Best parental control apps for Gen Z
by Khushi Mohunta
Introduction
Today, millions of children have access to screens. For children of all ages, whether an infant or a scholar, the use of digital devices like tablets, smartphones, and laptops is common. As screen time has become a staple in every child’s life, parents are becoming increasingly concerned about how much time their children spend in front of screens. A wise saying goes, “you are what you consume.” So, the kinds of applications and interfaces the children have access to also raise grave concerns.
With so many educational resources available online, it can be difficult for school-aged children to strike a balance. Fortunately, parental control apps have come to the rescue! These applications help you manage and monitor your child’s screen time, ensuring they stay safe when using the internet.
Best Parental Control Apps
While screen time can be beneficial, we cannot deny that technology has assisted us in socializing during the pandemic; however, finding a balance is challenging yet crucial. These apps can also block certain content, filter information, set healthy limits on app usage, and help you keep track of your child’s online presence and activity. Here is a list of the best-ranked parental control apps to help you not only monitor your child but also their online presence.
- Best for Monitoring:
Qustodio – Qustodio is an all-in-one parental control and digital well-being solution that helps parents monitor the activities of their kids online and on platforms that are prone to explicit content. The app offers filtering content and applications, monitoring activity, setting a time limit, locating family, tracking calls and SMS, reporting, alerts, and SOS. It is a smart solution for parents to balance their kids’ online safety as much as their independence.
- Best for Older Children:
Bark – This application is designed by parents for parents to provide a better, easier, and more effective way for families to develop healthy digital habits. By filtering the kind of content children access online, the app aims to provide protection and does not let them fall prey to the treacherous trap of technology.
- Best all-in-one virtual shield:
Canopy – This app acts as a virtual shield for your child and monitors their online presence and activities. Just like the literal canopy, this app filters the content children access online and makes them digitally literate. Not only this, but it also provides filtering for social media and web browsing and teaches kids how to be responsible on digital platforms and social media, including digital devices. It is restrictive but still gives your child the space to exercise their autonomy and privacy, ensuring they are safe from sexually explicit content. For example, a third party can’t read their messages.
- Best family safety service:
Life 360 – Life 360 brings your family closer to smart features designed explicitly for protecting and connecting the people who matter most to you. It has been ranked as one of the world’s leading family safety services. From letting you know about a family member’s phone battery to the speed they are driving and the distance they are from a particular location, this app does it all!
- Best content filtering app:
Net Nanny – Net Nanny is one of the safest content filtering applications available on different platforms. This application works on the principle of blocking. It imparts social media protection and controls by blocking inappropriate content on (or entirely disabling) popular social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
The best parental control apps usually offer an array of features, ease of use, affordability for families, and accessibility for children. As a parent, at times, you need to monitor the online activity of your child, from social media use and screen time to location tracking and interaction. So, look for an app with a clean, user-friendly interface that is compatible with all devices. This is one of the best ways to monitor your child’s online activity, regardless of where they are or what device they use.
