Top Parental Control Apps for Mac 2021
Parents have always been worried about their kids’ safety; especially outside of their own home. However, with the advancement of technology, some of the dangers of the outside world have moved right into our homes because now we are in touch with other people practically all days long. And while the Internet is a source of endless information and fun, it can also be quite a dangerous place, especially for children. Online dangers for kids include:
- Cyberbullying, one of the hugest online problems. Kids are bullied online on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc. Additionally, bullying frequently happens on gaming platforms where kids can play online games virtually in real mode.
- Online predators. Unfortunately, this issue is still real online. Online strangers usually use popular social platforms to meet kids and ask them to share their personal data. Since social networks don’t require proving your identity, kids may not even know that they talk to an adult.
- Poor body image. Social media like Instagram and Snapchat are full of photoshopping and filters, which leads to poor body image for kids.
- Inappropriate content. You know that the Internet is full of violent, adult and inappropriate content that is dangerous for kids. As a parent, you can protect your child from such kind of data and block unwanted websites.
- Falling for scam. Some children are too trustful and can easily fall into scammers’ trap and provide some personal or financial data to strangers.
Due to the abundance of online dangers, parents around the world have decided to take the matter into their own hands and keep an eye on their kids’ online activities at all times. If you wish to do the same, here are some of the top parental control apps for Mac that you should consider using in 2021.
1. Spyrix Activity Monitoring
The best app when it comes to making sure that kids are safe online. The main features include keylogging, URL monitoring, app tracking, screenshot capture, and many more. Further, the app notifies you when the computer user visits an unwanted website and lets you block URLs that you find inappropriate for your child. Applications can be also added to the blacklist. Besides, Spyrix Activity Monitoring allows live viewing of the computer screen in real mode.
Other than that, the software can turn the target device into a surveillance system. Simply enable webcam and mic recording and you’ll know what exactly is going on near the kid’s device. All recorded data can be accessed remotely via a secure online account. Find this app on the Mac AppStore and give it a try!
2. KidInspector
KidInspector is the top solution for parental control for Mac users and it comes with a wide variety of features that will help you monitor your children’s online activity. It keeps track of all visited websites and search queries as well as of all the activities on the world’s most popular social networks including but not limited to Facebook, Viber, FaceTime, WhatsApp, and more. It also tracks all the running apps, logs keystrokes, and presents all the collected data in forms such as screenshots, graphs, and text.
Additionally, the Live Viewing feature enables you to watch all that happens on your child’s screen directly and thanks to the webcam and sound surveillance feature, your child’s computer can be turned into a simple home surveillance system presenting you with screenshots, and recordings of video and audio from the computer’s mic and cam. Recording can be triggered by a certain action or it can be timed, and all of the recordings will be sent to your personal KidInspector account on a secured cloud server.
3. KidsGoGoGo
KidsGoGoGo is one of the best parental control systems specifically developed for Mac and it will help you get a clearer picture of your child’s online activity. It automatically filters and restricts sites for all users and thanks to the new built-in surveillance server, your child will not be able to disable filtering.
This useful app also allows you to set time restrictions for internet access or for specific websites and apps. You can disable the browsers, social networks, messengers and other chat applications, and other sites by time. KidsGoGoGo works on all kinds of internet connections, it is very easy to install and set up, and the networking speed is not slowed down when it is active.
4. Mobicip for Mac
Mobicip is a fantastic parental control software that allows limiting kids’ screen time and preventing screen addiction. The app lets you ensure your kids are safe online and lets you block unwanted websites with unhealthy and mature content. Moreover, your kids won’t be able to remove the app from the device since it can be uninstalled only by the admin.
With Mobicip, you can monitor all family devices from one control panel (remotely) without access to the target device. It’s also possible to block social media and games and block websites by category for Internet filtering (gambling, online shopping, etc.). If your kid is a gamer and likes wanting suspicious streams, you can also block video streaming apps and sites that you find inappropriate for your child. The program offers a 7-day free trial.
5. Free Website Blocker for Mac
Free Website Blocker for Mac is a tool that will automatically block unwanted websites in all major search engines including Safari, Chrome, Firefox, and Opera. You can blacklist specific websites based on keywords, block them by URL, or by the titles. This website blocker is extremely easy to use because it does not require installation and all you have to do is download it and run it. However, bear in mind that if you require some of the more advanced features such as keylogging or live viewing, you might consider choosing a different parental control app.
6. Qustodio Parental Control for Mac
Qustodio Parental Control comes in two versions and whether you decide to opt for the free or the premium version depends on your needs and requirements. With the free version, you can block specific websites and searches as well as limit internet use. However, if you want to set limits on applications, you are going to need the premium version of Qustodio.
The installation process is quite simple and it takes less than 10 minutes. Once the app has been installed on your computer, you will have to create an account and sign in to set up some preferences before the app actually becomes active. From that point on, the application will run quietly in the background of your child’s Mac without impacting the performance of the computer.
7. McAfee Safe Eyes
McAfee Safe Eyes is a great tool for shielding children from inappropriate content online and it actually does it in quite a smart way. For example, while it automatically blocks porn sites and similar websites featuring nudity, it allows scientific and educational articles on nudity. It comes with a variety of filters that cover everything from adult-only topics to potentially malicious e-mail clients. It is protected against uninstallation and deactivation and once you purchase the license, you will be able to use it on three computers (both Windows and Mac or any combination of the two). Aside from filtering content, it also allows you to limit time spent online and control programs including peer-to-peer file sharing applications, media players, and instant messengers.
8. Familoop Safeguard
Familoop Safeguard is a super easy tool to use for protecting all devices your children have access to. Once you download and install it, the age-based protection will be applied instantly and you will be immediately notified of all suspicious activities. With Familoop, you can set device time limits to keep your kids’ screen time balanced with a healthy lifestyle, dangerous websites and inappropriate content will be filtered and blocked based on 77 filter categories, you can block objectionable apps, and have a full picture of your children’s online activities thanks to your parental dashboard on your Parent Account.
9. Kidslox
Kidslox for Mac is a parental control app with powerful monitoring and blocking features. The paid version lets you track up to 10 devices at a time. Kidslox allows you to set time limits, schedule time when the device can be used by your child, and filter online content. If you find out that your kid uses some unwanted and unproductive apps, you can block them with a few clicks. proxy type software used for filtering the harmful sites and age-inappropriate content to keep your kids safe online. Other than that, the app has a free version with the screen time limitation feature so if you only need to prevent screen addiction, the app will suit your needs.
The app offers 3 plans (1 year/ 6 months/ 1 month). In my view, the subscription is not cheap but the app is worth a try.
10. IntegoContentBarrier X9
IntegoContentBarrier X9, previously known simply as Family Protector, is a Mac parental control tool specifically designed to keep your children safe while online. While the World Wide Web puts all information out there to be available to anyone at any time, this handy tool helps you make sure that your children don’t have access to any inappropriate content or harmful websites. It allows you to create and customize reasonable barriers according to your children’s age from toddler to teen. This way, your kids will only have access to kid-friendly websites while the dangerous categories of websites such as pornography and gambling sites will stay out of your kids’ reach.
However, we all know that every child is different and that is why parents usually want to customize their children’s experience online differently for every kid. With Intego Content Barrier, you will get customizable parental control settings for each family member. On top of that, you will be able to restrict the time of day your children can access the Internet, keep an eye on the sites they visit, and record keystrokes or take screenshots of active applications.
11. WebWatcher
It is sometimes challenging to keep your children safe online while still respecting their privacy, but WebWatcher is the tool that allows you to do both. It automatically alerts you if your children are engaging in potentially dangerous or questionable activities online without requiring you to keep an eye on them 24/7. You will get alerts classified either as Red Flag, Warning, Positive, or Informational. By default, public accounts are red-flagged, private accounts are listed as positive, and the creation of other accounts comes with a warning. In case of Twitter feed or similar public information on an account, the content is automatically scanned and you are alerted if there are any problematic posts or inappropriate language.
12. Internet Safe for Kids Web Browser for Mac
Internet Safe for Kids Web Browser for Mac is entirely free of charge and it offers safe and secure browsing for children above the age 3. It comes with a password protection feature to limit access to suspicious and potentially harmful websites and it also includes 12 parent-approved websites that are great for children because not only are they fun and creative, but they are also informational and can help with your children’s learning. As for the cost, you can run the software for 30 days with no registration and after that, you will have to obtain a registration code which is completely free.
13. Norton Family Premier
Norton Family Premier makes the web much safer for your kids to explore while keeping them away from online predators and from inappropriate websites and content. Aside from blocking potentially harmful sites, this software will keep you informed of all the websites your children visit and how much time they spend on them. You can also schedule the screen time for all devices your children use to help your kids balance the time spent online. In addition to that, you will get detailed reports on what your children are doing online and all unsafe behavior will be flagged so you can discuss it with your kids and help them take additional precautionary measures themselves.
The key features of this handy software include but are not limited to Search Supervision, Time Supervision, Web Supervision, Social Network Supervision, Personal Information Protection, Video Supervision, Weekly/Monthly Reports, Instant Lock, Email Alerts, Access-Request, and more.
14. Kaspersky Safe Kids
If you need help looking out for your kids online and beyond, Kaspersky Safe Kids might be the right choice for you. This useful parent control app will help you manage your children’s app use and screen time, monitor their online activity, get reports on public social media activity including Facebook posts and newly added friends, block access to adult websites and content, and more. Full functionality is available for Mac, Windows, and Android phones which means that you can use the same parental control app for all devices your children have access to. However, bear in mind that when it comes to iPads and iPhones, you can only apply age-appropriate limitations.
15. KidLogger
With the help of the KidLogger parental control app, you will get a full picture of how your child is spending their time online in no time. KidLogger is compatible with all popular OS in the world and it lets you know how much time your child is spending online, which apps they use and for how long, which websites they visit, with whom they communicate on social media or via instant messengers, what photos they took, etc.
KidLogger monitors your child’s web history, tracks time, takes screenshots triggered by specific keywords, records keystrokes, monitors messages, keeps track of the most used applications, and delivers all of that information to you in a form of email reports.
16. DansGuardian
DansGuardian is an open source web content filter that filters the web content based on methods such as phrase matching, PICS filtering, and URL filtering. Unlike some other commercial filters, DansGuardian does not purely filter based on a banned list of sites and it puts you in control of what you want to block and what you want to allow. The default settings were tailored for elementary school children, but you can customize them in any way you see fit if you have a child of a different age.
17. MinorMonitor
If you want to stop your children from accidentally or deliberately visiting inappropriate websites, MinorMonitor is a parental control application that could help you at that. The team behind this handy tool realizes that children nowadays spend more time on social media than just casually browsing the internet which means that the majority of MinorMonitor’s new features are focused on monitoring social media activity.
With this app, you can track what your child posts and visits on Facebook and Twitter, whom they communicate with, and how much time they spend using social networks. However, bear in mind that there is one big con to this app and that is the fact that can be easily disabled by the child.
18. PureSight
PureSight is one of the top parental control applications and it comes with a wide variety of useful features that will help you keep your kids safe and secure online. The most important features include Facebook/Cyberbullying Protection, File Sharing Control, Web Filtering, Internet Curfew, Parent Portal, etc.
With Pure Sight, not only can you keep your children away from online predators and inappropriate websites, but you can also limit the online time and set up internet curfew however you see fit. To have a clear picture of how your child spends their time online, PureSight will deliver detailed reports as well as real-time alerts of potential dangers or suspicious behavior.
