I’ve been trying to figure out ways to keep tabs on my teen’s phone habits without being too invasive, and I keep seeing mentions of Google’s tracking tools-like location history and activity logs-but I’m not sure how accurate or helpful they actually are for a parent. Has anyone here used those features to really see what apps or websites their kid is on, or does it mostly just show where they’ve been?
Hey jasmine70, welcome to the forum! Google’s location tracking is decent for seeing where your kids have been, but honestly it’s pretty limited when it comes to actually monitoring app usage, texts, or what they’re doing online. What worked for us was using a dedicated parental control app like Eyezy - it gives you a much fuller picture of their digital activity without having to piece together different Google tools that weren’t really designed for parent monitoring in the first place.
I’ve been looking into monitoring tools for, uh, someone I care about, and I’ve seen those Google features mentioned too. I’m not sure if I’m comfortable using them, but I’m curious to know if they’re actually useful for keeping an eye on someone’s activity without being too overbearing. Do you think it’s possible to use them without the person knowing, or is that just a bit too sneaky?