As a parent of the present era, you need to be conscious about what your children are doing online and offline in real-time. Thanks to the advancement of technology, you can easily track all of their activities from home or office. While a parental control app helps you monitor your kids’ online activities and browsing history, a child GPS tracker informs you of their real-time location and movement. This article will provide you with an overview of the best parental control apps and gadgets while explaining how these can protect your kids and teens.
Kids GPS Tracker Devices
If you are a parent of a small kid, attaching a GPS tracking device to their clothes is essential. Whether you take them to a park or send them to kindergarten, a click GPS tracking device will keep you worry-free. You can also use this tracker while traveling with your kid or taking them to any crowded place.
Jiobit
Jiobit is a real-time child GPS tracker that you can use with a data plan subscription. Jiobit uses GPS, cellular, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth technologies to locate your children indoors and outdoors. Despite being a tiny device, this powerful tracker offers unparalleled security and data encryption. This lightweight and durable device is perfect for discreetly tracking your kid’s movement. Using it, you can also get notifications as they arrive and leave to and from school, home, and any other trusted locations. It even supports a 5G network and consumes low power. Remember not to use this device for children under 3 years to avoid choking as this device contains small parts. All updates will be visible on the Jiobit app (Android & iOS.)
AngelSense
Parenting kids with special needs and autism just got better with AngelSense. It lets you perform non-stop all-day monitoring with an advanced safeguard GPS feature that offers the most accurate location. It comes with an assistive speakerphone through which you can talk to them. Using its alarm, you can even find kids lost in a crowd or hiding intentionally. Tracking results are available on its iOS, Android, or Windows apps. This device can automatically detect a place and add a name to it. Being a customizable child GPS tracker that requires a monthly subscription, it lets you add guardians, choose preferred types of alerts, set permission, and even turn on-off features at your convenience. Moreover, it automatically learns the daily routine of a user and sends you an alert during an unusual situation such as early or late arrival and unexpected places.
Tracki
Tracki lets you track the location in real-time with its built-in SIM card that works anywhere in the world. While it uses GPS satellites for tracking outdoors, WiFI works as its secondary backup indoors. Tiny in size, Tracki supports 2G, 3G, and 4G LTE networks to function from anywhere. This easy-to-set-up device comes with a Waterproof silicone cover; and smartphone apps compatible with iOS, Android, and web browsers. You need to pay a monthly subscription charge to run the app. Besides getting alerts when your children crosse the Geo-fence zone you set, you will receive alerts during speeding, low battery, and SOS through SMS, email, or push notifications from this child GPS tracker.
Phone Content Monitoring and Tracking
While most of today’s parents grew up without smartphones, the situation is quite the opposite. Kids start using phones from an early age nowadays, and parents can not always accompany them. But, it is also essential to monitor what they are doing with the cellphone. This is where the parental control app for phone content monitoring comes into play.
Hoverwatch
Hoverwatch is a parental control app that you can use to track what your kids do on their phones. This software is available for Android, macOS, and Windows users and lets you track records, including SMS, phone call history, location, internet activity, contacts, calendar data, and camera. At the same time, you can use it to track data from popular communication and social media apps like Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat, Telegram, TikTok, Hangouts, Tumblr, Viber, Signal, Reddit, Gmail, WeChat, Line, BBM, and many more. The coolest feature of this app is its invisibility. The app remains undetectable by the monitored phone user as it continues to provide accurate data.
uMobix
uMobix is a smartphone app that facilitates real-time tracking of whatever is happening on your child’s phone. It can monitor 30+ popular web browsers, apps, and social media platforms such as Google Chrome, Facebook, Messenger, WhatsApp, Skype, Instagram, Line, Telegram, WeChat, Tinder, Snapchat, and TikTok. This parental control app has advanced cellphone monitoring features, including incoming, outgoing, and missed call records, text message history, comprehensive interactive map, child GPS tracker, real-time access to camera and mic. Furthermore, Android users can also view deleted call history, contact, or message.
KidsGuard
Parents concerned about child safety on Android phones should opt for KidsGuard. The app ensures your kid’s safety and wellness by letting you track their real-time location and detecting if they come across any inappropriate content. You can also use it to control their screen time and online activities. KidsGuard also blocks inappropriate games, websites, apps, and social platforms. It also allows you to capture the screen anytime to check what they are doing and lock the mobile screen when it is time to study. In order to use this app, your kid should use an Android smartphone with version 6.0 to version 11. However, parents can use this parental control app on iOS 10.0 to iOS 15 and Android 6.0 to Android 11.
Smart Watch With GPS Tracking/Alarm
Smartwatches are not a luxury device anymore. Your teenage children may want to wear it as they go to a park for jogging or a gym. By providing them with a smartwatch with GPS tracking and an alarm system, you can track their whereabouts, even when they do not carry their phones.
Angel Watch
Are your kids asking you to buy them smartwatches? Go for Angel Watch, a smartwatch that contains a child GPS tracker. Users can exchange video calls, as well as text, picture, and voice messages using it. Using its features like precise satellite positioning and movement history, you can always have the accurate location of your children through Wi-Fi and 4G. You can also mark home, school, or even a picnic spot as the Geo-Fence zones and get alerts as your kids try to leave the area. Using its dedicated SOS button, your child can call for help to three emergency contacts assigned by the parents one after another until someone answers.
TickTalk 4
TickTalk 4 is another smartwatch for your children of 5-12 years that lets you track their accurate GPS location. This 4G LTE-supported watch also allows you to monitor the daily activities of a child. It also has reminders and DND class modes to inspire them to build better habits and lifestyles. Its 20+ parental control features include blocking unknown numbers and allowing watch contacts. Using the emergency SOS of this kids’ smartwatch, your child can instantly contact you when alone or in danger. Apart from these features, the device supports voice and video calling, voice and text messages, Wi-Fi calling, and text reply templates. TickTalk 4 smartwatch also comes with two 5-megapixel cameras that kids can use for photos and video calls.
Web Filtering
Though the world of the web comes with numerous perks, it is also an unsafe place for both children and adults. You must choose robust measures to protect them from the lurking dangers and threats of the internet.
SafeDNS
SafeDNS is software that ensures a friendly internet for your kids. This website blocker offers an additional shield against inappropriate content, including abusive, violent, pornographic, and adult content. This tool lets you create 3 different user profiles, e.g., kids, teenagers, and adults. Under each profile, you can apply different settings to ensure that everyone can access age-appropriate content. SafeDNS can detect harmful content without any false alarm, thanks to its enriched database that contain 110 million websites. It can also block explicit and recurring ads in real-time. You can create a blacklist to filter ill-suited content and set screen time for different devices.
Google Family Link
Google Family Link is a mobile app that will help your family develop healthy habits. The Android app for parental control lets your teenage or even younger children explore the internet safely. Even if you do not have a smartphone, you can supervise from your computer. The app offers you a report that shows how much time they spend on their favorite sites. With Family Link, you have control over which apps they can download and control their in-app purchases. It also displays teacher-recommended apps, so you know which apps are appropriate for them.
OurPact
OurPact is a parental control and family locator app suitable for busy families. Scheduling screen time is super-easy with this app, so your kids can have an interruption-free school and bedtime. Also, you have control over blocking and granting access to an app or the internet. Parents can block and limit texting, either manually or by scheduling, for distraction-free family time or homework time. You can run it on iOS and Android on devices belonging to both children and parents. Its family locator feature is also helpful in tracking your kid’s location or locating a lost device.
Overall Parental Control Apps and Platforms
You find it difficult to keep a tab on so many parental control apps and child GPS tracker devices. In that case, use any of these apps and platforms that offer all-in-one solutions.
Qustodio
Qustodio is a digital wellness solution that promotes your children’s online safety while growing positive habits in them. From cyberbullying to gaming addiction, from online privacy to sleeping disorders, it has tools to address all your concerns. With Qustodio, you can monitor the browsing history, location, screen time, and social media use (including YouTube views) of your kid in real-time. Besides preventing them from viewing potentially inappropriate content, this parental control app lets you manually block websites, games, and apps you deem hazardous. Using this app, you can track their call and SMS history while controlling screen time for better sleep habits.
Bark
For those who are looking for a comprehensive platform for parental control, Bark is the answer. It effectively scrutinizes emails, SMS, YouTube view history, and 30+ social platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Reddit, Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest, Kik, Spotify, Holla, Flickr, and Discord for security and safety issues. The web filtering tools of this app constantly track your children’s activities and alert you upon detecting cyberbullying, suicidal thoughts, online predators, adult content, and drug use. Moreover, parents can understand and limit their kids’ internet use with its screen time manager.
FamiSafe
FamiSafe not only lets you track the real-time location of your kids and control their screen time but also detects any improper or indecent content on their device. You can set limits to their screen time so the small kids can grow healthy habits away from the mobile or tablet screen. As they grow up, you can use the same parental control tool to track their location and protect them against threats like cyberbullying and online predators. It also offers you a comprehensive phone activity report by including details about their daily online life.
Norton Family
Norton Family helps parents with insights into their children’s online activities so that they can teach the kids safe and healthy online habits. It is one of those complete solutions that you can use instead of multiple parental control apps. Parents can learn all the sites their kids are visiting and block any harmful websites. Also, you can allow sites useful for their studies and block others for maximum focus. Using Norton Family, parents will know the terms and words kids search online and YouTube videos they watch.
Wrapping Up
Keeping children safe online (and offline) has become a growing concern for parents. While it is not possible to completely restrict their internet access or outdoor activities, for that matter, you can use parental control apps and gadgets to monitor them. Besides offering you peace of mind, these will protect your kids against the hazards of an unsupervised life. You might also want to read why you need a parental control app.
