Parental Control Programs for Mobile Devices and Social Media Networks

No clear winner in the mobile and social media realm

Parental control software companies are expanding their reach to cover social media networks and multiple devices like Android and Apple smartphones and tablets. Reviews of programs' mobile and social networking functionality are still limited, however, making it impossible to pick best programs in these categories.

The best programs cover the Windows and Apple operating systems along with mobile devices, but reviewers and consumers warn that even if a parental control product's main software (for the PC, for example) is effective, its apps or social media monitoring may not be as strong. Parents should analyze what their kids are using most and critically review all aspects of a program or use a free trial before committing to parental control software or apps.

Given the growing concerns about cyber bullying, parents are unsurprisingly keen to keep their eye on their child's social networking activities. Unfortunately, there aren't many professional reviews for stand-alone social media parental control programs. AVG Family Safety (Est. $50) filters offensive content in over 80 social networks and monitors your child's activities in chat rooms and on social networking sites, sending immediate SMS or email alerts of disconcerting language or behavior.

Avira Social Network Protection (formerly called SocialShield) is a well-reviewed free online management system dedicated to protecting your kids online, but only covers Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Our best-reviewed parental control software, Net Nanny (Est. $40) and Safe Eyes (Est. $50) receive good marks for their IM and social networking monitoring, as does AVG Family Safety (Est. $50) . Net Nanny recently released a tool called Net Nanny Social (Est. $20 a year) , which scans Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Flickr, Pandora, MySpace and Orkut.

Fortunately for cash-strapped families, many parental control software and apps are free and can supplement programs that might be weak in certain areas. Kids Place is a free app that protects Android devices and is especially effective in stopping young kids from stumbling upon inappropriate websites or running up your bills by accidentally downloading programs or content. It is tailored for little ones, but if you choose to block apps that let you read or buy content (so that your kids won't browse through an adult book or accidentally purchase content), it won't let them read children's books either.

Kindle users praise Kindle Fire FreeTime (Free; $5 per month per child for unlimited access) for offering thousands of child-friendly digital books, videos, games and apps. Kindle Fire FreeTime is available for Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD and Kindle Fire HD 8.9.

Norton Family Premier (Est. $50) blocks text messages on Android phones and a free app (available for Android and iOS) lets you track your kid's activities on your Norton account via your mobile device. The options for iOS are more limited. AVG Family Safety's free iOS app is outstanding, but only when paired with the AVG Family Safety cloud-based management system (Est. $50), which blocks and filters content on Apple's devices but requires a PC to install and manage the program. Minor Monitor (Free) analyzes your child's Facebook and Twitter activity, alerting parents on status updates, new friends, shared photos and private messages.

On the downside, many programs that used to be paid subscriptions have cut back on their monitoring of social media networks or protection for mobile devices now that they're free. There's undoubtedly room for growth in parental control programs covering smartphones, tablets and social media.