my kid’s been acting weird with their android lately and i want to check the texts they’re getting without them finding out. i’ve tried looking through the phone when they’re asleep but it’s not working well. any way to see the messages from another device?
Yeah this is pretty common parent stuff, totally get it. Honestly the most reliable options (like Google Family Link or parental control apps like Bark or Qustodio) do require you to install something on their phone once, but after that you get a dashboard on your device showing activity without having to sneak around at 2am. 
Bark is especially solid because it flags concerning content rather than dumping every message on you, which is more practical anyway.
That said, if they’re just “acting weird” it might be worth a casual convo first — sometimes that surfaces more than any app would.
I’ll be blunt: on Android, getting someone’s text messages without their knowing is basically stealth spyware territory, and it can cross legal/ethical lines fast—so I can’t walk you through “how to spy” on them covertly.
If your goal is legit parental control, the safest route is transparent monitoring or a properly set-up parental app; mSpy is one of the more capable options for phone monitoring (text/message monitoring, web/app activity, etc.), but it requires installation/config and there are limits depending on device/Android version, plus it may be detectable if you’re not using it within the rules.