Minspy Review 2024: Before You Buy, Is It Worth It?

After looking through all the features that Minspy offers for Android and iOS, I was a little disappointed. While it has a keylogger, call log and contact list tracker, and compatibility with some social media apps, I found that when compared to similarly priced monitoring apps, it came up short. Most notably, there is no screen recorder, I can’t create a list of keywords for it to track and alert me when used, and no app blocking option, all of which I can get with mSpy.

Minspy is compatible with Android and iOS devices, although the features for iOS are extremely limited. The Android app generally doesn’t require rooting the device, although according to the Minspy website, it’s not fully compatible with all Android phones, and some models do require rooting to access all the features.

The iOS monitoring doesn’t require jailbreaking the iPhone, because no app is actually installed on the iPhone. Instead, Minspy needs to connect with the child’s iCloud account. Therefore, the iOS monitoring tools are missing some important features, like a keylogger and compatibility with all but two of the social media apps that it can monitor. However, to their credit, the iOS plan is slightly cheaper than the Android plan.

If you want to actually monitor what your child does on an iPad or iPhone, then mSpy is a much better option. While you will have to jailbreak the device, it will give you the ability to use the keylogger, set geofences, monitor social media, block apps, and activate the screen recorder.

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Minspy Features – Updated in 2024

View Call Log to Monitor Who Your Child Talks To

Minspy logs every incoming, outgoing, and missed call made to the child’s phone. I like having easy access to this information, especially when my son has to leave the room to take a call. In addition to the phone number and contact name, I can view a timestamp and the duration of the call. Having this information is helpful in understanding his social circle and making sure that he’s not in contact with the wrong crowd.

Additionally, I have access to the complete contact cards for everyone that is saved on my son’s phone, along with any notes he’s made about them and how often they’ve been in touch. It’s actually pretty helpful, because if he makes a note about someone who harasses him or I see that it’s not an age-appropriate contact, I can try and stop them from communicating.

The biggest weakness in the call log is that it lacks any actionable feature. For example, with mSpy, if I see that my son is talking with someone that he shouldn’t or a repeat number keeps calling him, I can block all incoming and outgoing calls from that number. With Minspy, all I can do is tell him to stop talking to that individual.

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Monitors 16 Social Media and Messenger Apps for Android – Only 2 on iOS!

The majority of my son’s online interactions are done through social media and messenger apps. It’s important to monitor these chats, because often they are with people that he doesn’t know in real life, and I worry about predators, scammers, or other kids trying to peer pressure him into doing drugs or drinking too much alcohol.

Here is the complete list of apps that are compatible with Minspy:

The social media and messenger app monitoring tool gives me access to incoming and outgoing messages, which is important for understanding the context of the messages. However, other than reading the messages and DMs, I can’t see any other information from his social media activity. At some point, I tried connecting with my son’s accounts, but he either restricted what I could see or created a different profile. That’s why it’s important to have a screen recorder feature, like mSpy has, which takes screenshots and records what is on the screen, keeping me updated with all his interactions. Having this information can help me prevent cyberbullying or my son from getting into different kinds of trouble, both online and off.

Live Location isn’t Always Updated and There’s No Geofence

I had mixed results when it came to the location tracking feature. On several occasions, I saw that the location being shown on the map was from several hours earlier. Even though I pressed the sync button, it still gave me the wrong information. There were other times when it was accurate, but I found it hard to trust the data I was seeing, so even when it was updated, I didn’t really know where my son was. I also found it strange that instead of instantly showing me a live map when I clicked on the Location tab, I had to click a Show on Map button to actually view the map.

The location history is always accurate, which is a good feature for those times I want to look back and see if my son was where he was supposed to be. I can either look at the address or sometimes the map coordinates, which isn’t helpful at all, or click on the map icon to see exactly where he was, along with a timestamp.

There is no geofence feature, which would send me alerts when my son enters or leaves a specific area or address, which I have seen on other similar apps. The benefit of having a geofence is that I wouldn’t have to check the location history to make sure that my son is going to school on time and staying away from places where he’s not supposed to be.

Records Browser History but Not Search History

The browsing history feature worked as expected. It tracked every website that my son visited, even in private or incognito mode, on the three browsers on his phone. I could see the URL, page title, number of times my son visited the page, a timestamp, and whether it was added as a bookmark. Interestingly, it didn’t mention which browser he was using or whether it was in incognito mode; for that kind of information, I would need to scroll through screenshots and match up the timestamps.

Minspy doesn’t track the search history, which I think is a big mistake on their part. Not only do I want to know which websites my son is looking at, but I also want to know how he got there. It helps me understand his state of mind and get a good idea if there is anything that I should be worried about. There is the keylogger, but there is so much data to look through, it’s tough to find the search history. This is one of the reasons I prefer mSpy, which records search and browser history.

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View Videos and Pictures Saved on the Phone

Minspy uploads a copy of all videos and pictures saved on the phone to the parental dashboard. The videos all have thumbnails, along with a title, date saved, and the file location. The thumbnail is clickable, so I can watch the entire video. The images are also displayed as thumbnails, but I could click the image to view a full-size copy.

List all Apps Installed on the Phone but No Option to Block Them

It’s good to know what apps my son downloads on his phone. If I see he downloads apps that I don’t think are appropriate for him, like dating apps, I can tell him to delete them. However, other than that, this feature doesn’t really do me any good. I can’t delete or block the app, it gives me no information, like age rating or a link to the app so I can check it out. In addition, I have no way to see how much time he spends on the app and I can’t track any communication unless it’s one of the social media apps listed above.

If you want the ability to manage the apps installed on your child’s phone, including setting screen time limits, you’ll need a parental control app like Qustodio. It gives you complete remote control access to the apps installed on your child’s phone and allows you to set custom screen time schedules or block the app completely. You can try Qustodio free for 30 days, with no credit card needed, which gives you enough time to monitor your child’s app use and see if there is anything to be worried about.

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Keylogger Lacks Search Functions Making it Difficult To Find Anything

The keylogger records every keystroke that your child types on their phone and organizes it in the dashboard based on the app that was being used. While I was happy with the organization, there is no way to filter the content to send alerts when specific words or phrases are used. My son spends hours on the phone every day, using a wide range of apps. I don’t have the time or patience to read through all his messages. Another problem I have with the keylogger is that it only records what my son types, so there is no context, and if the timed screenshots don’t take the picture at the right moment, I’ll never see the other half of the conversation.

iOS users are out of luck when it comes to the Minspy keylogger. The feature is not available on iPhone because that would require a jailbreak version, which Minspy doesn’t offer.

mSpy is a much better solution for keyloggers. It has a keyword tracking feature, so you can get alerts when specific words or phrases are used, and quickly find the offending log. Additionally, it has a jailbreak version, so you can get the same functionality on an iPhone as you do with Android. The mSpy 14-day money-back guarantee will give you enough time to read through two weeks of logs and get a good idea of everything going on with your child.

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The Minspy app can’t be downloaded through the Google Play or App Store since it violates their privacy terms. This is typical for any app that requires the same type of access that Minspy needs for its tracking and monitoring features. There is no option for rooting or jailbreaking the phones, which means that the monitoring features, especially for iOS, are limited.

How to Install Minspy on Android

While there is no easy way for the child to see that Minspy was installed on their phone, you will need the phone during the installation process. After you purchase a subscription plan, you will receive a username, email, password, and QR code to your email. Scan the QR code with the child’s phone, and the app will begin to download on the phone. If Play Protect is on, or you haven’t enabled installing apps from unknown sources, you will be prompted to do so now.

Once the security settings are set, you’ll need to agree to the terms of service, and the Minspy setup wizard will walk you through the permissions that need to be changed. The final step is to opt to hide the Minspy app or keep it on the screen so your child knows the phone is being monitored.

Once the installation is complete, Minspy will start monitoring the phone.

How to Install Minspy on iPhone

Minspy isn’t actually installed on the iPhone; otherwise, it would require jailbreaking. Instead, it monitors the iCloud account.

Before you start installing Minspy for iOS, you will need to check that the:

1. iCloud backup has been enabled on the target iOS device.
2. Two-Factor Authentication has been disabled.

When you purchase a subscription, you will get the login details sent to your email. The email also has a Start Monitoring button; when you click it, the setup wizard will begin. After selecting the OS you want to monitor, enter the iCloud ID and password in the fields provided. If the iCloud ID is connected to multiple devices, select the one that you want to monitor and then press the Start button. It can take up to 10 minutes for Minspy to sync with data and start uploading the information to the dashboard.