U.S. Auto Connection

Best Parental-Control and Family Monitoring Apps

My niece sent and received more than 2.500 texts last month. I was shocked, especially since I know that many of them were done while she was driving. When I asked her how many of those texts were really important, she said all of them!

At U.S. Auto Connection, we have seen this issue in Houston and all over TX, as many of our children have become literally addicted to their smart phones. Our kids today are armed with personal devices that now feature disappearing-messaging apps and instantaneous web access, and many of them know a lot more about the technology than their parents do.

There are quite a few new parental-control apps designed for smart phones that can help young people understand the importance of limits in a digital world while also stopping them from accessing adult content or texting with people they don't know.

The best of the best are listed here, thanks to Consumer Reports and reviews found on Amazon.com

The top on our list is Norton Family Premier, that retails for $49.99. It delivers the very best mix of web filtering, pinpoint location tracking and full app management on Android devices. The iPhone version of this app is limited by comparison, but still features just enough web filtering to make it worthwhile.

Number two on our list is the PhoneSheriff  for $89.  It is a good alternative on Android devices, especially for monitoring texting. Parents with a few children to manage might like the simple setup of the ESET Parental Control for Android ($30 annually), which lets you control a countless number of devices.

Evaluation Criteria

To test and rate these parent-control apps,  Consumer Reports focused on apps that emphasize setting up filters and limits prior to the child using the phone, instead of simply tracking their activities after the fact. In evaluating them, Consumer Report considered the following criteria:

Installation: How easy is it to install and set up each app on a smartphone?

Filtering: Which tools does each app feature and how well did they restrict children's' access to improper content?

Texting Management: With young people today doing most of their communicating via text messages, Consumer Report looked closely at each one's monitoring messaging capabilities. Do the apps enable you to review the content of your child's texts seamlessly? Can you effectively block a contact and be alerted each time your child adds a new contact? Can you block messaging apps altogether as well?

Location tracking: Does the app maintain a log of where your child has been and, more importantly, give you the ability to locate your child in an emergency?

These are important questions when our children's lives are involved, so do your research and due diligence before you purchase any parental-control app.

Sources: Consumer Reports, Amazon and eBay