There are a lot of dangerous situations which can arise while using computers with Internet. Due to this, our children become very vulnerable to unwanted scenarios. The online virtual world is filled with strangers and dangerous criminals yet the kids are unaware of such dangers. You cannot completely strip them off of Internet or their computers as they are important at their own levels. Also, internet provides many useful things essential to build the knowledge of the kids. So instead of worrying and being in a dilemma, you can install one of these parental control software for monitoring your kid's activity and keeping them safe and secure.
Part 1: Best 10 Parental Control Apps for Kid's Cell Phone
1.1 KidsGuard Pro
KidsGuard Pro - Best Parental Control App
The best parental control software right now is: Qustodio Qustodio's premium parental control tools are the best around. YouTube monitoring, the ability to see time spent on social networks, time. Norton Family is a good cross-platform parental control system that will work on most devices. Although it’s more expensive than some other basic parental controls, it supports an unlimited number of users and devices, which makes it a great deal for larger families. Parental control app Qustodio is a highly configurable, easy-to-manage tool for keeping track of your child's activity on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android devices, though it comes at a premium price. FamilyTime allows you to create a geo-fence, and you’ll get instant alerts when your kids enter or leave geo-fenced places. FamilyTime offers the same basic features you’d expect from a good parental control app—it blocks pornography, allows kids to conduct safe searches only, and filters out inappropriate content.
These days, kids use their mobile phones more than the laptops or PCs. It becomes very necessary to employ a parental control app to protect them from online predators and also from malicious content available on the internet.
Out of all the available parental control apps, KidsGuard Pro is by far the best application which satisfies every parents need to keep their children safe and secure. The main features of this application are given below.
You can read the incoming and outgoing text messages on the target phone.
You can even record call and see the detailed call logs.
Even photos and videos on the target phone can also be viewed.
Browser history can be monitored.
Many popular spcial media applications like WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, LINE etc. can also be monitored.
Real-time screenshot on the target device can also be taken.
Take surrounding pictures is supported to ensure your kid's safety.
With this app, the real time location tracking is possible.
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Price: The 1 year license comes at only $8.32 per month.
Norton Family Premier
This software is great for providing protection against the online threats. This provides a means to enjoy the benefits of the internet while limiting the dangerous content and predators. It has the ability to automatically block inappropriate websites when your child tries accessing it. It even alerts you whenever such sites are visited. You can set a list of inappropriate sites which should remain inaccessible to your kid. With this software, you can even set screen time restrictions.
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Price: $49.99/year for 10 devices
K9 Web Protection
This parental monitoring software provides tools through which you can protect your kid in the online world. Unwanted content can be blocked using this software and the safest form of internet activity is allowed for the kids. It automatically blocks more than 70 website categories. There is a safe search option on all the search engines on the device. It can be customised as well! It is compatible even with Mac systems and Windows PC/laptop.
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Price: Free
Net Nanny
This is one of the most downloaded parental control software. It has the feature of blocking more than 18 types of online content on the target device. If your child is trying to open any adult content, you will be immediately notified. Internet usage restrictions can also be employed. Some of the other features which prove to be very useful for parental controlling include app blocking, remote access, customized profiles, mask profanity etc. The only fallback of this software is that the time limit on specific application cannot be executed.
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Price: $39.99-$59.99-$89.99/year for 1/5/15 devices respectively.
Qustodio for Families Premium
It is a perfect software to monitor your child's online activity. It comes with a website filtering engine, which automatically filters out all the inappropriate and dangerous sites online. Some other features of this software include monitoring time spent social network, setting time schedules or limiting internet time, and blocking apps you don't want running.
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Price: $54.95-$137.95/year for 5-15 devices
Mobicip
Mobicip is a good choice if you want to put screen time restrictions on computers. It is a good software if you want good parental control features at your disposal. You can block websites and adult content as well. It comes with good online configuration and overall management. Available on Windows and Mac!
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Price: $39.99/year for 5 devices
Kaspersky Safe Kids
Your kids will be safe online with the help of this wonderful software. It has many attractive features and putting screen time restrictions is one of them. You can block access of any web content which you do not want your child to access. This can be installed on unlimited number of devices. The social media platforms cannot be monitored using this software.
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Price: $14.95/year and comes with auto-renewal.
ContentBarrier
ContentBarrier is only compatible with Mac. It fully supports macOS 10.14! Create custom user profiles and customize parental controls. You can block any type of objectionable content on the web which includes websites, emails, and much more. Equipped with Whitelist functionality so that you can access only the sites you allow. Also comes with chat monitoring, time restrictions and alerts.
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Price: $39.99 for 1 year and $69.99 for 2 years.
Opendns FamilyShield
This is not exactly a parental control software but it does have a few features which makes it fit for this list of parental control software. It has the unique feature of blocking domains. It will run at the router level so you can restrict internet access. Comes with customizable content filtering as well!
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Price: Free
SafeDNS
SafeDNS is basically a filtering software that is needed to be configured to the router directly. It features an excellent dashboard which allows you to filter out inappropriate content on any device that is connected on the home network. It comes with malware, Phishing and Botnets protection.
It gives you the freedom to block any kind of website access. You can get full reports on the websites visited and also blocked. The downside is it doesn't come with full-fledged parental controls.
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Price: $19.95/year for Home use. It goes up to $80 and $970 per year for 5 and 100 users respectively.
Part 2: Is Parental Control Software Necessary for Kids?
It is always better to invest in a good parental software for protecting your kids from the virtual world of dangerous criminals and unwanted content. Here are some of the reasons why employing a parental control software for kid's safety is essential.
Internet Safety
Cyber safety is the main concern when it comes to keep your kid safe. There are so many risks and dangers lurking on the internet and on the social media sites in the form of cyber predators and cyber bullies etc. Installing a parental control software acts a shield and also as a monitoring tool.
Device Safety
The internet is filled with various malware and viruses that may cause total computer breakdown. There are risks of hacking or leakage of personal information as well. A barrier on a computer can definitely help in such cases.
Best Parental Software
Screen Time Restrictions
These days screen time usage is a huge thing! You do put time limits for different tasks for your kids. But, how can you be completely sure whether your child is adhering to the restrictions. By using the parental control software it will be easier to enforce the screen usage limitations. It will ensure that the icon remains hidden so that your kid does not even come to know that you are monitoring their activity.
Remote Data Monitoring
Even though you might be checking on the messages and browsing data from time to time. But, how frequently and diligently do you do this? You might sometimes miss out on many things which can put your child in danger. In fact, the older kids can even delete the data on their browser or social media messages. Through parental control software, all your child's activity will be recorded which can be accessed by you remotely at any time.
Restrict Inappropriate Content
Best Parental Control Programs
As the kids grow older, they become more and more comfortable with technology which will make it difficult for you to cope up and still monitor all their activity. If you install a parental control software, they won't get access to some things like adult content.
Best Parental Control Application
Summary
With the high rise in the number of things you can do online, it is the parents' responsibility to make sure that their child's activity is safe online. These top parental control software make it possible for the parents to look after their child's PC. This way your kids will be safe from any kind of online activity! However, to parental control cell phones, use KidsGuard Pro. It is the best parental control software and also the most sought after application which performs its job effectively.