Android phones are a huge hit among kids, not because they’re fascinating and all, but mainly because they open up the previously closed doors to the latter such as the freedom to seamlessly switch between the real world and cyber space, stay connected on the go, explore the digital space in privacy, and so much more. You probably understand the risks these opened doors create for them, but you also know that closing these doors again may not be possible. So the best option available to you is to supervise your kids’ use of smartphones and internet. A lot of parental control apps have emerged in recent years for this very purpose. While having a lot of options to choose from is not necessarily bad, it does tend to create confusion as to which one has the potential to prove most useful. To save you the confusion, we’ve compiled a list comprising of three of the most effective parental control apps for Android that we feel you should go for in order to ensure your kids’ digital safety.
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ShieldMyTeen
ShieldMyTeen comes packing some great features that can help you keep your kids safe. First of all, it offers real-time internet filtering feature that can block all harmful content, thus preventing your kids from deliberately accessing or stumbling across pornography and other inappropriate sites. Furthermore, you can monitor all SMS and MMS being sent and received on their Android phones to ensure that they aren’t engaging in sexting or other risky conversations. This solution also provides you with the ability to view web activity of your kids. Finally, if your kids are using certain apps excessively and consequently ignoring other importantly tasks like homework and socializing with people of their age group in real, then you have the option to block those apps. If you want to monitor and control your kids’ use of Android phones, then ShieldMyTeen comes highly recommended.
Qustodio
Qustodio is a user-friendly app that can be pretty helpful for people that don’t possess much technical knowledge. Everything you need to know is put right on the homepage so that you can access them with ease. This tool comes with an ‘app and game control’ feature that helps you block any app or game on your youngsters’ Android phones. Furthermore, it allows you to keep tabs on the conversations taking place through SMS, Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter. Call logging feature is also present in Qustodio and it provides you with call details, i.e. you can check phone numbers of incoming and outgoing calls, their time, their duration, and their date. Finally, there’s an option for blocking websites. If you find your kids visiting sites that can prove harmful for them, just put them on the block list. All of these features are remarkably effective and can help you keep your kids safe from all sorts of digital threats.
Net Nanny
Net Nanny also comes with web browser logging, SMS logging, and profanity alerts. However, the feature that helps this tool outshine others is social media monitoring. With the help of this app, you can keep tabs on your kids’ Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and YouTube activity. That’s not all as this app also generates reports that provide you with details regarding your kids’ online activities. Other than that, this app offers internet filtering, which removes all the adult rated content from browsers. All of these features are pretty helpful and work quite flawlessly, making Net Nanny a great choice of app for ensuring your kids’ online safety.