How can I monitor my child’s text messages for free? How to put parental controls? If you have questions like this then you are not alone. Most parents seek effective solutions to safeguard their kids from getting into any kind of trouble.
The internet has changed in a way that we need to take extra measures to safeguard our kids. Cybercrimes are taking a huge toll on every level and a casual chat room of your child if unchecked can bring in the worst person right into your home.
For this, we have collected simple solutions that can help you monitor your child’s phone activity effectively.
How Can I Monitor My Child’s Text Messages For Free?
1. iPhone: Using the iPhone’s iCloud
Before moving forward get the iCloud credentials(email and password) of your kid’s iPhone.
From an old iOS device that is not currently being used for iMessage (iPod or iPad or iPhone):
- Open Messages and enter your child’s iCloud credentials (you can also go to Settings > Messages)
- Add “trust” this device for “handover” under Settings > Messages.
- Double-check the Send & Receive – it should be the phone number of your child’s iPhone.
From a MacOS device (MacBook or iMac):
- Create a new user account on your macOS device.
- Open the Messages app and enter your child’s iCloud credentials.
- Under the Messages Settings, go to Accounts and make sure the “You can be reached for messages at:” is set to your child’s phone number.
- Keep this account running in the background and it will collect messages from your child’s device.
Note: If your child changes their iCloud account password, you will lose syncing until you update the password.
2. Android: Using Parental Control Apps
Android is completely different from the iPhone, it doesn’t provide any direct options to read your text messages. However, you can make use of parental control apps available in the Android Play Store.
If you are looking for “How Can I Monitor My Child’s Text Messages For Free” then in android you may have limited access to free apps and may require to purchase a good app to monitor your kid’s message?
Like iCloud in Apple devices, Android uses a Gmail account to store all information like your child’s messages, Gmail emails, pictures, videos, and Whatsapp messages. So make sure to get the Gmail credentials of your kid’s Android device beforehand.
Also Read:
- Good Parenting Tips: Skills To Become A Good Parent
- Bullying In Schools: How To Teach Your Child To Stand-Up
- 30 Trivia Questions For Kids With Ans To Improve Knowledge
3. View Text Messages Online via Telecom Providers
This method is not limited to Android or iOS devices. Some Telecom companies like Verizon provide text message viewing features and you can simply contact them to get the details.
However, some companies will only show you a log file instead of the text message content. Anyway, if you know the child’s account and password, you can try this free method.
If your kid is on the Verizon network then you can follow the steps below to get the messages online.
- Log in to My Verizon page and go to Account > Text online.
- Accept the Terms and Conditions if prompted.
- Click on the conversation and check the detailed messages.
The Bottom Line
These are some of the ways using which you can know how to monitor a child’s text messages for free. If you see that your child is behaving normally, doing his/her duties well, and is in the older teenage years, you should not be employing so many restrictions. Instead of monitoring them guide them in the right way so that they can protect themselves from harmful persons.
