The Best Parental Control Apps of 2024

When we were growing up, the internet was as young as we were–full of promises and possibilities, both exciting and a little scary all at the same time.

While we were busy discovering how to email our friends and play online dress-up games, our parents were worried sick about us stumbling upon inappropriate content, black market sites, or interacting with strangers online.

Although we grew up relatively unharmed, eventually learning to use the internet as a tool in our daily lives, it’s a skill our kids haven’t fully mastered yet. We may have crossed to the other side, but today, innocent kids are still innocent, and protective parents remain protective.

In this article, we review the best parental control apps of 2024, focusing on those available and effective in the Philippines, to help keep your children safe from potentially harmful content and interactions online.

How to Choose the Best Parental Control App of 2024

Here’s what you should look for when selecting a parental control app:

Screen Time Monitoring

Setting screen time limits is crucial for maintaining a healthy relationship with social media and gadgets. A good parental control app should provide statistics or daily reports on your child’s screen time (even better if it reports time spent on each app). It should also help you enforce house rules by setting screen time limits on specific apps, with automatic shutdown features.

Content Filters

One of the main reasons parents seek out parental control apps is to manage harmful content and interactions with strangers online.

When choosing the best parental control app for your child, look for one that gives you complete control over which apps and websites to blacklist or whitelist. You should also receive alerts if your child attempts to download restricted apps or access blacklisted websites.

Tech Fool-Proof Factor

If you’re not very tech-savvy, go for a simple and straightforward parental control app that won’t overwhelm you. Remember, the purpose of installing a parental control app is to make your life easier, so avoid complicated apps that might create unnecessary headaches.

Price and Value

Of course, budget is always a consideration. While no good and secure parental control app is entirely free, many offer freemium versions–you might want to try these first before committing to a paid plan.

As you’ll see in our list, most apps offer mostly similar basic features, such as live GPS tracking, content filtering, and app control, but the extra features will vary–and so will the prices. Remember, more expensive plans don’t always mean better features, so focus on what your family actually needs.

Best for Older Kids and Large Families: Norton Family

Norton Family offers web filtering and app control for Android, iOS, and Windows, allowing installation on your child’s laptops as well as their phones. With unlimited linked devices, this app is perfect for families with multiple kids (even if each kid has multiple gadgets!).

Key features:

• Web Supervision: Norton Family lets you restrict access to certain websites and control app installations. The app provides daily, weekly, and bi-weekly reports on website access and app usage, allowing you to monitor and control the content your children consume.
  While website control is standard for parental control apps, Norton Family enhances it by allowing your kids to request access to blocked sites (which is great for fostering open communication).
  In addition to whitelisted and blacklisted websites, you can also opt to add a third category of websites with warnings, which will alert your child about sites that aren’t ideal but not entirely harmful, allowing them to make their own decisions.
  These features are great for older kids if you are gradually easing up on web supervision and want to show that you trust their judgment while maintaining communication.
• Predefined Setup per Age Group: Norton Family is designed for families with multiple kids, so one of its features is predefined setups per age group.
  If you don’t want to block restricted websites one by one for each child, you can use Norton’s suggested whitelisted and blacklisted websites by age group and adjust them to fit your house rules.
  The same goes for screen time limits; the app already has predefined limits per age group, following the recommended screen time by age, which you can also customize. Your kids can request additional screen time allowance per day, which is another great feature for older children.
  If your kids use their gadgets for school, Norton Family also features separate web usage and screen time allowances, so they can browse the internet without time limits for schoolwork.
• Location Supervision: Norton Family features live location monitoring for Android and iOS, plus scheduled location updates as frequently as every 30 minutes or at set times. You’ll know if they made it safely to school on time or if they went straight home after classes.
  This is also useful for school trips or vacations with friends, allowing you to monitor their location without constantly checking in. Norton will keep records of your child’s location history with dates and times, which you can access if needed.
• Emergency Features: Parental control apps limit screen time by app usage, automatically shutting down certain apps or blocking certain contacts once the daily screen time limit is reached. Some apps even let you completely shut down their gadgets for a total screen time limit.
  But what happens in case of an emergency? Norton Family allows your child to still access emergency calls to whitelisted contacts and can even bypass screen time limits with a parental pin.
  Although the parental pin is designed for your use, it’s a good idea to let your child know about it so they can access their gadgets in emergencies. It’s about showing that you trust them not to abuse their ability to bypass the limits set by the parental control app.

Pros

• Comes with VPN service and antivirus
• Unlimited linked devices
• Fast and easy to set up; won’t even take 5 minutes!
• Offers features that provide your kids with some independence and control

Cons

• Not a hidden app
• Only works with the Norton extension on their browsers for Windows

Price: $49.99 or Php 2,888.25 / year

Best for Younger Kids: AirDroid Kids

AirDroid Kids is designed and recommended for young children who need complete supervision and total content control. Unlike Norton Family, it doesn’t allow your child to request access to restricted websites or extend their screen time allowance. You will have FULL access and control of your child’s phone. AirDroid Kids is available for both Android and iOS.

Key Features:

• Screen Mirroring: This feature allows you to remotely monitor your child’s phone. By opening the AirDroid Kids app on your phone and selecting screen mirroring, you can see exactly what’s happening on your child’s screen in real time.
  Besides monitoring their phone, you can also control it remotely, even while they are using it (think AnyDesk, but for mobile). With this level of control, you can install and uninstall apps, blacklist and whitelist contacts, and access all their notifications and alerts.
• Security Features: AirDroid Kids provides 24/7 access to your child’s live location. Additionally, you can access all the cameras on their phone. You can activate their front or back cameras anytime to see what they see in real-time, and record videos or take pictures.
  AirDroid Kids also offers one-way audio with recording. Like the camera access, you can remotely turn on their phone’s microphone to hear or record transmitted audio. Since these features are remote, you and your child need to be connected to the internet.
• Screen Time Limits and Downtime: AirDroid Kids allows you to set screen time limits per app. You can also group apps by category and set time limits per category.
  For instance, if you set a 30-minute limit on video and streaming apps, then 30 minutes on YouTube will mean no more Disney+ or Netflix access.
  You can also set total screen times, automatically restricting access to their gadgets after reaching daily time limits. For strict bedtimes, you can schedule downtime to keep your child away from the screen.
  Downtime can be scheduled by setting start and end times for phone access. This can be bypassed using a parental pin, which you may or may not choose to share with your child.

Pros

• Basically clones your child’s phone
• Total remote access and control
• Surroundings monitoring (one-way audio and remote camera access)
• Hidden app; can only be opened from the parent’s phone

Cons

• Takes time to install initially and requires many permissions
• Screen mirroring, remote camera, and microphone access can lag depending on the parent’s internet connection

Price: $59.99 or Php 3,466.01 / year

Best for Non-Tech-Savvy Parents: Tispy App

Tispy App is the only one on our list available for Apple, Android, Windows, and Mac, allowing you to monitor and filter all the content your kids consume across all apps and websites. Tispy is another app recommended for younger kids, offering similar features to AirDroid Kids.

It’s a good choice for non-tech-savvy parents, as it doesn’t require a counterpart app on your phone. Instead, you access Tispy via a website with an easy-to-navigate, user-friendly dashboard!

Key Features:

• Total Parental Control: Like AirDroid Kids, Tispy offers live location tracking and a surroundings monitor feature, allowing you to remotely turn on your child’s phone camera and microphone. You can also take pictures, record videos, and audio.
  Another similarity to AirDroid is its remote screen mirroring and control feature, letting you peek at what your child is doing on their gadgets in real time.
• Call and Text Monitoring: Aside from having total control over your child’s gadgets through screen mirroring, Tispy allows you to filter messages containing inappropriate keywords.
  You can download entire conversation threads from all their chat apps and text messages, which is handy for future reference or if you don’t have time to review all conversations right away.
  You’ll also have control over incoming and outgoing calls, and if you’re suspicious about a certain number, you can set the app to notify you about specific numbers contacting them. Tispy also lets you record future calls.
• Screen Time: Tispy has screen time allowances, with a separate screen time for schoolwork to ensure uninterrupted learning. You can also set different screen times for different days, providing more digital playtime on weekends if desired.

Pros

• Option to be a hidden app
• More control over contacts and conversations
• Available for Windows and Mac, not just mobile

Cons

• Not very useful for older kids
• Price: $81.95 or Php 4,734.78 / year

Final Thoughts

And that’s all we have for the best parental control apps of 2024!

Social media usage and digital play shouldn’t be a cause for stress, so hopefully, one of these apps will contribute to your peace of mind.

Read here for a parent’s guide on parental controls.