5 Of The Best Parental Control Features & Apps For Android In 2024
With the widespread use of phones and the growing popularity of platforms like TikTok, monitoring your children's access to the internet has never been more important. Though the internet can be an incomparable labyrinth of useful information, it is just as easy to come across harmful and inappropriate content online. Falling prey to cyberbullying or, worse, online predators is a nightmare no parent wants to endure for their younglings.
Since most of the world has switched to digital learning, calling smartphones a means to solely access social media would be an unfair assessment. So, completely forbidding your kids from using smartphones and tablets is out of the question. In this case, there are monitoring services that give parents control over what apps, games, and websites their children can access and for how long.
The use of parental control software extends beyond just app control. Certain services let you block inappropriate websites altogether or track your children's devices using GPS. While good solutions in this category aren't usually free of cost, when you leverage their importance and usefulness, the right parental control app could be worth every penny.
Google Family Link
For Android users, Google Family Link should be the first pick. Not only does it work extremely well across different Android smartphones, but all of its features are completely free to use — which is nearly impossible to find with other parental control apps that deliver a similar experience.
You can set time limits for individual apps, block content on websites, and manage app permissions straight from the Family Link app. Outside the best streaming services for kids, YouTube stands its ground for entertainment videos by individual content creators. With Google Family Link, you can either restrict certain video content or switch to YouTube Kids altogether.
The user interface matches that of other Google apps like Drive, Maps, and Google Photos, which makes setting up and getting used to Google Family Link a breeze. Where it excels in ease of use and cost savings, Google Family Link's features pale compared to other parental control apps. Additionally, while the app works just fine on Android, it has limited iOS functionality, so we strongly recommend trying other solutions.
Norton Family
Norton is a name synonymous with security and has been providing some of the highest-rated antivirus programs across platforms for years. It also offers a powerful parental control service dubbed Norton Family, which is a great way to monitor your kid's digital activities and shield them from harmful content. With Norton Family, you can set time limits, block individual apps or games, or view a detailed watch history on YouTube.
Norton Family has a capable geofencing feature that lets you monitor your children's location on the map. You can set a boundary radius and be notified when your child ventures beyond this limit. Like other parental control services, you can set automated notifications that let you know if and when your children have reached home.
Norton Family comes included with some of the premium Norton antivirus plans. For new registrations, a 30-day free trial can be availed. Unlike most other services offered by Norton, its parental control app doesn't have an overly confusing pricing structure. You can unlock all features for a yearly payment of $49.99.
Kaspersky Safe Kids
Another household antivirus solution, Kaspersky, is known for its reliable security. With Kaspersky Safe Kids, you can monitor your children's devices and control which apps, games, and websites they can use. The app incorporates YouTube's Safe Search mode, automatically blocking inappropriate or sensitive content while browsing.
Kaspersky Safe Kids has a free tier that offers a respectable number of features for controlling app and screen time limits. The premium version unlocks the app's geofencing capabilities, allowing you to locate your children on a map. You can choose to be alerted when they leave the designated safe space or when their device runs low on battery. Despite having useful reports, Kaspersky Safe Kids isn't winning any feature comparisons to other apps in this category.
Although Kaspersky only offers a seven-day free trial, its annual subscription fee of just $15 is what makes it a highly viable solution for parents looking to control and filter the depths of the internet that their kids can access.
Qustodio
Qustodio is a dedicated parental control app that also features a slew of digital well-being features. You can block apps and websites, set time limits on individual apps, and block inappropriate websites automatically. The app's dashboard is one of the best, and it lets you glance over useful statistics like total screen time, browsing history, and more.
The app offers detailed monitoring for certain apps like YouTube and Facebook. You can view a log of incoming and outgoing calls and SMS to ensure your children don't fall victim to any scams or threats. The location tracking functionality comes in clutch, allowing you to monitor your whole family on a user-friendly map interface while receiving notifications whenever they arrive or depart from set locations.
Qustodio offers new users a free 30-day trial, after which they can choose one of two premium tiers. The Premium Basic plan costs $54.95 per year and comes with functionalities to block apps, set daily time limits, filter websites, and monitor their children's whereabouts. For $99.95 a year, you enjoy greater control over daily routines, custom alerts, call and message tracking, and the ability to monitor as many devices as you want.
Use existing Android features
In case your children are old enough not to require strong monitoring parental control apps, you can utilize some of Android's built-in features to empower them with a sense of digital responsibility and well-being. For starters, you can utilize parental controls on the Google Play Store, which will restrict the types of apps and content your kids can buy. You can set up filters for apps and games and movies, books, and TV shows available through Google's slew of entertainment apps.
You don't even need a third-party service to restrict app usage times. Android's newer versions come with a prebuilt app timer functionality that does its job very well. Navigate to Settings > Digital Wellbeing & parental controls, and tap on the graph to expand a list of your most used apps. Then, tap on the hourglass icon to the right to set a custom app timer. Android also has a focus mode that lets you get your work done without any distractions.
By setting up Android's Digital Wellbeing dashboard, you can view a detailed overview of your phone usage, neatly divided on a per-app basis. This is helpful for self-reflection and finding out which apps are major time consumers. When it comes to geofencing, there are ways other than dedicated parental control services to track your kids on a map. By sharing your location on Android through various available apps, you can monitor your children's whereabouts, too.