5 best Android parental control apps and other methods! - Android

Parental controls on phones evolved a lot over the years. Back in the day, devices had kid modes that turned off the UI basically entirely, trapping the child in a specific app. Unfortunately, kid mode is easy to work around and it doesn’t work really well. There are better alternatives out there anyway. These new options give your children more freedom to do what they want while still keeping you in control. Here are the best parental control apps for Android and some other methods in case you need further control. There are no kid mode apps on this list because that is a seriously outdated method.

1. AppLock by IvyMobile
2. Find My Kids
3. Google Family Link
4. Safe Lagoon
5. Antivirus parental control apps
6. Scroll down for more methods!

Related:

• 10 best child safety apps for Android
• 10 best kids apps for Android

AppLock by IvyMobile

Price: Free

An app lock is an excellent way to keep kids out of apps on your phone. This is mostly for parents with younger kids who use the parent’s phone to watch YouTube Kids or play kids games. An app lock puts a password on your other apps. Thus, if your kids get back to the home screen and start clicking on sensitive stuff like your Facebook app or your banking app, they can’t get any further. We have a whole list of these, but IvyMobile’s is free and relatively simple to use. This should keep kids away from the sensitive stuff until they’re old enough to know better.

Find My Kids

Price: Free / $2.99 per month / $16.99 per year / $25.99 once

Find My Kids is a lighter touch on parental control apps. This one keeps track of your child’s location at all times. You can see where they are, where they go, and where they’ve been. We like how simple this app is. You open it and can immediately see where all of your kids are. Some other features include notifications if your child’s phone is having trouble sending a location and you can see what apps they use. There are also some security controls, a battery monitor for your child’s device, and a family chat so you can ask them where they are. It’s surprisingly inexpensive compared to most of its competitors like Life360. Plus, we appreciate that you can buy it once for $25.99, even if that license only works on three devices at once.

Google Family Link

Price: Free

Google Family Link is our first choice for parental control. Your kids get the freedom of using their phone and you get satisfaction of seeing everything. We recommend Family Link first because it has so many features and it also integrates directly into the Android OS itself, a feature none of these other apps have. Some of the features include the ability to see all the apps your kids use, see their location, see their usage habits, and you can lock the device if you want them to chill out on the phone for a while. The only downside is the set up process. That one is a bit of a pain, but we have a tutorial on how to do it here if you need it.

Safe Lagoon

Price: Free

Safe Lagoon is kind of a lighter version of Google Family Link, but can do some different stuff. You can view things like apps and games your kids use. Additionally, you can find their location, control time limits in certain apps and games, and lock the phone if need be. However, you can also do things like monitor instant messages, set up locations they can’t go, and do some other neat stuff. The app says it’s for cyberbullying, but you can use it for other stuff as well. It’s relatively simple to set up and it’s a good alternative to Google Family Link.

Parental control apps from antivirus companies

Price: Free / Varies

Some antivirus suites come with parental controls. Those who use antivirus apps can sometimes just use the parental control extensions for an all-in-one punch. Some examples of antivirus apps with parental control extensions include ESET (linked at the button below) and Norton. These types of apps usually let you do thinks like check out your child’s web activity, what apps they download and use, share the child’s location, and can even sometimes support wearables. They tend to work okay, but usually require you to get a license to use the whole antivirus product first. 

Talk to your kids

Sometimes kids just need some advice and nothing compares to the involvement of a parent. Teach your kids about the dangers of the Internet, what to do if they encounter cyberbullying, and where to go and where not to go. One day your kids will be old enough to where you can’t monitor what they do anymore. They need to be prepared for that day. Monitoring is great for younger kids especially, but consider relaxing the monitoring as they get older and you trust them more. Don’t underestimate the value of an involved parent. School can only teach kids so much about the world. 

Use apps for other platforms too

There are actually parental control apps that support platforms other than Android. You usually need parental control apps specifically for that platform, but companies are doing better about releasing mobile apps for non-mobile platforms. 

Some examples include Mirosoft Family Safety and Nintendo Switch’s parental control app. Both apps serve mostly the same function. Microsoft’s solution lets you monitor your child’s Xbox and Windows PC usage and limit various things. Meanwhile, Nintendo’s solution lets you monitor screen time and what games your kids play. There aren’t a to