How to Track My Child’s Phone Without Them Knowing for Free and With Tested Paid Apps

There are built-in phone tools and third-party apps for parental control that have different features depending on parents’ needs.

Parental monitoring is not snooping. It’s about safety. Once your kids start using smartphones, you’re concerned about what they may encounter online. With so many lurking dangers on the internet, it’s your fundamental duty to protect your children from potential harm. So, you’re in the right place if you want to know how to track your child’s phone without them knowing (because you know what kids think about this). There are free ways, but we also tested paid ones.

Statistics show that 70% of children encounter violent or sexual content online while doing research or homework. It goes even further because one in seven kids is contacted online by someone with sexual intentions. These statistics make the need to bolster online kids’ safety even greater.

Here are more reasons to monitor your child’s phone and location:

• cyberbullying;
• Internet addiction;
• sexting;
• identifying their social groups;
• location tracking;
• monitoring kids with health issues.

So, how can parental control apps help?

These are just some helpful features you can expect when you start using a cell phone tracking app like uMobix on your child’s phone:

• monitor calls;
• real-time location tracking;
• monitor messages, including from social media apps;
• social media platforms activity;
• web browser history;
• filter apps and content;
• set screen time limits, etc.

Use Parental Control Apps

To monitor a child’s phone, you need to install an app that works in hidden mode.

It’s challenging to convince a tween or teen that you need to install a parental control app on their phone. But we can all agree that figuring out how to monitor your child’s phone will go a long way toward your child’s safety.

Remember that boys are more prone to joining street gangs and bad company, while girls are more often likely to fall prey to stalkers. Now with phone monitoring apps for Android or iOS devices, you can stay ahead of online dangers.

Good parental control apps let you monitor everything your kid does on their phone, who they are communicating with, and where they are at the moment. Some apps even allow setting zones with alerts when your child goes out of them.

For example, uMobix let me see who the child is calling, the call history, and how long the phone calls were taking. I could also read text messages, see the GPS location data, and view deleted content.

Try uMobix

Known Life360 app is mainly about cell phone location safety. Other features that I liked include place alerts, SOS with emergency dispatch, and a crime report feature to know about crimes in the area that my child visits.

Try Life360

Use Google Family Link for Android

Google Family Link is basic since it’s free. Thus, it lacks most of the features of paid parental apps. Nevertheless, I found it’s great for monitoring app usage, screen time, and cell phone location.

There are separate apps for parents and children, so I had to install both apps to benefit from the features.

Google Family Link allowed me to choose the sites my child could visit and the apps they could install. In addition, I could set screen time limits, schedule days of the week for phone use, and track my child’s location.

Google Family Link also generates a report of the child’s phone activity.

Try Google Family Link

Use Family Sharing for iPhones

To track your kid’s iPhone for free, use Family Sharing feature.

What You Need to Use It:

• create a Family Sharing group;
• your child has to be in your family group.

Steps:

1. Create a Family Sharing Group.
   Go to Settings > Your Name > Set Up Family Sharing. Follow the onscreen prompts and add a payment method.
   
2. Add your child to your Family Sharing group.
   Tap Add Family member and select “Invite Others” (if your kid already has the own account) or “Create a Child Account”. Your child (or you with physical access to their phone) should accept the invitation.
   
3. Start Monitoring Phone Activity.
   Set screen time. Enable content and privacy restrictions. Allow or block apps. Set permissions for apps that your child can download.
   
4. Track a child’s location.
   To track your daughter’s or son’s iPhone location, use the Location Sharing feature, then open Find My app. You’ll see their location on the map.
   

Use Google Maps to Locate Children

To track your kid’s phone for free, use the location sharing feature on Google Maps. This works for any cell phone.

What You Need to Use It:

Enable Location sharing on the child’s phone.

Steps:

1. Open Google Maps on your kid’s phone.
2. Click on settings > Location Sharing.
3. Tap Get Started.
4. Choose how long to share location between one hour and until you turn off the location sharing feature.
5. Tap Share.

You will always see your child’s phone when you open Google Maps on your cell phone.

Bonus: Track Child’s Location Via SMS

If you don’t want a dedicated app for tracking the location of your child’s phone, there are options to know your kid’s location without installing software on their device.

These online location-tracking services can do an IP address location lookup by sending anonymous texts with location-tracking links. Our top recommendations are Scannero and Locationtracker.mobi.

While Scannero phone number tracker allows you to send regular text messages, Locationtracker service has options for sending messages via WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram. These location trackers are ideal in emergencies and one-off tracking of a child’s cell phone location.

Conclusion

Monitoring your child’s phone can help keep your child safer online, and it helps you become aware of the things that children, especially teens and teens, aren’t willing to share. Paid apps are the best for their comprehensive features, accuracy, and real-time tracking.

If you’re looking for the best option to help you identify potential dangers and always know your child’s location, uMobix is an excellent option, as it has detailed reports of the target device activity.

Hopefully, this list helps you stay ahead of your child’s safety by choosing a cell phone tracking app that fits your parental control needs.