How a monitoring app for kids could improve their digital safety?
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All parents, with even a basic knowledge of the threats posed by digital technologies to their children, are concerned. Some parents even go to extreme lengths, such as seizing digital devices from their children.
Cyberbullying, loss of privacy, online scams, identity theft, device use habits, exposure to inappropriate content, and contact with cyber predators are serious dangers. It is understandable why parents resort to extreme measures. However, such an approach is counterproductive because technologies such as smartphones, social media, internet connectivity, and digital entertainment are an essential component of a child’s life.
So is there a way to reach a middle ground by balancing your child’s safety with their needs? In this article, we will show how kids monitoring apps can be used as a tool to protect children from these dangers. We will provide a quick overview of what these apps are designed for and then explore the benefit of commonly available features. We will also review the XNSPY kids monitoring app and evaluate its functions.
What are monitoring apps for kids?
Kids monitoring apps are programs designed for use by parents to build oversight into their child’s digital activities. Most apps in this class normally offer features that are specially designed to deal with most of the threats we previously discussed.
How helpful are these apps?
You can use these apps for call logs, location tracking, social media monitoring, and content control. Let’s take a look at these in detail.
Importance of call monitoring
Why is it critical to observe phone calls? Bullies frequently make threatening calls to intimidate. Similarly, scammers also use calls to target children. Make sure that you do not infringe on your child’s privacy.
Why is location tracking very useful?
Location tracking is useful because it can inform parents of the exact location of their child. You can observe their position if they are going to a friend’s home, and even if they are at school.
Multimedia content monitoring
Prevent your child from viewing inappropriate content such as pornography and violence. A child monitoring app should be able to let you access the multimedia files saved on the phone.
Internet activity & management
These sets of features are related to the previous one. It is easy to access inappropriate content online. This is why a good kid monitoring app has tools such as web browsing management. Content filtering and website blocking tools are also useful in this context.
Social Media monitoring
This is perhaps the most important feature. Social media and instant messaging apps are now the main sources of communication. You should ideally have sufficient access to know if your child is being bullied. You can also suitably manage sexting-related problems.
Take note that these are not all the necessary features and most apps typically offer more. This is because conditions can change. XNSPY kids monitoring app is one of the most respected apps in this category. Let’s take a look and discover more about it.
XNSPY
XNSPY is one of the most favored smartphone monitoring apps because it offers a great combination of features, flexibility, and usability at a very affordable price. It is tailor-made for parental monitoring and has a series of features that empower parents to develop a customized solution for their needs.
What kind of features does XNSPY offer?
- Telecommunications monitoring
XNSPY can track all incoming, outgoing, and missed calls. The logs list the date, time, and duration of every call. When the situation demands it, you can also listen to phone calls and download the recordings.
- Social media monitoring
You can use XNSPY to view all messages and multimedia content. Monitor messages exchanged via apps such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and iMessage.Viber, Skype, Tinder, Kik, LINE, and others are trackable too. One disadvantage here is that you have to root or jailbreak the device to monitor chats on these apps.
- Location tracking
XNSPY observes the position of the phone, so you know where your child is at any moment. Changes in your child’s location are tracked and displayed on Google Maps, along with GPS history. There is a geofencing tool designed for parents. With this, you can “fence” any area on the map, and XNSPY will inform you the moment your child enters or leaves that area.
- Internet activity management
The app can record the complete web browsing history, all bookmarked pages, and sent/received emails. The problem is that XNSPY does not offer any website blocking or content filtering tool. We suggest you get your hands on a separate application for this task or change the settings of the web browser on your child’s device.
- Remote device management tools
XNSPY’s remote command tools include app blocking function and screenshots. You can also activate the microphone or use the screen-time management feature.
- Instant alerts
The XNSPY instant alert feature is what sets it apart from other kids monitoring apps. So what does it do? Well, it alerts you about what you need to know at the right time. It does this by recognizing matches between activities on the phone and the words, locations, or contact numbers included in XNSPY’s watch lists. For example, you can add a word related to bullying, sexting, pornography, or drugs. The app will inform you of the second they are stated in any text message. The location and contact number watch lists work similarly.
Additional features:
- Keylogger
- Device-use reports
- Wi-Fi/Network logger
- Toggle on/off functions
- Photos, videos, audio, calendar entries
The requirements for installing & using XNSPY
XNSPY is compatible with all Android devices running on versions 4.0 and above. It also supports iOS devices using versions above 6.0. Besides, the installation process is a bit different for both platforms, so we’ll quickly identify these differences.
XNSPY for Android: You must physically access the phone to download and install XNSPY. No physical access is required afterward, and the app runs quietly in the background.
XNSPY for iOS: You must enable the iCloud backup feature in the settings menu of the phone and complete the setup by connecting the iPhone to an iTunes-ready PC or Mac.
To use any of the app’s features, you must log in to your XNSPY account and select the relevant phone. The browser will take you to a new page that includes the control panel. All information and remote control features, along with subscription details, are available in the control panel.
XNSPY’s subscription options
As we mentioned at the beginning, the app has a reputation for its affordability. In our view, it is also the most affordable kids monitoring app. There are two versions you can purchase. The premium version has all the features that we listed above and costs USD 7.49 per month. You can also select the basic version at USD 4.99 per month, but it only offers a limited set of functions. Given the small price difference, it makes no sense to purchase the basic version, so we recommend you go with the premium deal.
XNSPY: the good and the bad
There are many things that we found impressive about the app. However, this does not mean there are no drawbacks. Let’s take a quick look at these.
The good:
- XNSPY’s instant alert feature is perhaps the best way to monitor your kids without intrusion.
- Even the app’s premium version is many times more affordable than basic versions of other apps.
- You can customize the app by activating/deactivating specific features.
The bad:
- You must root/jailbreak the smartphone to use some features of the app, including social media tracking.
- XNSPY does not offer a website blocking or a content filtering tool for web browsers.