My son is being really secretive lately and I want to see what he’s up to. I’m worried that a free app might have malware or steal his data, has anyone here actually tried one safely?
Yeah your instinct is right to be suspicious of those free “hidden recorder” apps - a lot of them are straight up sketchy and could end up putting YOUR kid’s data at risk, which is the opposite of what you want.
Honestly for a kid’s phone, just use the built-in stuff first - Screen Time on iPhone or Digital Wellbeing on Android gives you app usage, and if you’re on a shared Google/Apple family account you already have a ton of visibility without installing anything shady.
If he’s being secretive, sometimes just having the “I can check your phone anytime” conversation works better than going full spy mode - kids usually dial it back when they know you could look, not just when you actually do. 