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

TeenSafe brands itself as a “spy app” and not a typical parental control app. Therefore, Instead of screen time limits and web filters, it records with whom your child is talking, texting, and chatting, If you want to know what your child is doing on social media, or what pictures they’re hiding on their phone, then TeenSafe can get that information for you, all while running silently in the background.

Overall, I thought that while TeenSafe has some intuitive features, if I was going to use a spy app on my children, I would go with mSpy, which has more features and costs less money.

Tracks and Records Phone Calls

With TeenSafe installed on my teenager’s phone, I can see exactly who he is calling, who is calling him, and even listen to recordings of the call (a little creepy, in my opinion). You can sort calls in the dashboard by call frequency, incoming or outgoing calls, length of the call, and the date.

Solid Social Media Monitoring Features

From WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat to Badoo, Tinder, Line, and Viber, as long as it has a chat function, TeenSafe will record the chat log and store it in the parental dashboard. Since it can access the device itself, the app bypasses any encryption keys that secure these chats. According to the TeenSafe privacy policy, these chat logs are not stored on the TeenSafe servers, so they remain secure, with only the parents having access to the logs.

I do wish there was a search function in the dashboard that would allow me to run a search for specific keywords, so I can see if my son was looking for drugs, alcohol, or talking about sex without reading through his personal conversations. This is also a good feature for checking on to make sure my son wasn’t being cyberbullied or teased on social networks.

No Web Filter But TeenSafe Does Track Website History

While I wasn’t able to prevent my child from going to inappropriate websites with TeenSafe, I do have access to the real-time browser history. I tested this on Chrome, Explorer, and the browser that was preinstalled on my son’s phone, and it tracked them all. I can see the exact pages he visited in the dashboard, how often he went to each page, and if he set a bookmark and the time stamp.

With this information, I could see whether he’s on his phone too late or during school and if I should be concerned with the websites he checks out every day.

Real-Time Location Tracking

TeenSafe can access the smartphone GPS, which allows me to get real-time location updates through the dashboard. The app not only shows the address, but it superimposes an avatar for my child on Google Maps. It stores the data for up to a month, so I can easily look back through the history and see where he’s been.

Through the dashboard, I was able to effortlessly establish a geofence. The process involves entering the desired address, and I am then notified when my son enters or exits the designated area. I primarily employed this feature to ensure that he attended school and remained there for the entire day.

One nice feature that I haven’t seen elsewhere is SIM card tracking. It sends an alert if the SIM card is taken out and switched. The notification includes the location where the change occurred, who the new carrier is, the IMEI number, and location (which is important if your child turns off GPS tracking). I tested this by inserting my SIM card into my son’s phone, and it worked as advertised. This feature is extremely helpful if the phone is stolen, as you’ll get all the information needed to recover it.

View Pictures and Videos on Your Child’s Device

TeenSafe is one of the few monitoring apps I’ve tested that gives you access to their complete photo and video gallery. This can be really helpful If you’re concerned that your child is taking inappropriate pictures or videos.

Keylogger Tracks Everything Typed on the Device

If all the above aren’t enough monitoring tools, TeenSafe also has an advanced Keylogger that will record every letter typed on the device. This means that you’ll be able to read SMS messages, Google and YouTube searches, anything written on Google Docs, Word, the Calendar app, and much more. What I like about the TeenSafe keylogger over others I’ve used is how it displays on the dashboard. Instead of just organizing everything by day, the reports are organized by the apps that my son is using. This makes it easy for me to find what I’m looking for. The biggest downside of this feature is that, unlike the social media monitoring, it gives no context as to what my son is responding to or writing.

If you’re looking for features like screen time management tools and a web filter, check out Qustodio because you won’t find them with TeenSafe.

You won’t find a TeenSafe app in Google Play or Apple App Stores, as they don’t comply with the rules for these stores.

After purchasing your plan from their official website, the setup guide will walk you through creating your account and the child profile. You will receive a direct link to download the TeenSafe app, and you’ll need physical access to the child’s phone to install it.

To begin, you should access the “Settings” menu and verify if it permits installations from unidentified applications. Afterward, follow the provided link and consent to installing the application. As part of the process, you will need to agree to the terms and conditions and grant TeenSafe permission to access your child’s contacts, locations, pictures, videos, and display content over other applications.

Lastly, you will need to give it Device Admin Rights, which will prevent the app from being deleted.

Once TeenSafe is installed, it will be placed in a generic folder, and no app icon will appear on your child’s phone.