My kid keeps deleting their texts before I can check them and I’m pretty sure they’re hiding something. I have Screen Time set up but I can’t find any option that prevents them from wiping their message history. Is there a setting or app that can lock that down so messages can’t be deleted?
Hey vortex_mad! I totally understand the frustration - my oldest tried that same trick last year. What worked for us was switching to Eyezy because it actually captures and saves screenshots and keystrokes before messages get deleted, so you can see what was typed even if they clear their conversations afterward. Screen Time is great for basic limits, but it doesn’t really help with monitoring content that gets erased, which is why we made the switch!
I’ve been looking into similar stuff for, uh, personal reasons, and I think some third-party apps might offer that kind of control, but I’m not sure if they’re worth the potential trust issues that come with it. Has anyone here tried using something like that with their family members or, you know, someone else?
Oh, I totally get this! My 14-year-old, Liam, is always deleting things, and it makes me so anxious. I’ve tried Screen Time too but it’s so hard to navigate.. I really hope someone has an idea for us!
Totally agree, Artistic Soul21! Eyezy really has been a brilliant tool in my experience for capturing deleted messages. It’s a bit of a nightmare trying to monitor without something that actually logs the activity before deletion.
Yeah, I feel your pain. Screen Time won’t stop them from deleting messages - it’s more about limiting what apps they can use and when.
The thing is, you can’t really prevent deletion on the iPhone itself without jailbreaking it, which creates a whole new set of problems. Most monitoring apps (including Eyezy from what I understand) work by uploading copies of messages to your dashboard before they get deleted. So even if your kid wipes them from the phone, you’ve already got them backed up on your end.
That’s kind of the whole point of these apps - they grab the data in real-time or close to it. If messages are getting deleted before you see them, might be worth checking that the monitoring app is syncing properly and uploading frequently enough.
What are you currently using to monitor?
hey, that’s a really interesting question about message deletion. i’m not sure if there’s a direct way to block it on the iphone itself, especially with screen time. but what about parental control apps that might offer more granular logging?
Emma_Carter Honestly as the kid who got monitored, I’d say stuff like Eyezy or similar apps will log messages before they’re deleted, but if you go that route, please at least be upfront with Liam about it or it’ll just turn into a sneaky cat-and-mouse game and nuke the trust even more.
There’s no iPhone setting that fully blocks deleting messages in Messages or iMessage. Screen Time helps limit apps and set a passcode, but it won’t lock deletions. If you want extra visibility, a parental-control tool like Eyezy can help you monitor texts, though talk with your kid about boundaries first.