The Best App for Parents to Monitor Text Messages on iPhone

I’ll never forget when my 10-year-old niece sent her first text. It was a simple “Hi,” but it also marked the start of a new chapter for her — and a whole new set of safety concerns for her parents. How would they prevent her from texting strangers? What if someone bullied her in a group chat?

This is why a reliable app for parents to monitor text messages is essential. While Apple offers strong parental controls, they don’t let parents see their child’s actual text messages. Most monitoring apps don’t work well on iPhone, but BrightCanary was built for Apple devices — so it actually delivers.

Here’s how BrightCanary’s free and Protection Plus text monitoring options work, plus how to set it up and keep your child safe. 

Why should parents monitor text messages?

When parents think about online safety, they often forget about the risks associated with text messaging. Texting seems like a private form of one-to-one communication, but it really isn’t. 

Texts can expose kids to risks: 

• Cyberbullying from classmates or online acquaintances
• Strangers texting through group chats
• Scammers sending phishing links
• Inappropriate content shared via text or attachments

Plus, anything your child sends in a text thread can be screenshotted, saved, and shared with others. 

Text message monitoring is like asking your child about their school friends — who they’re talking to, what they discuss, and whether anyone makes them feel uncomfortable. Supervising texts helps parents stay involved and guide their kids through these interactions, especially as their social circle expands.

BrightCanary provides two levels of text message monitoring:

1. Free basic monitoring: AI-powered text message summaries give you the gist of your child’s conversations without having to read every message. Texts update several times per week.
2. Protection Plus plan: Real-time message processing for more immediate access, full message visibility, and the ability to read deleted texts.

You can monitor texts in a few different ways, like spot-checking your child’s phone, scheduling weekly check-ins, or using a third-party monitoring app like BrightCanary. Combining methods generally works best because communication is really key at this point in your child’s digital literacy education — you want to give them the space they need to explore different social dynamics in healthy ways, while also staying on top of anything potentially concerning. 

Here’s how to set up BrightCanary text monitoring.

How to monitor your child’s text messages with BrightCanary

To get started, download BrightCanary on your iPhone or iPad and set up your child’s profile. 

What you need to connect your child’s device:

• Your child’s Apple ID (the email and password they use for iTunes and iCloud)
• Your child’s Apple device

Pro tip: If your child doesn’t have an Apple ID, you can create one using Apple Family Sharing. Apple has a handy guide on how to create an account for your child.

Step-by-step setup:

1. Enter your child’s Apple ID in BrightCanary.
2. Approve the sign-in request on their device.
3. Enter the two-factor authentication code if prompted. This extra information helps authenticate your child’s account.
4. Wait for BrightCanary to sync text messages. It may take several hours to begin receiving texts while your child’s messages are processed. 

Once setup is complete, BrightCanary will start processing text messages based on your selected plan. the device is connected, you’re good to go. It may take several hours to begin receiving texts while your child’s messages are processed. 

What's included in BrightCanary's text monitoring plans?

BrightCanary uses advanced AI technology designed for parents. The app’s AI is like a hall monitor, keeping track of your child’s online activity — including texts, searches, and social media — and flagging anything concerning. You have two monitoring options:

Free basic monitoring

• AI-powered text message summaries
• Updates several times per week
• Identify important topics without reading every message
• Works seamlessly with iPhone and Apple devices

Protection Plus plan (for greater security)

• Real-time message processing
• Full message access when needed
• Access to deleted texts
• Share your account with another parent via Family Viewing

You can upgrade to Protection Plus for complete text monitoring at any time.

How to use Ask the Canary AI to help supervise texts

AI chatbots offer an anonymous, judgment-free way to ask questions and get more information about important topics. The BrightCanary app’s AI, Ask the Canary, is seamlessly integrated into the text monitoring experience. When you view text message summaries, you can also use Ask the Canary to get more information about what your child is discussing — without scrolling through their entire text thread.

For example, you might view a text message summary of your child’s conversation with their best friends. The summary says they’re talking about something called sigma, but you’re not sure what that is — so you use Ask the Canary for more details. All of that can happen in just a few taps in the BrightCanary app. 

Ask the Canary is also helpful for general questions about digital parenting. You can access the chatbot in the app and ask your toughest digital parenting questions, like how to handle your child’s first bully or tips on talking to your child about online safety. 

Talking to your child about text message monitoring

It’s normal for parents to feel a little worried about how their child will respond to text message monitoring. You might feel like you trust your child, but you also want to make sure they’re staying safe. It’s important to stay involved for the same reason that you wouldn’t just drop your child off in the middle of a crowded city without any guidance — you want to guide and protect them, while also helping them learn how to navigate any challenges that arise. 

That’s why we recommend approaching your child with their safety in mind. Explain how BrightCanary works and why you want to use it. If you’ve already given them a device and they’ve been texting independently without any restrictions, you can always go back and add rules. Some of our parents make BrightCanary a condition for device use — if the child wants their own phone, they also need to agree to parental monitoring. 

Set your rules, explain how you’ll work together on this, and put the rules in writing in a digital device contract. 

The bottom line

The best app for parents to monitor text messages gives you flexibility — the ability to give your child their independence by only looking at concerning content, and the ability to look at more detailed conversations if the need pops up. After all, there’s no one way to parent in the digital age, and every family has different needs.

BrightCanary gives parents a comprehensive solution for iPhone text message monitoring, and it happens all on your phone. Download BrightCanary on the App Store today and start your free trial.