With the advent of technology, everything that was a dream a century ago is a reality now. The world is at your fingertip – be it ordering food or making transactions worth thousands of dollars. Technology has made it possible for us. Today the parents can even keep a check on their children’s devices and control them. Yes, you read correct! Parents can have control over a child’s use of technology. The software which has made it possible for us is none other than the parental control apps.

Different parental control apps provide various amenities to the parents. From prohibiting child to use certain applications to tracking the child’s device via GPS locator, from limiting the screen time to locking/unlocking a child’s device, it is all possible through the parental control apps. Some apps even notify the parents about any sought of cyberbullying.

There are dozens of applications and software out there which serve these purposes. Various tech firms like Google, Microsoft and Amazon have launched there own parental control apps or software. Each of them serves their own purpose. Hence, a user tends to get lost amongst all these services available for them. Therefore, I present the top 5 parental control apps to you.

BEST PARENTAL CONTROL APPS 2020

Kaspersky Safe Kids

With 4.8 ratings and 50M+ downloads on Google Playstore, Kaspersky is the best parental control app to use in today’s date. This app is enriched with every feature you would wish for a parental app to have.

Its main feature consist of –

1. Control Screen Time
2. Online Content Filter
3. Apps Usage Control
4. Safe Search in YouTube

 Apart from these, the Premium version offers the user various other features.

 Features in Premium version –

1. Child Locator
2. Battery Tracker
3. Social Network Monitoring
4. Real Time Alerts
5. Screen Time Scheduling

It is compatible with various devices like Android, iOS, Windows, and MAC. The free version can be downloaded from the Google Playstore while the premium version costs up to $15/year. Another of its benefits is that it can be used on unlimited devices.

The only drawback this app has is that some of its features like call logging and text logging are compatible with Android only.

ESET PARENTAL CONTROL

If your child uses Android or iOS only, then ESET Parental Control maybe the one for you. With over 500K+ downloads on Google Playstore, this app has 4.1 ratings. It provides the user with tons of features.

Some of the features are –

1. Web Guard Filtering
2. Web Guard Monitoring
3. Web Guard Reporting
4. Safe Search
5. Child Locator
6. Zones with Alert
7. Email Alerts
8. Automatic App Categorization
9. Application Guard Manual Editor
10. Application Guard Time Budget

It can be used on unlimited devices. Some features are free while others are available on the premium version which may cost up to $30/year. It can be easily downloaded from the Google Playstore.

 One of its major feature is that child can request any app that is blocked by the parent through the app.

The drawback in the app can be listed as –

1. No text or call monitoring
2. Most features work on Android only
3. Not compatible with other devices like Windows.

MMGUARDIAN

This app has some features different from others making it special. Along with Parental Control and GPS Tracker it has the following features –

1. Parents can lock/unlock the child’s phone
2. Read texts
3. Block contacts
4. Web Filters
5. Allow Specific Download

Due to these features and app’s user friendly nature , it has over 1 M downloads on Google Play store along with 4.1 ratings

 It costs up to $70/year and can be used on 1 to 5 devices. The app is compatible with Android and iOS only.

Although this is one of the best in our parental control apps list , there are some drawbacks to it, which maybe listed as follows –

1. Most features work for Android only
2. It may be a little costly for the features it provides.
3. The app may be turned off at Power Saving Mode.

Nevertheless, keeping in mind the features it provides, it can be a great app to use!   

Qustodio

Qustodio is one of the best multi featured parental control app.

Some of the highlights of the app which are available in the free version are –

1. GPS Tracker
2. Family Parental Control
3. Screen Time Control
4. Protection against Cyberbullying

While the Premium version benefits the user with more features like –

1. YouTube Monitoring
2. View Social Network Activity
3. Track Calls
4. Track SMS

The app is perfectly compatible with Windows, Mac OS, Android, iOS, Kindle. The app is available for download on Google Playstore. To enable the Premium version, one has to buy it which may cost up to $138/year. You can use it for 1-15 devices.

Due to its outstanding features, it has 1M+ downloads on Google Playstore, but the ratings stoop down to 3.2. There are some drawbacks to the app which may be the reason for such ratings.

Drawbacks –

1. App hangs frequently
2. Many glitches even in the paid version
3. Blocks some sites by itself
4. Laptop installation is not very easy
5. Bit costly

Net Nanny

Last but not the least on the list we have the software called Net Nanny. It is compatible with various devices including Android, iOS, Kindle Fire, and Windows. One can use it on from 1 to 20 devices.

Its features include –

1. Instant Reporting of Online Search
2. Visibility to Apps used by Kids
3. Real-time Alerts on Porn, Suicide, Weapons and Drug-Related Content
4. Control Screen Time
5. Family Parental Control
6. Internet Filter

One can access the software for free whereas the paid version costs up to $90/year. 

The drawback of software is that the user interface is not so good. There is no clear guidance for the parents to access some of its features. Once you get through that, the software has various benefits for you.

Being a responsible and caring parent it’s their duty to take care of what their child is doing when they are not around. The internet is filled with a lot of good stuff and an equal amount of bad stuff, making the parental control apps necessity right now. We have seen that there are a lot of options for us to choose from. We should keep an eye on our child’s internet usage as the content they see affect them physically and mentally.

According to me, the Kaspersky Kids App is the best as it provides all the features in a reasonable range. Let us know in the comments, which is your favorite app among the ones mentioned above. All feel free to share your own experience with these apps if any.

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