cyberbullying, suicidal ideation, or online predators are detected.

Support

There are several options for getting support from Bark, although direct support is limited. The primary option is a support portal, which allows users to include files to help clarify issues. However, we have yet to find other direct support options such as chat, email, or phone support.

In terms of self-help resources, there are some choices, but they are also limited. There is an extensive FAQ section with articles on a wide range of topics. The blog is another resource we liked; it has plenty of recent content, including multiple articles from this month, such as the relevant “How to Stay Safe on Social Media: 7 Quick Tips.” Our main criticism is the lack of additional resources. There is no community forum, ebook, whitepaper, webinar, or video content available.

Final Thoughts

Bark offers an innovative solution to the crucial issue of keeping children safe online. We appreciate features such as the ability to set screen time limits, the free trial, location tracking, the inclusion of a decent device in the phone plan, and the affordable entry-level plan.

However, there are some downsides to consider. Support options are limited, with no phone support available, and the basic phone plan lacks mobile data and is expensive for what it offers.

Despite these drawbacks, Bark is a valuable tool for monitoring a child’s social media activity. We also appreciate that the non-phone plan supports multiple children at the same price, making it a better deal for larger families.

6. Microsoft Family Safety

Microsoft Family Safety offers limited protection for your kids, especially on mobile devices. Despite its shortcomings, it earns three stars by providing exclusive Microsoft App Store controls and location tracking for both Android and iOS phones. For a free app, it’s a decent offering.

Microsoft Family Safety is an easy-to-use app for Android and iOS that employs various methods to monitor and protect your kids.

Family Safety manages screen time on Windows and Xbox and restricts app and game usage on Windows, apps, and Android.

It features multiple filtering layers to block inappropriate web content in apps, games, and Microsoft Edge (though not in Chrome or other browsers).

Geofencing support allows you to create custom zones (like home, work, or grandma’s) and receive alerts when family members arrive or leave these areas.

A unique feature is Driver Safety, which records your family member’s recent journeys on a map and logs details such as how many times the driver uses their phone, their top speed, and even the number of times they brake hard. Note that this feature is only available in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada.

If you’re considering Office 365 Family for Driver Safety or just to access the Office apps, there’s a 30-day free trial available.

Set up

Setting up the app begins with creating a family group. You enter an email address for each family member, assign them a role (organizers can manage settings, while members primarily follow the rules), and tap the Invite button to send an invitation via Family Safety.

Next, Microsoft prompts your family members to create a Microsoft account and install Family Safety on their devices.

This app doesn’t automatically grant parents full control, and for older children, some restrictions, like limiting app usage, might not be available. If the monitor settings for a young child are greyed out, check the child’s birth date in their Microsoft profile. If they’ve set an older age, it could limit what you can do.

Family Safety supports setting device usage limits based on time and schedule. For instance, you could set a 5-hour overall limit, but only allow it within specific time ranges like 07:00 to 22:00, or split into intervals such as 08:00 to 12:00, 13:30 to 18:00, and 19:30 to 21:30.

Device time limits are set in one-hour increments, while schedules use 30-minute increments, which might not always be convenient. (Net Nanny, for example, allows limits to be set in any whole number of minutes, so setting a 247-minute limit today and 195 minutes tomorrow isn’t an issue.)

Family Safety assigns schedules by device type (Xbox consoles or Windows 10 devices) rather than individual devices. It’s smart enough to count usage across any device towards your daily limit, which is useful. However, you can’t set different schedules for separate Windows 10 systems, which could be a drawback if you want to limit gaming time on a Windows 10 desktop while allowing more hours for a school laptop.

App Management

Microsoft Family Safety provides a straightforward way to restrict app and game usage on Android, Windows, and Xbox by age (3-20). Simply go to the Apps and Games area in the Content Filters section, choose the appropriate rating, and you’re done.

Family Safety offers a variety of app time restrictions. You can set an overall time limit (e.g., “use this app up to two hours a day”), create a schedule (e.g., “between 19:00 and 21:00”), and even modify the rules for weekends (e.g., “until 22:00 on Saturday and Sunday”).

These restrictions apply to Windows Store apps, not standard Windows applications, making them easier to bypass and less suitable for older children to install on their own devices. However, they can help create a safer Windows environment for young children, and the Xbox and Android controls add some value.

If you use the Windows Store, Family Safety offers additional tools to help. You can require approval for new app installations by your child or simply add money to their Microsoft account and let them shop independently. By setting a maximum age rating, the Store will automatically block access to any unsuitable content.

Web Filtering

Family Safety also offers basic web content filtering, but there’s a catch: it is even more limited and Microsoft-centric than the app controls.

The core feature of Family Safety is the option to automatically block inappropriate content in Edge and enforce Safe Search (built-in filtering to block dubious sites) at Bing. It also allows you to create website blacklists and whitelists, and Family Safety attempts to block a range of popular browsers (such as Chrome, Opera, Firefox, Brave, and Tor—25 in total, as of now) to prevent your kids from bypassing the system.

While this is a start, it falls short compared to free alternatives, which often offer more comprehensive features. For example, Kaspersky Safe Kids allows you to block sites by category (like Adult, Drugs, Violence, and more) and supports Safe Search on Bing, Google, Yahoo!, Yandex, and YouTube.

Location Sharing

Microsoft Family Safety’s location-sharing features require a bit of setup, though nothing out of the ordinary. You need to explicitly enable location sharing in the app settings and grant Android and iOS location permissions for Family Safety before it starts working.

Once set up, Family Safety shows your child’s location both in the app and on the web dashboard. If location sharing is also enabled on their end, they can see your location as well. This is somewhat unusual in the parental control world, but it can be seen as fair and might create a more positive impression on your child. While it might feel like spying if only parents are tracking their kids, sharing locations among all family members can feel more like a feature that benefits everyone.

Family Safety offers extensive control over location alerts. For instance, if you set a school location, you can select which children attend that school, choose to receive alerts when they arrive, leave, or both, and decide whether to get these alerts every time or just once (which is useful for one-time events like a party). This range of options is quite comprehensive and surpasses what is typically available with other parental control apps.

Driver Safety

Driver Safety, one of the standout features of Family Safety Premium, takes tracking to a new level. When enabled, it not only tracks your location but also analyzes your driving, logs journeys, and maintains a two-week history.

We didn’t test this feature ourselves, as it merits a separate review. However, the logs capture detailed information such as journey routes, top speeds, instances of rapid acceleration or hard braking, and even attempts to detect phone use by monitoring if the phone moves as if being touched and for how long.

This feature is a valuable tool for monitoring new drivers in your family, but it can also be useful for anyone wanting to review their driving habits, including parents. Regardless of who benefits, it’s a unique and valuable addition to the Family Safety Premium edition.

Final Thoughts

While Microsoft Family Safety is quite basic in many aspects, it offers useful controls and options if your family uses the Microsoft Store more than the Google Play Store. Additionally, the ability to track locations on Android and iOS devices is a valuable and uncommon feature for a free parental control app.

7. Kaspersky’s Safe Kids

Kaspersky, a major player in antivirus software, also provides parental control solutions, ensuring the company’s longevity. Kaspersky Safe Kids stands out for its impressive value and broad range of features.

The free version of Kaspersky Safe Kids supports unlimited child profiles and devices, while the premium version, priced at just $14.99 per year, offers a comprehensive set of features that significantly outperforms competitors in terms of value.

Despite recent redesigns of both the Kaspersky web portal and mobile apps, the improvements have been minimal. The web portal remains notably slow, and while the mobile apps have a more appealing design, they continue to suffer from poor organization.

Android users on a budget seeking more features than Google Family Link provides should consider Kaspersky Safe Kids. With its outstanding free tier and a free trial of the premium version available, Kaspersky Safe Kids is worth trying. Although the web portal can be frustratingly slow, if you can overlook this issue, Kaspersky Safe Kids offers excellent value. Continue reading for the full review of Kaspersky Safe Kids.

Pricing

Kaspersky Safe Kids operates on a freemium model. Some features are available for free, while a yearly subscription unlocks the app’s full capabilities. Kaspersky has maintained an exceptionally low price for its premium tier at just $14.99 per year, covering an unlimited number of child profiles and devices across all major platforms.

Kaspersky provides one of the most comprehensive free options available, including web filtering, app management, basic screen-time controls, and a new safe search feature for YouTube. Kaspersky Safe Kids is compatible with nearly all major platforms, including Android, iOS, Windows, and macOS.

Other freemium services like Qustodio and OurPact offer similar free features, but Kaspersky stands out by supporting an unlimited number of child accounts and devices, whereas these alternatives restrict monitoring to a single child and device.

Upgrading to Kaspersky’s paid tier adds more advanced features, and with the annual cost at just $15, it’s a valuable option. The premium features include enhanced screen-time management, a child locator, battery tracking, social network monitoring, YouTube search history, and real-time alerts to immediately inform you of any issues.

Set up

As with most similar services, you’ll need to start by creating your own Kaspersky account. After logging into your My Kaspersky account via the web portal or mobile app, you can set up child accounts by entering each child’s name, year of birth, and optionally an avatar or photo.

Kaspersky provides parents with dialogue cues or talking points to help explain to children why a parental control app is being installed on their devices. Different phrases are suggested based on the child’s age.

While this feature is a nice touch and is present throughout the Kaspersky app, it doesn’t offer the same level of guidance as Net Nanny. However, you can easily ignore these suggestions if they aren’t useful.

Next, you’ll need to install the app on your child’s device(s). Although Kaspersky’s installation process isn’t as seamless as Norton Family, which I consider the gold standard for Android, it does ensure all necessary permissions are granted.

Due to recent changes in both Android and iOS, you can’t set permanent location access for an app during installation. To enable continuous location tracking, you’ll need to manually adjust the Kaspersky app’s location permissions to “always” in the operating system’s settings.

App Management

Kaspersky handles app management differently from other parental control apps. On Android, it manages apps similarly to web filtering, allowing category-based blocking. On iOS, the only available option is to block apps based on their age restrictions.

Android users benefit from a more robust feature set, starting with category-based blocking. There are 17 categories available, each of which can be toggled to either “allowed” or “forbidden.”

This doesn’t delete or hide the apps but triggers a pop-up message saying, “Using this app is not allowed.” While the child can request permission to use the app, Kaspersky doesn’t provide a text box for making an argument, unlike Norton.

While this feature is certainly a significant improvement over what’s available on iOS, it would still be disappointing if this were the only option for app management on Android. 

Thankfully, there’s more. At the bottom of the Apps page, you’ll find “Exclusions.” Tap on this, and you’ll see a comprehensive list of all the apps installed on your child’s device. This allows you to make decisions about each app individually.

You have three options for each app: “Allowed,” “Blocked,” or “Limited.” The first two are self-explanatory, while the third option allows you to set daily time limits (or different limits for weekdays and weekends) for each app. This feature lets you manage app usage down to the minute, giving you as much control as you need.

Web Filtering

Kaspersky Safe Kids labels this section simply as “Internet.” It provides general settings, such as enabling Safe Search to block inappropriate content on Bing, Google, Yahoo!, Mail.ru, and Yandex (the last two being popular in Kaspersky’s home country, Russia). Safe Search can also be applied to YouTube. Additionally, you can opt to receive notifications if any searches for restricted content are made.

14 different categories can be filtered, each of which can be set to “Allowed,” “Forbidden,” or “Warning.” The “Warning” option displays a splash screen if your child tries to visit a site in that category, advising them against visiting it and requiring them to click “go there anyway” to proceed.

Additionally, you can create exclusions to either block or allow specific sites, and you can choose to block all websites except for those on your exclusion list. While Kaspersky Safe Kids can filter content on most major browsers (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari), it doesn’t work with some lesser-known browsers. If web filtering is important to you, consider blocking alternative browsers in the app management system.

Time Management

Kaspersky refers to its time-management features as “Device use.” While it offers a comprehensive set of features, the setup process can be more complicated and cumbersome than necessary.

First, you need to choose the type of monitoring you want. Both iOS and Android support “Statistics only” and “Show warning,” but only Android offers the additional option to “Block device.”

The “Statistics” option simply displays usage data. The “Show warning” option creates a pop-up to inform the child that they have reached their daily time limit. On Android, you can completely block the device or specific apps, leaving only calls and SMS messaging accessible.

While the Kaspersky app interface is outdated, it allows for highly detailed settings. You can set daily limits for weekdays versus weekends or even for each day, ranging from no time to 24 hours, down to the minute.

The “Downtime” feature lets you set specific intervals of managed time, with the flexibility to create multiple intervals, again down to the minute. As mentioned in the app-management section, you can also set separate time limits for specific apps on Android.

Kaspersky Safe Kids allows children to request more time when they have reached their limit for the day. These requests will prompt you with a notification, and you can decide whether to grant additional time. On iOS, since Kaspersky can’t enforce the cutoff time, it will notify you if your child continues to use the device past the limit.

Location Tracking

Kaspersky refers to this feature as “Where is my child?” and it offers the most comprehensive location tracking I’ve encountered. It provides extensive data about a child’s current location, beyond just a pinpoint on a Google Map.

Kaspersky Safe Kids provides detailed information about your child’s location, including how recently the coordinates were updated, the accuracy of the coordinates, and the source of the data (GPS, Wi-Fi, cell-tower triangulation, or a combination). It also shows the remaining battery life on your child’s device, which can be crucial.

Kaspersky also offers geofencing, referred to as “allowed areas.” You can define as many locations as needed, specifying not only where your child should be but also when and for how long. The size of these circular areas can be set from around 600 feet in diameter to over 124 miles, which is almost comically large.

Additional Features

Social Networks

This feature specifically allows for monitoring activity on Facebook and the Russian social media site VK. To set up social media monitoring, you need to send a link to your child, who must then use it to log into the relevant social network.

If either of these networks is a significant part of your child’s social media activity, this feature could be valuable. However, considering the abundance of other social networks, monitoring just one or two seems somewhat limited.

Final Thoughts

Kaspersky Safe Kids offers incredible value. Given the pricing of other products on the market, it could double its price and still be a solid buy. At $14.99 per year, if you can handle its minor quirks and irritations, Kaspersky Safe Kids is hard to pass up.

However, if you want to constantly monitor your kids’ activities and keep very close tabs on them, you might want to look elsewhere, as Kaspersky’s web portal and parental app can be frustrating to use multiple times a day. But for parents who want to set up blocks, filters, and schedules and then review reports every day or two, Kaspersky Safe Kids is an excellent choice, especially for Android users.

8. OurPact

Launched in 2015, OurPact initially offered a more comprehensive feature set for iOS child devices compared to many other parental-control apps. 

However, it faced challenges when Apple first restricted these features and removed OurPact from the App Store. Apple later eased its policies on third-party parental-control apps, allowing OurPact to return.

Despite some changes to its features, OurPact has consistently provided an excellent user interface and overall experience.

At $70 per year for the premium version or $100 for the full feature set, OurPact is among the more expensive options on the market. However, it supports up to 20 devices, so if you have numerous devices and/or children, the per-device cost could be quite reasonable.

Although other competitors have improved their designs in recent years, OurPact still stands out as one of the top parental control apps in terms of both aesthetics and usability. Its unique and innovative features can help justify its higher price.

Pricing

OurPact offers a pricing structure that is somewhat more complex than most, featuring four options: a free tier, OurPact Plus, OurPact Premium, and OurPact Premium+.

With the free tier, users can manage one child device, apply up to 5 manual blocks per month, and set one automated block schedule. For just $1.99 per month, upgrading to OurPact Plus allows support for up to 10 child devices with unlimited manual blocks and automated block schedules. Both tiers include the company’s “App Scrambling Solution!” for iOS (more on that later) and full web browser blocking, including Safari.

OurPact Premium, at $6.99 per month ($69.99 annually), supports up to 20 child devices and offers unlimited manual blocks, unlimited automated block schedules, and nearly all premium features except one. The exception is the ability to receive both automated and on-demand screenshots from your child’s device, which is available with OurPact Premium+ at $9.99 per month ($99.99 annually).

Most parents will likely find OurPact Premium sufficient, but if your main focus is managing device time, the free or Plus plan might be adequate.

Set up

Unlike most parental-control apps we tested, OurPact requires a macOS or Windows computer for installation. You need to install the OurPact Connect software and iTunes on your computer to set up the child devices. Additionally, you’ll need a USB cable to connect the child devices to your PC or Mac, as well as the screen-lock passcodes for those devices.

The installer will guide you through the setup process, but you’ll also need to unlock the child device and disable “Find My iPhone” in the settings. After that, assign the device to a child or create a child profile if you haven’t already, which only requires entering a name.

The child device will reboot, and you’ll need to enter the passcode again. Then, go to Settings, tap on the downloaded Profile, and select Install. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the setup of the Mobile Device Management profile, which will enable remote monitoring of your child’s phone.

Android users have a simpler process, as no additional software beyond OurPact Connect is required. Just plug the child device into the computer, and you’ll be prompted to enable “Developer options.” Instructions for this will appear on the screen if you haven’t done it before.

Next, you’ll need to enable USB Debugging in the Developer Options menu on the child’s phone. If you haven’t created the OurPact profile for the child already, you’ll need to do so. Once the app finishes the pairing process, you’re all set.

This setup process is more cumbersome compared to most parental-control apps, but it should be a one-time or infrequent task. After completing the setup, you can manage everything from the parent app.

The app does a good job guiding you through the initial setup, but it leaves you without further assistance. A brief tour or walkthrough for finalizing the child profiles, which will only have names at this point, would be helpful.

The app assigns a random cartoon avatar to each child by default, but you can upload a real photo or any image you prefer to represent them if you click on the profile. You can also enter the child’s age and gender, though this information has no impact on the app’s functionality.

All features in the app are disabled by default, so you’ll need to customize each setting for every child. While I appreciate the OurPact interface, the absence of guidance for the setup process feels like a notable oversight given the thoroughness of the installation walkthrough and other aspects of the app.

Recent versions of Android and iOS do not allow permanent location privileges to be granted during installation. To ensure continuous location tracking, you’ll need to go into the phone’s settings menu and enable the location privilege for OurPact.

Lastly, if you decide to remove OurPact from your child’s device, you must use the OurPact Connect desktop app. The removal process is straightforward: connect the device via USB, click “remove,” select iOS or Android, and then click “start.” Failing to do this will leave the management system in place without the ability to control it.

App Management

App management is a key strength of OurPact, as it offers the same functionality on both iOS and Android. Each app can be configured to follow the overall schedule set for the child or be toggled to “Always Blocked” or “Always Allowed.” No other parental-control app I tested provided this level of functionality on iOS.

The full list of installed apps on a child’s device is automatically populated on both iOS and Android. While it would be helpful if OurPact offered a sorting option for this alphabetized list, this is a relatively minor issue.

Clicking on each app’s name provides some of the app-store data, including recommended user age, rating, screenshots, and description. Although this isn’t as comprehensive as the app-advisor service offered by Net Nanny, it is still quite useful for identifying potentially unwanted apps.

on

Another new feature is the “App Organizer.” Previously, OurPact would make blocked iOS apps disappear entirely, and when reinstated, they couldn’t be returned to their original order. Instead, reinstalled apps were simply placed back onto the home screens in alphabetical order.

The App Organizer now enables children to sort and save their home screens within the OurPact Jr. app. Apps will return to their designated places once the current block period ends. Although this feature doesn’t support the advanced iOS 14 custom home screens, it is a significant improvement over the previous method.

Android app management is excellent, avoiding the issue of disappearing and reappearing apps seen on iOS by simply greying out apps that are not currently available. While many parental-control services handle this on Android, OurPact is among the few to have effectively addressed this issue on iOS.

Web Filtering

Web filtering on OurPact feels like an afterthought. Parents can only toggle a single option to block adult content—that’s the extent of it. While this filtering option is limited to just one category, it does function effectively. OurPact accurately blocks sites and Google search results that may include adult content, notifying the child that access is restricted due to the presence of adult material.

In this section of the service, your only other options are to block or allow specific domains or subdomains. While the functionality provided does work, it remains extremely limited and has been for years. If web filtering is a major concern for you, Net Nanny would be a better choice.

Time Management

This is another area where the OurPact app could benefit from more attention. Time management in OurPact is divided into two components: Schedule and Allowance. While these are on separate pages, which isn’t necessarily a problem, it might be more streamlined to consolidate them.

The Schedule feature allows you to set periods during which your child cannot use their device at all. There is a pre-programmed “Bedtime” schedule for Sunday through Thursday, but you can modify it or use the plus button in the upper-right corner to add your schedules.

You can toggle each schedule on and off without deleting them, which is useful if your schedules vary throughout the year, such as during the summer. Simply create the schedules once and activate them as needed.

Allowance is the other time-management feature. It sets the total amount of time each child is permitted to use their device on any given day of the week. The options range from zero to three hours in 30-minute increments, then from three hours to eight hours in hourly increments, and finally, there is an “All Day” option.

The lack of granularity in time management options is somewhat puzzling, as it’s unclear why offering 15-minute increments, like Qustodio does, would be problematic. Nonetheless, most parents will likely find OurPact’s interface to be a reasonable option.

OurPact has addressed the picture-in-picture issue that previously allowed YouTube or Netflix to continue playing even after time limits were reached. However, another time-management issue remains: the child must tap the play button to start their daily allowance and then return to the app to hit pause when they’re finished. These steps can be easily forgotten, and OurPact should ideally have the capability to automatically pause the allowance when the child’s device goes into standby mode.

Texting Management

OurPact handles texting management by allowing you to block texting apps when you don’t want your child using them. Notably, this includes the Messages app on iOS. While it effectively prevents texting, it does not offer text monitoring. Text monitoring and logging have become less common features among parental-control apps in general, so it’s unlikely that OurPact will add this capability in a future update.

Location Tracking

OurPact does a good job with location tracking, though it does not provide location history. Clicking on the map icon next to your child’s avatar will open the Family Locator map, displaying everyone’s last known location. Clicking on their icon on the map will show you the time they were last detected.

Places is OurPact’s geofencing feature, and it works well on both Android and iOS. To create a geofence, enter an address and set a circular area centered on that point. You can then specify which children the geofence applies to and choose whether you want notifications when they enter or exit the area. The minimum radius of 656 feet (200 meters) feels a bit large, while the maximum radius of 32,808 feet (10 kilometers) is almost excessive, covering more than 120 square miles. You can easily adjust the size of each circle by clicking and dragging.

Additional Features

Grant/ Block

These features are prominently placed since they are key functions for the free and OurPact Plus tiers. They offer a quick and easy way to bypass the schedule or allowance settings. You can either grant your child additional device time or block access to their device immediately.

Simply select the duration you want to “Block” or “Grant” from the drop-down menu, and it will take effect immediately. To revert to the normal time management settings before the allotted time is up, just click or tap “cancel override.”

Encrypted Screenshots

This new feature is the only additional benefit included with the top-tier OurPact Premium+ plan. It allows you to set the app to automatically capture screenshots from your child’s device or trigger a screenshot manually. The app also tags screenshots that contain concerning keywords. These screenshots are then stored in an encrypted gallery located between the map and the Grant/Block sections on your OurPact dashboard.

While this addition is unique, it may not justify the extra $3 a month for most users. It remains to be seen if it will continue to be a part of the service in the future.

Final Thoughts

OurPact has reemerged as a strong contender for iOS functionality, but it still has notable drawbacks for some users. The absence of call or text monitoring may be a deal-breaker for some parents, and the almost non-existent web filtering makes it less comprehensive compared to competing apps like Net Nanny or Norton Family.

For households primarily using iOS devices, no other service I’ve tested offers the same level of control over iOS devices as OurPact. However, if app control is your top priority, OurPact may be worth considering. 

9. Mobicip

Mobicip is a versatile parental control app for mobile and desktop that integrates multiple protective layers to ensure family safety.

Instead of using basic blacklists to block inappropriate content, Mobicip claims to ‘scan websites in real-time’ across all major browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and more), only permitting access to suitable sites for each user.

Unlike some parental control apps that follow a simplistic approach—blocking all apps in a category until your child reaches a certain age and then allowing unrestricted access—Mobicip provides more personalized control. For example, its Videos section lets you block specific streaming services while allowing others, and you can similarly manage restrictions for individual games and other apps.

Parental control rules can’t always be perfect, so it’s beneficial that Mobicip offers real-time alerts when your child attempts to access a blocked website or app. You can approve access with a simple tap, which adds the site or app to an exceptions list, allowing your child to access it in the future.

Other features of Mobicip include location monitoring, access to your child’s browsing history, and options to schedule device usage. Plus, if you’re frustrated with lengthy setup processes, you’ll appreciate that configuring your child’s device can be nearly as easy as scanning a QR code.

Perhaps most importantly, Mobicip doesn’t assume you’re only using Android; it also supports iOS, Windows, Mac, and Kindle Fire. While the features available can vary significantly by platform, it’s refreshing to see a parental control solution that makes an effort to protect all your devices.

Set up

To set up Mobicip, follow these steps:

1. Sign Up and Payment: Begin by signing up for Mobicip and entering your credit card details.

2. Create Profiles: Once you’ve completed the signup, the site will prompt you to create basic profiles for each of your children. Enter their name and age, and select the default parental control setting you’d like to use (strict, moderate, mature, or just monitor).

3. Install the App: After creating the profiles, Mobicip will guide you to install the app on your child’s device. You can choose from iOS, Android, Windows, or Mac.

4. Set Up the Device: On the child’s device, either scan the QR code provided or log in to your Mobicip account to complete the installation and setup.

Following these steps will ensure that Mobicip is correctly configured to manage and monitor your child’s device.

To set up Mobicip on an Android device, follow these steps:

1. Install the App: Download and install the Mobicip app in child mode on the device.

2. Scan QR Code: Open the app and point it at the QR code provided. 

3. Select Profile: The app will display a list of profiles. Choose the profile of the child who uses this device.

4. Enable Permissions: Follow the prompts to enable the necessary device permissions.

This process is notably more straightforward compared to the typical Android parental app setup, which often involves installing the app first, creating and customizing a profile, and then linking it to the parent device. Mobicip’s approach is simpler and more efficient, especially if you need to set up multiple devices. With all devices and children gathered, installing the app, scanning the QR code, and completing the setup can be done in just minutes.

Screen Time

Mobicip’s parental control features start by setting specific times when your child can and cannot use their device, with scheduling only available in one-hour increments. This means you can set bedtimes to 8 pm or 9 pm, but not something in between. While this approach is somewhat inflexible compared to other apps that offer 15- or 30-minute increments (like Kidslox, which allows bedtimes such as 8:13 pm), Mobicip does have a significant advantage.

Unlike many apps that support a single usage span, such as ‘8 am to 7 pm,’ Mobicip allows you to customize device usage for each one-hour block of the day. For example, you can permit device use only from 8 am to 12 pm, 2 pm to 5 pm, and 7 pm to 8 pm on Sundays, and set different schedules for each day of the week.

However, Mobicip doesn’t offer the flexibility to set a daily usage limit, such as two hours per day with the freedom to choose when to use it. Instead, you can only enforce strict limits by defining specific time blocks, like 7 pm to 9 pm. Although manual controls are available to block screen time for a set number of minutes or until the end of the day, these options do not replace the convenience of having a consistent, automatic usage limit.

Apps

Mobicip’s Social Apps page features over 20 apps, allowing you to enable or disable them with a simple tap. At first glance, this seems like a practical feature, but we noticed that the list is somewhat outdated—Google+ is still listed, despite being shut down over two years ago. This raises concerns about what other outdated information might be present on Mobicip.

It was noted that some social apps were enabled by default while others were disabled, raising questions about whether Mobicip had thoughtfully selected the most appropriate apps for a 9-year-old based on its settings. Although Mobicip’s website offered a seemingly reasonable explanation for its restrictions, the actual list of apps did not always align with these explanations. For example, while Mobicip appropriately restricted access to WhatsApp, it allowed default access to apps like DOWN and Tinder, which seemed inconsistent with its stated guidelines.

Users need to be vigilant, as many may not have the web knowledge required to evaluate each social app on the list. Given that they are paying for Mobicip, they should be able to rely on its expertise.

Content Filtering

Mobicip lets you manage app access by categories such as Adult, Chat, Gambling, Social Network, Weapons and Violence, and even YouTube (which is treated as a category on its own).

For web protection, Mobicip offers the ability to create custom blacklists (domains that are always blocked) and whitelists (domains that are always allowed). You can also add specific keywords or phrases—such as ‘slender man,’ ‘bikini,’ or ‘Kim Kardashian”—to block any pages containing those terms. While this feature can be useful for addressing particular concerns, it requires careful setup to avoid unintentionally blocking legitimate sites.

Mobicip’s website suggests that the app includes additional content filtering, but there’s no detailed information available on the parent’s dashboard about this feature, nor is there an option to customize it.

The website also indicates that Mobicip offers a ‘Safe Browser,’ but the only support article available on this topic is outdated and intended for users of previous versions of the app.

If your child encounters a blocked site and believes the restriction is unfair, they can request access from you. This action updates a ‘Messages’ tab on the parent’s screen to indicate an unread message, but it does not trigger a notification, which can make it easy to overlook. Once you do notice the request, you can review it and choose to approve access for the entire domain, a specific URL, or deny it altogether.

While this feature is functional, the lack of detailed information in some areas—possibly due to outdated website content—can be confusing. If you decide to use Mobicip, we recommend conducting thorough testing of the content filter to ensure it meets your needs.

Location Tracking

Mobicip offers a very basic location-tracking feature for your child’s device. By selecting the Location option from the menu, you can view the device’s location on a Google map. Mobicip accurately pinpointed our location and allowed us to view it in a full-screen Google map, complete with local place overlays and a satellite view option.

However, the support site notes that when you check the location, the child sees a ‘Lost Device’ message indicating that you are tracking them. This is a feature not commonly seen in other apps and could potentially lead to conflicts if your child feels you are checking their location too frequently.

Additionally, Mobicip’s location features are quite limited. Unlike Kidslox, which not only shows your current location but also provides location history, journey tracking for the past 24 hours, and geofencing capabilities (custom locations with notifications for arrivals and departures), Mobicip falls short. It has a lot of ground to cover before it can compete with such comprehensive location-tracking features.

Final Thoughts

Setting up Mobicip is straightforward, and its keyword-based content filtering provides enhanced control over web blocking. However, it lacks some common features, such as the ability to set an overall device usage limit—only a scheduling option is available. Additionally, outdated app lists and questionable default settings require extra diligence during setup to ensure everything is configured correctly.

Mobicip effectively manages basic app and website blocking tasks and offers broad platform support, but it falls short in features. The outdated app lists and suboptimal default settings are notable concerns.

10. Google Family Link

Google introduced Family Link in 2017 to allow kids under 13 to have their own Google accounts and Android devices while giving parents visibility into their children’s device usage. Since then, it has evolved into one of the best parental control apps for a wide age range, incorporating more features to rival those of its paid competitors. While Google Family Link falls short of robust web filtering and lacks some of the additional features found in other apps, it performs its core functions effectively.

Google Family Link is free, integrates seamlessly with the Android operating system, and functions effectively. It’s a good option if your primary concern is monitoring your child’s screen time, app usage, and location rather than filtering content. Depending on your needs, it might also complement a paid parental control app. Read on for the rest of our Google Family Link review.

Pricing

Google Family Link is completely free. The parent app, simply called Google Family Link, can be downloaded for free from Google Play or the iOS App Store. The child app, called Family Link Child and Teen, is also free but available only on Android. Additionally, the Google Family Link parent app can monitor some activities on a child’s Chromebook, although we were unable to test it on that platform.

Given Google’s track record of discontinuing products and services abruptly, relying on Family Link might seem risky. However, switching to another parental control option would be relatively straightforward if that were to happen. Since Family Link was designed to attract new users, Google has a strong incentive to maintain it.

Google Family Link is fully supported on all Android devices running Android 7.0 (Nougat) or higher. The parent app is also compatible with iOS devices running iOS 12.0 or later.

Set up

Google Family Link requires separate parent and child apps. The child app, however, receives poor reviews from kids who are unhappy with having their device time and activities monitored.

You can begin with either the parent or child app; it doesn’t particularly matter. Google Family Link uses the child’s Google account as their profile, so you won’t need to enter any additional information about them. Both the parent and child devices need to be nearby during the installation, as you will need to enter a confirmation code on the child’s device and the child’s Google password to grant supervision permission.

Google makes the installation and permissions process quick and easy. The first decision you’ll need to make is to review your child’s installed apps to determine if any should be blocked. The apps are sorted by age ratings, which is helpful.

Once you’ve finished setup on the child’s device, return to the parent app on your device. From there, you can complete the setup and customize the settings for each section by tapping “View” at the bottom of the Family Link parent app’s home screen.

App Management

Google Family Link offers excellent app management. You can sort your child’s apps by time spent, name, or recent installations. By tapping the hourglass icon next to an app, you can set a daily time limit for that app or block it entirely.

You also have control over the permissions each app has on your child’s device, a feature unique to Google Family Link due to Google’s deep integration with the operating system. As expected, everything works flawlessly and instantly.

Filtering

Similar to the app OurPact, Google Family Link offers just one web-filtering option: “try to block mature sites.” As the app states, “No filter is perfect, but this should help hide sexually explicit and violent sites.”

This web-filtering option is quite limited and vague, but it did successfully block mature sites. Like Norton Family, Google Family Link allows the child to request access to a blocked site if they believe it was incorrectly restricted. The request comes through to the parent app as an approve-or-deny prompt without space for the child to provide reasons.

In addition to the single category filter, you can enable Google’s SafeSearch for filtered search results. You can also preemptively approve or deny specific sites by adding them to custom lists in the parental settings.

Time Management

Google Family Link handles time management effectively by dividing it into daily limits and bedtime settings. While it lacks the flexibility of a full schedule and only covers contiguous hours, it will likely suffice for many users.

Daily time limits in Google Family Link can be set in 15-minute increments, ranging from no limit up to 8 hours or “locked all day.” To save time, you can use the “Also apply to…” feature after setting one day’s schedule, allowing you to apply it to every day or just the school week (Monday-Thursday).

The bedtime feature displays the entire week, letting you set a start and end time for bedtime each day or choose no bedtime at all. You can apply these settings to the entire school week or the whole week if you don’t have different limits for each day.

Texting Management

You can block texting apps or set time limits on them with Google Family Link, but there is no option to monitor your child’s texts. This absence is not surprising, as text monitoring is increasingly being removed from parental control apps. The only app reviewed that still supports text and call monitoring is Qustodio.

Location Tracking

Location tracking in Google Family Link is effective but basic. It allows you to view your child’s current or last known location and provides the option to navigate to that location using Google Maps (or Apple Maps on iOS).

You can choose the accuracy of the location tracking: High accuracy, Battery saving, or Device only. Surprisingly, location history isn’t included, given that Google has access to that data. However, Google Family Link seems to be focused on covering just the basic features.

Additional Features

Controls on Google Play

This feature is unique to Google Family Link, making it a strong candidate for use alongside other parental control apps. It allows you to set Google Play purchase approvals for all content, for purchases made with the family’s payment method, for in-app purchases only, or to disable purchase approvals altogether.

You can also set Google Play content restrictions across five categories: Apps & games, Movies, TV, Books, and Music. Each category uses its respective rating system, allowing you to have granular control over what your child can download.

You Tube Filters

This filter is essentially the same as the web filters mentioned earlier but is now applied specifically to YouTube. While there are existing restrictions on what can be uploaded to YouTube, this filter should offer additional reassurance about the content your child is viewing if they are using the main YouTube app rather than YouTube Kids.

Device Details

Google Family Link also offers some unique features, such as the ability to prevent your child from installing apps from unknown sources, from adding or removing users on their device, and from enabling developer options.

These options can help prevent your child from bypassing parental controls, making them important to enable. Interestingly, this section of the app is also where you can trigger a sound on the child’s device—a feature that seems more appropriate for the location-tracking section.

Final Thoughts

Google Family Link provides more functionality than expected, and Google has implemented its features effectively. However, with no support for iOS child devices and a somewhat limited feature set, it is best suited for parents of older children who want to manage device time and app access.