The 3 best Android Apps you can use to track your teens

The 3 best Android Apps you can use to track your teens 

timeoutsport.com

Guests post by 1Life Team
Family tracking apps are all the rage for parents who want to give their kids a little freedom, but aren’t happy to release them into the big wide world without some kind of safety net.

When your kids were small, it was easy to keep tabs on them. They went where you went, or you handed them over to another adult you trusted. But now that you have a tween or a teen on your hands, they are starting to demand a level of autonomy. They want to go to the mall by themselves. They may even have an older friend who’s willing to drive them around. Great, right? No, not really…

So what’s a parent to do? How can you keep tabs on your precious – but now significantly bigger – bundles of joy? If only there was something that they always carried with them, some sort of device that’s always there, even when you aren’t… Wait a minute!

That’s right, for the neurotic, paranoid or conscientious parent, your child’s cell phone is a gift from the heavens. There are any number of apps for keeping track of your kids when they are roaming free. The 1Life Blogging Team have rounded up the best of these for you to consider, to buy your child freedom and you peace of mind.

1.Family Tracker: Locate Phones

R19.99

This app claims to be the most reliable and full-featured tracker on the market. It uses a combination of GPS, cell tower triangulation and WiFi to make sure that it keeps accurate tabs on all your family members, wherever they are and whether they are using Android or Apple devices. Whenever possible it will tell you your child’s whereabouts by providing not only their address but a Street View image of where they are too.

Family Tracker also has a free internal messaging function, so you can send messages to your children when they are out with friends, and a Stealth Ping function that allows you to force an automatic location update without your child being notified. And, if you want your child’s attention, you can set off an audible siren on their phone, even if it is set to vibrate or silent.

Family Tracker has been used to track missing children in the United States.
Install from Play Store

2.Life360

Free

Want to track family members but not willing to pay for an app? Life360 is a free alternative with only a GPS tracker. It allows users to create so-called Circles or groups of loved ones, friends or teammates and then view their real-time location on a map and send them messages for free within the app.

Life360 will also send you alerts when Circle members leave or arrive at destinations and it will even project estimated arrival times if you are waiting for your child to get to their destination or back home again.
Install from Play Store

3.Glympse

Free

If your children are resisting the previous two apps because they are too ‘Big Brotherish’, you can opt for an app called Glympse. Instead of being controlled by the parent, Glympse is controlled by the child. They are able to decide who they want to allow to see their GPS location and for how long they can be tracked. The idea is that they can turn Glympse on when they are heading to a party to let you know that they have arrived safely or when they leave to let you know they are on their way home.

Glympse can also be used by friends who want to meet up in a public space or at an event. Real-time locations, estimated arrival times and travel speeds can be shared over email, text or social networks.
Install from Play Store

Free and safe

As is always the case with these kinds of monitoring apps, there is room for debate about trust and privacy. When your children are in their tween or early teens, it is perfectly reasonable for you to know exactly where they are and to keep tabs on them. But when they start getting older, it is up to them to negotiate acceptable levels of freedom and trust with you – while acknowledging that it’s always safer to have someone aware of their exact whereabouts.

The 1Life Blog provides readers with information that will help them to live better lives, ensure happier healthier families, and manage their finances effectively.

IMAGE SOURCES:Google Play Store