10 Best Spy Apps for Android to Keep an Eye on Any Matter
Admittedly, spy apps aren’t always seen as a good thing. On the other hand, there are situations when kids need a parent to keep an eye on their smartphone usage. Make sure you’re transparent when it comes to safe approaches and also make sure you know any local laws before installing any app in this category. If you are confident that your app is legal and appropriate, here is our list of best spy apps for Android.
mSpy
mSpy is an app that ensures you know what your loved ones are up to. It has a variety of features including advanced GPS tracking, detailed call monitoring, social media monitoring, and more. It gives you the insight to make informed decisions, such as where they are, who they are talking to, and what they are saying. Install on a target device and you’ll have everything you need to monitor them.
Cerberus
Cerberus is a smartphone tracker. It’s not just for personal use, but it helps you find lost or stolen smartphones too. It has a bunch of cool features, including taking photos of the thief, spying on them with GPS mapping and even power-washing your data! The service starts at $5 dollars for one device with upcharges for multiple devices that range from $25 – $50 per year depending on how many you have.
FlexiSPY
One of the more powerful Android spy apps, FlexiSpy is a little more costly with features that range from recording audio to tracking chats and controlling your phone’s location. Though it’s not available on the app store and has more features than most other apps, every purchase unlocks additional packages and makes spying easier.
Carrier family locator apps
Carrier Family Locators are family location services that work as expected, allowing you to track the location of any device and get alerts when someone changes their location. These services usually offer you on-demand movement tracking and alerts of varying types, though it is worth noting that they may differ depending on which carrier you’re using. You can find more details about T-Mobiles on Cell Phone Time and also get the latest information about mobile phones. We’ve got T-Mobile’s linked up here but you can search Google Play to see if other carriers have similar services.
Prey Anti Theft
There are many free find my device apps available for your device. This app has features including GPS tracking, phone locking, sending alarms to the phone through the app and taking pictures with the device’s camera. In addition, they offer Wi-Fi hotspot identification and MAC address tracking. These features are usually found on paid versions of these apps so it is a steal at no cost to you.
Google Family Link
Google has created a service for parents to manage their child’s device and apps. With the software, you can view activity on the child’s account, manage app use, and even recommend apps. There are also settings that limit how much time the child spends on his or her device.
The experience for many users at launch was not without some annoyances, but nevertheless, this service is a great opportunity to try new features that are released from Google. As long as you’re willing to put in the time necessary to see how the service works, it’s worth the investment of your time.
Find My Device by Google
Find My Device quickly locates your phone or other Google accessories, even when it has been lost or stolen. With Find My Device, you can wipe the device, ring it, and lock it with a password for the best protection. The app lacks the advanced features of Cerberus (which recognizes faces). Overall, Find My Device is a simple way to track your device’s position on a map.
Spyera
Spyera is a highly sophisticated spy app that boasts various features for enterprise use. It’s an extraordinarily intense application that has the ability to hide itself from practically anywhere, except for commercial uses. Spyera has numerous features and can even detect when phones are lost or stolen.
This application is extremely expensive. Highly skilled cybersecurity professionals typically do not recommend this application to normal users. Also, it is NOT available on the App Store, so you have to get this app from its official website.
OEM Find My Phone
There are some phone manufacturers that include features in their software called “find your device.” One has been the Samsung Find My Device. You log in with your Samsung account and you can search for your phone on a map, find its lost state, or even find it somewhere else if it just got misplaced. With the combination of this feature and Google’s “Find My Device” app, you have a powerful one-two punch at beating thieves out of your information.
XNSPY
At the same time, it is affordable than many of its competitors, although this app has all kinds of spying features like monitoring call logs, GPS tracking, monitoring web browsing, and so on.
The basic version of Kiddie Parental Controls is a good start for families or individuals who want to monitor their child’s computer usage. The premium version has more features and allows you to see everything going on on devices that belong to your family, but it’s not too expensive and can be a good option if you have extra funds.
How to check for and remove spy apps
However, many of these apps are not visible in the app store and may secretly be uploading your data. Some techniques for finding out if an app is manipulating your data include looking at reviews, checking permissions, and looking through third party message applications.
As a first step in protecting your device, use the app GlassWire to see when apps are communicating with their corporate masters and not with you. Uncover apps that may be spying on you and learn of their secrets without their knowledge.
There are still risks and some antivirus apps may detect these apps if they weren’t hidden well enough. Our list of the best spy app can be found here for your convenience. The uninstall guides for most of these apps can be found on the above guide.