5 Essential Apps for the Modern Parent

Technology has gotten into all spheres of our lives, and there is an app for almost everything. Parenting is not an exception. Today’s market is overflowing with apps to help parents conquer the complexities of raising a child. I have picked five curious apps that are a must for parents who want to ensure their child’s well-being and successful growth and development.

Spyrix Phone Tracker: A Comprehensive Parental Control App

Today’s kids often learn to use a phone before they start school. Unfortunately, they are too young to comprehend the dangers that may hide behind a stranger’s colourful avatar or a bright banner on a familiar website. That is why protecting children using a phone is one of the top duties of parents in our digital age.

Spyrix Phone Tracker is a perfect app to monitor your child’s online activity and communications. It will provide the complete list of the child’s contacts, calls and SMS. Besides, you will track everything your child does online. All their search queries and website visits are now under your control. Inappropriate content can easily be blocked with the app’s blocker feature.

Modern teenagers live on social media more than in the real world, and monitoring their activity there is vital for their safety. Spyrix Phone Tracker monitors a variety of popular messengers and social media, including WhatsApp, Viber, Discord, Snapchat, Instagram, and many others. It captures the contents of each message along with the contact name and the date and time when it was sent/received.

This information allows you to detect any suspicious people contacting your child and take immediate action.

Spyrix Phone Tracker lets you access photos and images stored on the device, which may reveal potential dangers or your child’s inappropriate behaviour.

Another valuable feature of Spyrix Phone Tracker is location tracking. Did your teenager say they would go to the library and instead went to the party they were not allowed to? Considering that today’s kids never put down their phones, geolocation lets you check where they are at any moment and ensure they are safe.

Spyrix Phone Tracker has all the features necessary to ensure your child’s safety, both online and in the real world. The app works in the hidden mode, unnoticeable to the child.

Platform: Android

Price: from $39.95 per device/month

Marco Polo: A Fun and Flexible App to Connect with Your Family

Modern life has become so busy for most of us that we rarely can coordinate our schedules and spend quality time with the family, especially when distance separates us. Marco Polo is a unique video messaging app designed to bridge this distance. It got its name after a call-response childhood pool game, and conversations via this app very much remind that game. You record a video message called a “Polo” and immediately send it to your contact or a family group. Unlike traditional video calls, the recipient can watch these Polos at their convenience and send a video response. Such a communication style makes Marco Polo invaluable for busy or geographically spread families with big time differences.

The app is very user-friendly and intuitive. Recording a Polo is as simple as tapping one button. Thanks to it, kids and elderly people, who may not be as tech-savvy as the younger generation, can master it quickly. There is no limit on the length of Polos, which opens a world of opportunities for using this app. Grandparents can easily use Marco Polo to share stories, read bedtime stories, and sing lullabies. Or your elder children can send you a Polo about how their college year started. You can share stories, laugh together, plan family events, and celebrate milestones, even when you’re miles apart.

Surprisingly, Marco Polo is completely free without annoying ads. The free version’s feature set will satisfy the majority of users. Those who want a little more can go for a paid Plus plan. The paid version offers a few benefits, such as playback speed control, notes, custom emoji reactions, unlimited storage of Polos, and hands-free listening.

The unique communication style makes Marco Polo a fun app that connects you to your extended family, creates lasting memories, and strengthens your bonds, regardless of distance.

Platforms: Android, iOS

Price: Freeware. There are two paid plans: Plus Individual for $59.99 per year and Plus Family for 199.99 per year for six accounts.

Cozi: A Convenient App for Conquering the Chaos

Family life is chaotic more often than not. Keeping in mind children’s schedules, meal plans, shopping lists, and everything else is impossible unless you have a supercomputer for the brain. Cozi, a convenient family organizer app, helps to coordinate everyone’s schedules and stay on top of life routines.

The family calendar shows what is on everyone’s to-do list and where everyone needs to be. You can use the calendar to plan and schedule activities, lessons, and family gatherings and set reminders so no one misses an important event.

With Cozi, you can create unlimited lists for whatever you want to track: chores, to-dos, books to read, shows to watch, or camping supplies to pack. These lists can easily be shared with your family members.

Shopping lists are another great feature of Cozi. Forget about sticky notes everywhere — everything is now in one convenient app: groceries, gift lists, holiday menu ideas and more. You can email the specific list in one tap to the family member doing the shopping.

Cozi can even help you with planning meals. You can store recipes, make the menu for the week and easily add the missing ingredients to the shopping list. The recipes are accessible from anywhere, so you can check what you need to buy for dinner right in the shop.

Seems quite a lot of things in one place, right? No worries, you will not get lost or miss anything. The Cozi Today feature will show your day’s agenda, upcoming events and updates from family members.

In total, Cozi has everything you need to conquer the daily stress and chaos of family life.

Platforms: Android, iOS

Price: Free with ads and limitations. The paid plan is $39.

Levelty: Turn Boring Chores into a Game

Any parent knows that getting a child to do chores is often harder than moving a mountain. But what if we turn chores into an exciting game with prizes? The Levelty app does just that. You start by choosing an avatar for the child and making a list of tasks, such as brushing teeth, doing homework, walking the dog, etc. You can also create a larger goal, for example, “improve Maths grades”, and break it down into tasks, such as “do Maths homework”, “ask the teacher for extra assignments”, “get an ‘A’ for the test”, etc. and watch you child achieve them step by step.

Each task is assigned a cost in virtual coins, not tied to real money. When the child completes the task and receives your approval, they earn coins. The child can choose a desired material or non-material reward (again, with assigned cost in virtual coins) and spend earned coins to get this reward.

The app has a colourful intuitive interface which is appealing to kids and parents alike.

Gamifying boring everyday tasks is not only a way to make them fun and easier for the kids but also a method to teach them about effort-result relationships. Levelty teaches kids accountability for their actions and encourages them to take pride in completing tasks.

Platforms: iOS. The Android version is coming soon.

Price: Levelty offers weekly, monthly, three-month, and yearly subscriptions. Prices start at $3.99 per week. Free trial available.

Khan Academy: Free Educational Courses for Everyone

Won’t you feel ashamed if your child asks you to help with their homework and you realize you have completely forgotten the subject? Khan Academy can help.

Khan Academy is a non-profit organization offering free online courses on various subjects, from math and science to history and life skills. Courses include clear text and video explanations and exercises, starting from the very basics and going up to the college level. The child can learn at their own pace and revise the material as much as needed.

Using these courses, you can help your child bridge potential gaps and difficulties in their school learning and study more about their favourite subjects. More than that, Khan Academy can teach them skills not taught at schools, such as financial literacy, Internet safety, social media literacy, etc.

Courses at Khan Academy can help you supplement your child’s education, explore new interests, and foster a lifelong love of learning.

Platforms: iOS, Android

Price: free

Conclusion

These five apps are a great toolkit for parents struggling with the challenges of raising a child. With a few taps on the screen, you can build and strengthen family connections, tame the chaotic family life and ensure that your child is safe, growing and achieving success. By embracing these digital tools, you can empower yourself to be the best parent you can be.