Texting can expose kids to several risks, including explicit images, cyberbullying, and online predators. It’s a good idea to monitor their text messages — staying involved helps you ensure their peer relationships are healthy and that they’re not getting into trouble. Your monitoring efforts should adjust over time as your child matures, so it’s important to use a child safety app that lets you stay involved while respecting their growing independence. But what app lets you read your child’s text messages? Here are a few popular options.
There are a number of apps that let you read your child’s text messages. But some are better than others when it comes to effectiveness, ease of use, and compatibility with Apple devices.
Bark uses machine learning to adapt to the latest slang as it scans your child’s device. It’s optimized for text monitoring on Androids, but falls short when it comes to Apple devices.
On iOS, Bark offers no uninstall protection, and users can’t lock VPN settings. Because of that, and the fact that Bark runs off your child’s device, it’s easy for them to delete Bark and bypass or disable features.
Installation is also complicated, and monitoring texts on iPhones requires running the desktop app in the background of your home computer. It only scans Apple devices when the child is connected to your home WiFi, so you’re left in the dark until they get back.
And because you can only view texts related to an alert (even then, you’re only shown a snippet), you’re left without context when you discuss an issue with your child. In most cases, if your child deletes a text, you also can’t view it later.
Qustodio has a robust set of parental controls, an easy-to-use interface, and is one of the few parental control apps that monitors texts on Android.
However, its features are limited on Apple devices. It also requires an additional app loaded on to your Mac in order to monitor your child’s Apple device. In addition, most features can be bypassed using a VPN, and users report that the app frequently misses relevant texts.
mSpy provides remote, real-time monitoring capabilities for parents, using customizable keywords, but it has some serious drawbacks.
Because it doesn’t use machine learning to analyze the entire context of the conversation and has no category-based scanning, it can easily miss concerning texts. It also doesn’t include cyberbullying or online predator alerts — two issues which are much more nuanced and can be difficult to capture with only keywords.
In addition, as the name would imply, mSpy is built around the concept of spying on kids. It features things like remote camera access, a keylogger, and the ability to record phone conversations. This intrusive approach is aimed at “catching” kids in the wrong, rather than a more effective and supportive approach built on teamwork and mutual respect.
Pinwheel is a smartphone with built-in parental controls and its own operating system. It requires purchasing a Pinwheel phone (an Android device loaded with the Pinwheel operating system). This means Apple products aren’t an option, and iOS-specific apps aren’t compatible, although parents can run the caregiver app from their own iPhone.
Not all Pinwheel devices work with all major carriers, so you may need to switch phone plans. Because it doesn’t allow any social media or internet access, it’s a decent option for younger kids. But as your child matures and is ready to learn how to use the internet safely, the Pinwheel phone is no longer an ideal choice.
In the world of apps that let you read your child’s texts, BrightCanary stands out for its effectiveness and ease of use on iOS. It uses advanced technology to monitor your child’s texts (along with YouTube, Google, Instagram, and TikTok) and alerts you to any concerns.
BrightCanary uses large language models to analyze the context of your child’s texts and summarize conversations, so you don’t have to read every individual message (but you can if you need to). The app is able to effectively identify concerning content across a broad range of categories, such as adult images, drugs, and self-harm.
Parents can view the full content of text messages, as opposed to other apps, which just show snippets. You can even read deleted texts. This means you can go into a conversation with your child with all the information you need to follow up on the issue.
And because it’s installed on the parent’s device, kids can’t delete or bypass it. BrightCanary is an excellent app for monitoring your child’s text messages on iOS.
Monitoring your child’s text messages keeps you informed of any concerns so you can help them stay safe from dangers like cyberbullying, online predators, and adult content. While many apps allow you some access to your child’s texts, BrightCanary offers the most robust, accurate, and user-friendly monitoring and stands out for its stellar compatibility with Apple products.
