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- Affiliate Marketing. Best Free Parental Control Software for PC, Mac, iOS, Android. Mario Gzz February 9, 2019. 09, 2019 at 9:24 am. There is plenty of free parental control software available to help. Parental controls can help monitor and restrict a child's online activities.
- The most parental control software is aimed at Windows, but Qustodio (think ‘custodian’) is also available for Mac, Android, iOS, Kindle and (weirdly) Nook. The free version is one of the most comprehensive parental control apps around, enabling you to set rules and time schedules, block pornography and other unsuitable content.
Mobicip is a pioneer in the parental control software space, having put in more than a decade of work in making the internet safe for our children. Supporting platforms – Windows, iOS, Android, Mac OS X, Kindle, and Chromebook. Blocking and Filtering – Allows to filter and block search phrases, apps and websites.
To have a peace of mind and keep your kids safe, you need to install the best mac parental control software applications on the target device. The installation will give you a deep insight into the behavior of your kid based on data collected by the spyware.
Here are the core benefits of having the best parental control software:
- It helps you remotely control your kid’s phone.
- You limit addiction tendencies by controlling screen limits.
- With the software, you can block off explicit content.
- You can detect early signs of cyberbullying.
- If you are busy, the software keeps a backup copy for review in your free time.
Parental Control Apps for macOS – Overview
App | Functionality | Prices | Freebies | Compatibility |
Screen Capture, Facebook Tracking, Keylogger, Chat Recording | From $6/month per device | None | Supports Mac OS X | |
Time Controls, Social Media Monitoring, Advanced Report Analytics, App and Game Blocking | From $4.58/month per device | Free trial for 3 days/No refunds | Compatible with Mac 10.9 onwards | |
Text message and email monitoring, parental control alerts, Screen time and Web Filtering, Social Media tracking | From $5/month per device | 7 days Free Trial | Compatible with Mac 10.11 onwards, iOS |
Hoverwatch: Advanced PC Keylogger
Hoverwatch is the best keylogger for mac devices that lets you record all typed strokes on a mobile phone belonging to your child. It is free to sign up for the spy app and runs invincibly on both mac and android devices.
Features
– Screenshot Capturing: The software lets you capture screenshots to get a real-time update on what your child is up to on their mobile phone. The beauty is that you can set the frequency of screenshots to intervals that serve you best. Screenshots taken by OS X optimizes images so that they occupy less space.
– Facebook Tracking: Hoverwatch intercepts all activities happening on Facebook by recording messages, videos, and photos for later review.
– Web history keylogger: This spyware saves web links taken on web browsers like Chrome and Safari. It also reveals web activity accessed on incognito modes.
– Real-Time Chat Recording: Messaging is the surest way to gather evidence of suspicious behavior of your kids. Hoverwatch can save conversations from mac messenger apps like iMessage, Adium, and Skype.
Pros
- It records messages in block format to easily follow up on an ongoing conversation.
- The dashboard features an advanced filtering feature to pull data within a specified period.
- Tracking incognito browsing reveals what the user of a device is hiding and works without hacking mac.
- The spyware runs anonymously, but you have a choice to choose stealth or visible mode.
Cons
- The software is a little pricey.
- It works better on Android and Mac but a bit clumsy on Windows.
Supported Operating System: It works on most Android, Windows, and Mac devices.
Cost
As parents, you can pay from as little as $6 to track more than 25 devices in a month. Alternatively, if you have fewer devices to track, you can go for the $9.99 per month offer for each device.
Qustodio: The Best Parental Control Statistics
Qustodio is another parental control software for mac that works on the most popular platforms. It doesn’t matter if you want to track a smartphone, tablet, laptop, or desktop, Qustodio will do the work for you.
Features
– Time Parental Controls: Parents can use the software to set the times when your child has access to a mobile phone or laptop. It is a way of curbing addiction and allowing kids to concentrate on more productive activities like studying.
– Monitoring Social Media: Qustodio is a preferred Facebook tracking tool that lets you read messages and multimedia content shared through the platform.
– Advanced Report Analytics: A clean-cut dashboard enables you to check all insights happening on the target phone from a central location.
– Tracks multiple devices: Parents can track more devices if your child has, as compared to other peer software.
– App and Game Blocking: To filter what a child accesses, Qustodio has a Game and App blocking feature.
Pros
- They offer excellent customer support service.
- It supports cross platforms including Android.
- It features an advanced time management tool .
- A keyword-searchable database makes it super helpful in detecting harmful content.
Cons
- Social media tracking only available for Facebook.
- It doesn’t keep logs for more than 30 days.
Supported Operating System: The app works on most platforms like Kindle, Mac, Windows, and Android. For Mac, it runs on the latest versions including OS 10.9 upwards.
Cost
From $8.08 per month, you can protect up to 10 devices on the medium plan, but if you want to protect a small family, the next better option is the $4.58 option that covers up to 5 devices.
Bark: The Smart Way to Keep Kids Safer Online
Bark is another parental control app that helps parents have peace of mind by monitoring Mac and other OS powered devices of their kids. With advanced features, it has the capability of tracking more than 30 social media apps and web browsing history.
Features
– Text Message and Email Monitoring: Bark records all interactions done by your kids through email and SMS and stores them on its cloud storage.
– Parental Control Software Alerts: With advanced detection capabilities crafted by psychology experts, the parenting control app sends you instant alerts for any instances of potentially damaging content or interactions.
– Screen Time and Web Filtering: With the parental control software feature, you can check what your child sees on the internet.
– Social Media Monitoring: The software lets you view and record all conversations happening on social media channels.
Pros
- It is very secure thanks to the top encryption capability.
- Good for detecting critical issues like suicidal thoughts, cyberbullying, and predation .
- Bark integrates with many third-party browsers, chat messengers, email apps, and social media platforms. Whether you use Mac, Apple, or Android, the experience is just as good.
- You can locate your kid’s location whenever you need to know their whereabouts.
Cons
- Too many alerts on Android, which is annoying.
- There is a limitation on the parental control software filtering functionality.
Supported Operating System: Bark works with Amazon, Apple, Android, and desktop computers. It works on all Android versions.
Cost
The Bark Package going for $14 per month lets you track more features, unlike the $5 package which only enables you to access fewer features. The former allows you to save 41% as compared to the latter.
To use Bark software on Mac, follow these simple steps:
- Register for a free online account using your email. Create a strong password (Note that best passwords are made of paraphrases).
- Download the tracker software using the created online account.
- Upon successful download, you can access the remote tracking dashboard to see all the activity happening on the target phone.
Free Mac Parental Control Software
Mac computers have inbuilt parental controls , which you can set by following some simple steps. However, a grown child can maneuver through the settings and can be able to disable them within a few minutes, and that is why third-party parental control software comes into play.
Here is a list of abilities that characterizes native parental control software on Mac:
1. Kid’s account and passcode protection
Adding a passcode to a kid’s Mac account is the surest bet to keeping them safe online. Fortunately, they won’t be able to change the settings relating to screen and downtime. To strengthen the passcode, the activated downtime setting will shut down the device as soon as the use reaches the set time.
2. Screen time
- Schedules downtime: With Mac parental controls, you can schedule downtimes, which deactivates major functions of a target Mac device. The app lets you customize the settings for each day and sends reminders 5 minutes before immobilization of the device. Screen and downtime work in concurrence, meaning you can’t activate downtime if the screen is still off.
- Sets app time limits: This cool feature enables parents to allocate time spent on certain apps for an entire day and resets midnight to show the time limits for the new day. The whole idea is to prevent addiction and allow kids to focus on what is beneficial to their growth and development. As a parent, you have a leeway to allocate the maximum time spent on apps like Games and social media while kids will get a notification 5 minutes before the set limit expires.
- Limits screen view: Through the family sharing feature, you can remotely control screen viewing on iPad, iPhone, and Mac. When you exceed the viewing time, the feature activates a screen passcode for parental control. The functionality also has a place to monitor website data usage, thus letting you know what your child has been up to throughout the day.
- Basic adult sites filtering: Mac can block specific sites while allowing others to run normally. It works by adjusting settings from the Mac account. You can customize content blockers by changing the preferences on settings while activating autoplay for the best parental control.
Conclusion
Parental control software gives you extra control over a child’s Mac device. There is a lot that the software can do beyond what inbuilt apps do. The parental software in this review comes with special features like keyloggers, screen capture, parental control alerts, and more. Having any of the apps (Hoverwatch, Qustodio, and Bark software) saves you a lot, especially if you are a busy parent since you can be able to detect questionable behavior based on data analytics. Further, if you notice any signs of cyberbullying, these software are the perfect way to find out if your child is safe online.
When choosing an iPhone parental control app, try the Bark app from our list of choices.
Did you know that these days, 82% of children are exposed to lots of inappropriate content online by age 11? The internet can be a free territory that arouses curiosity among all age groups. This “unknown land” for children and adolescents can quickly instill fear among their parents.
Young people’s natural curiosity, combined with a lack of maturity and possible naivety about the full world, can be the fuel that fires problems in the virtual world. The main concern of parents is the action of cybercriminals who use the internet strategically to capture their victims.
The authoritative mainstream media regularly discusses different types of children monitoring software explicitly created to manage the content of websites your child may prefer. At the same time, you can block porn,block specific Youtube channels or any other potentially harmful information or communication on his/her computer or iOS/Android mobile devices. It can be beneficial, and these days, it is possible for parents to download many types of computer monitoring software for parents for free. Isn’t now the right time to start acting and not just keep on observing “the internet safety” for your kids?
Useful tips on how you can protect your children
Having undertaken some thorough research, we have created a shortlist of tips for parents who want to protect their loved ones online:
- Have a decent conversation. Excellent communication is essential if you want to connect with your children finally.
- Be on the same wavelength as their children. So join the same social networks, get to know their interests, the channels they watch. Take time out of your day to surf the internet together to let them show you what they like to access.
- Rely on the free parental control software to organize your children’s digital routine on their cell phones.
What is the best free parental control software, you might ask? There is no ultimate solution. We’ll familiarize you with the best free monitoring apps for each mobile platform (iOS/Android), which were designed to make your life much more comfortable. All of them have a free trial option that allows you to make a wise decision about which internet parental control software works for you.
The list of the best free parental control software for any device
The best three apps we have found so far are:
- mSpy(updated: 30-days refund policy) — the best parental control app for iPhone.
- Qustodio(free 3-days trial version) — a perfect choice for Android.
- Kaspersky Safe Kids(free 7-days trial) — worth your attention as a free parental control software for Windows and as the best internet filter.
If you are a young parent, it’s obvious you will be concerned about your children’s social activity. Keeping an eye on your children surfing the web was much more comfortable when they were confined to a single computer in the living room. Most network browsing and online activities take place on smartphones and other mobile devices. They make monitoring your children’s online presence and his/her protection much more complicated. That’s why it’s vital to choose the right free child protection software to put set time limits, block apps, screen time spent on social media platforms.
mSpy: Parental control software for iPhone
The popular parental control software for the iPhone is mSpy, which tracks everything kids do virtually via their phones. It lets parents review and filter their iPhones all at any time.
The app offers to track a cell phone location without them knowing, call logs, tracking text messages, emails, browsing history, and hacking social media networks like Instagram. You can even view new address book entries, and the app also allows you to lock a device remotely.
Once installed, mSpy runs discreetly in the background, hidden from the phone user. It doesn’t require any particular setting, which is why it’s perfect for smart teens who want to subvert monitoring apps. Plus, you can use this spyware for iPhone without jailbreaking. This parental control program is compatible both on Android/iOS devices.
Qustodio: Best free parental control software for Android
The best free parental control app for Android Qustodio offers many of the same features as other applications in this list, but its time-limiting options help it stand out. This best parental control software for Android version allows you to:
- read texts and block any texts coming from specific numbers;
- monitor certain social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram for cyberbullying and inappropriate behavior;
- set time limits for applications or an entire device; and
- press a panic button that can send an emergency text to pre-selected contacts.
Use Kaspersky Safe Kids for PC
Kaspersky Safe Kids tool works both on smartphones and PC, offers an easy way to support and protect your children using any internet browser installed on the Windows device.
Main features of the best free parental control software for pc:
- You can specify time limits for device use or select specific times on certain days of the week when the child is allowed to stay online;
- Kaspersky’s solution restricts the installation or use of potentially dangerous apps where they contain scenes of violence.
- To prevent a child from encountering undesirable content on the internet, Kaspersky Safe Kids filters the sites by category: adult content, profanity, drug information, etc.;
- It is possible to exclude sites from the search results of popular search engines;
- Parents can see in their My Kaspersky account a summary of their child’s activity on Facebook;
- Location tracker — this free parental control software function allows parents to know where their child is at a particular time.
Bottom line
All the parental control services described above offer free and paid versions that users can choose from. In the paid version, there are many essential functions added, for example, time limits, accessing your child’s location in real-time, notifications of installed applications, usage reports, application lock, etc.
Free Parental Control Software Vista
With these functions, parents can set their child’s bedtime, time to study, family talk time, and block certain websites during school time. So remember that it’s wiser to save your child than save 9$!
Free Parental Control Software For Mac Download
We have also compiled a list of Top 10 Best Parental Control Software for Android and iPhone/iOS, make sure to check those out too.