As a mom, I’m very concerned by my 16 years old daughter’s security. I must admit I’m even a bit obsessed actually. Sex offenders, rape, drugs, kidnapping, there are so many dangers outside for a girl nowadays.
And considering their smartphones as a main entry point to this dangerous world, I decided to give an eye on my daughter’s, and to do so, and after reading numerous reviews, I chose iKeyMonitor as it seemed the most complete and affordable keylogger software.
And I wasn’t disappointed at all. The app is very easy to install, even for a beginner like me, since the video and text tutorials are precise and complete. I must precise my daughter uses my old Samsung Galaxy J5, and it’s non rooted since I don’t have any clue on how to do so.
Once correctly set up, it’s pretty easy to use and to monitor my daughter’s phone. I’m able to see what she’s writing, what texts and other messages she receives, and also anything she types in any app, including Chrome or Schedule or Instagram. Hopefully, for a 16yo girl, she’s not into social media that much, she doesn’t use Kik, Tinder, Viber and other social media apps, so that’s less apps for me to monitor haha.
I’m also able to see every photo she takes, except for photos taken directly in Facebook Messenger conversations (I don’t know why).
Some features work great, when some others are still missing some things. For example, I don’t get all the answers of a conversation that’s already open, either in Facebook Messenger or Whatsapp (I guessed it’s because the keylogger app reads messages from notifications, as far as I read on Internet) so if there’s no notification because of the convo already open on screen, it doesn’t catch anything). Also, it doesn’t record vocal messages from Facebook Messenger (or I missed something during setting up), though it records the ones from Whatsapp. At least, it doesn’t record the pictures received in Facebook Messenger, but that’s probably a matter of my daughter’s own Messenger settings.
Those are the most things missing to me, anyway the keylogger works perfectly fine and I’m able to monitor if she receives messages from predators or loud guys trying to flirt with her (and trust me, she receives a lot of these !).
Some features are not working, like remotely taking photos, thought I think it’s because I didn’t install the most recent version of iKeyMonitor app on the phone.
But basically it works really well and it’s very useful. As an example of what the app helps for, I once was away for work with my husband on a Saturday night. She received a Whatsapp message telling: “Hey, party at Pete’s tonight 9pm, are you in? Got booze and pot”. She wasn’t supposed to go on parties following bad school results, and more important, for obvious reasons, no alcohol nor drugs! She answered right after: “Hey I’m in, see you there”.
Since we were hours from home, we couldn’t do nothing, and I didn’t want to call her to stop her from going there, since I wanted to know if she really would go or if she would have some common sense and respect…
Well, she had not. I knew she went to the party because she sent her friend a message telling “I’m here in 5 minutes”.
I used the surround record feature to get a proof of her being at the party. It’s pretty messy since there was loud music and conversations, a lot of people, but I could clearly hear her voice through the noise. And anyway, the fact I was able to record this party surround is a proof she was there with her phone…
When we came back home on Sunday afternoon, I asked her: “How was the party at Pete’s last night? Did you have fun?”. She stood speechless because she wasn’t expecting for me to know about it. I then told her I’ve been monitoring her phone for several months and that I was aware of what she did the night before. I must admit I was proud of catching her (with the discreet help of iKeyMonitor). That was an awkward victory moment for a concerned mom.
Since then, she knows I’m watching, like Big Brother, but I explained her it was first above all to protect her against possible harassers or predators, and to avoid bad behaviors from her and from her friends to her. She’s smart enough to understand that it’s not about stalking or spying on her. She now acts like a wise girl, and I think she’s not going to join forbidden parties ever again!
So iKeyMonitor is a great app, one of the most complete keyloggers, for a low price (one of the cheapest in the keyloggers market, I think). I highly recommend it for any parent that feel concerned about their child safety and behavior. Social medias are such a danger for our kids nowadays, we really need apps like this one to help us keeping an eye on them and protect their childhood.
I haven’t explore all the iKeyMonitor features yet. But I just told my daughter I was able to do so, even if it’s a (little) lie, so she doesn’t try to trick me on her locations. I also warned my youngest son, who is 9 years old, about my ability to monitor his phone as well as soon as he’ll get one. Better anticipate his behavior and fear him from doing stupid things.
Epilog
Oh and if you’re wondering, yes, I told Pete’s parents about the party and then told them about iKeyMonitor app. They signed up for a license to keep Pete away from organizing illegal parties. I think he’ll have some bad times…