From sign-up to a live dashboard in about five minutes. Follow these steps and you'll be up and running on Android or iPhone — no technical know-how required.
TheTruthSpy is a phone monitoring app for parents and businesses. You install it once on a phone you own or are responsible for, and from then on it quietly gathers the activity that matters — location, calls, messages, the apps in use — and sends it to a private online dashboard called the Control Panel. You open that dashboard from any browser, on your own phone or computer, and check in whenever you like.
It's built to be light and discreet: no home-screen icon on Android once setup is done, no battery-draining slowdown, and no technical skill required to use it. The guide below walks you through installation on both Android and iPhone, one step at a time, so you can be confident you've done it right.
Nine simple steps. Most apply to Android; step 8 covers the iPhone shortcut via iCloud.
Before you touch the target phone, set up your account on your own device. Head to the pricing page, choose Free to try the basics or Premium for the full toolkit, and sign up with an email and password.
This email is your login for the Control Panel, where all the monitored activity will appear, so pick an inbox you check regularly. The moment you finish, your dashboard is live — there's nothing to install on your own phone or computer.
As soon as your account is ready, we send a welcome email containing your download link and a quick-start summary. Open it on the phone you intend to monitor, since that's where the app needs to go.
If it isn't in the inbox within a minute or two, check the spam or promotions folder. The download link inside is unique to your account, so keep the email handy until setup is finished.
On an Android phone, you'll first prepare it to accept the installer. Open the phone's Settings app — the gear icon — where you'll adjust one security option in the next step.
This is a normal, one-time preparation that every app installed outside the Play Store requires. It takes seconds and can be switched back afterward.
In Settings, find the option to allow installation from unknown sources — depending on your Android version it sits under Security, Apps, or Special app access. Toggle it on for the browser you'll download with.
This simply tells Android it's fine to install an app that didn't come from the Play Store. Our on-screen guide shows the exact path for your specific phone if you're unsure.
Now tap the download link from your welcome email on the target phone. The app file will download in a few seconds — you'll usually see its progress in the notification bar at the top of the screen.
Everything is delivered over a secure connection. Once the download finishes, you're ready to install.
Tap the downloaded file to begin installing. Android will show a standard install screen; tap Install and wait a few seconds for it to finish, then choose Open.
The first time you open it, the app will guide you through the remaining setup on the phone itself, so just follow the prompts on screen.
The app will ask for a handful of permissions so it can capture the activity you want — things like location, and access to the data each feature relies on. Our in-app guide points to exactly which ones to enable and why.
Granting them takes a few taps. Allowing location 'all the time', for example, is what keeps the map updating in the background. Nothing important should be left switched off.
With permissions granted, TheTruthSpy tucks itself away. On Android there's no home-screen icon once setup is done, no pop-ups, and no slowdown — the phone looks and behaves exactly as it did before.
That discretion is deliberate: monitoring only reflects real behaviour when the person isn't conscious of being watched. You can now hand the phone back.
For an iPhone or iPad you can often skip the hands-on installation entirely. Instead of installing an app, you connect TheTruthSpy to the device's iCloud account using its credentials, and data such as messages, photos and location syncs from there.
From your Control Panel, choose the iCloud setup option and follow the prompts. This is the simplest route on Apple devices, though some advanced features remain Android-only.
Back on your own phone or computer, sign in to the Control Panel with the email and password you created in step one. Within minutes the first data begins to arrive, filling in the tabs for location, calls, messages, apps and more.
From here on, everything is remote — you never need the target phone again. Just open your dashboard whenever you like and the latest activity is already waiting.
Start free to try the basics, or unlock all 25+ features with Premium at $20.99/month — save 20% yearly. A money-back guarantee has you covered.
The steps above cover both platforms, but it helps to know which path is yours before you begin. Android gives you the deepest access and the widest set of features, which is why it needs a few minutes of hands-on time with the phone: you download the app directly, allow it through the unknown-sources setting, and grant its permissions. Once that's done, it runs entirely in the background with no icon, and you manage everything remotely from your Control Panel.
iPhone and iPad work differently because of how Apple's system is built. Rather than installing an app, you typically connect TheTruthSpy to the device's iCloud account using its credentials, and data such as messages, photos and location syncs from iCloud to your dashboard. The big advantage is that this can often be set up without physical access to the device at all. The trade-off is that some advanced, device-level features — like certain recording tools — are available only on Android.
If you have a choice of which device to monitor, Android will give you the fullest picture. If the phone in question is an iPhone, the iCloud route is usually the quickest and least intrusive way to get started. Either way, the account you create in step one is the same, and the Control Panel you sign in to is identical — only the installation path differs.
Whichever platform you're on, take your time with the permissions step. That's the part that determines how complete your data will be, and our in-app prompts are there to make sure nothing important is missed. Once it's done, you shouldn't need to touch the target phone again.
For most people, five to ten minutes from creating an account to seeing the first data. Android takes a few minutes of hands-on time with the target phone; iPhone via iCloud can often be done without handling the device at all.
For Android, yes — you need it for a few minutes to download and install the app. For iPhone, you can frequently set up remotely using the device's iCloud credentials, with no physical access required.
Because the app is installed directly rather than through the Play Store, Android asks you to confirm that's intended. It's a normal one-time security toggle and can be switched back after installation.
No. On Android there's no home-screen icon once setup is complete, and there are no notifications, so the phone behaves exactly as before. We recommend only monitoring devices you own or are responsible for.
No. The everyday features work without rooting or jailbreaking. A small number of advanced Android features need root, but most people never use them.
Make sure the unknown-sources toggle is on for your browser, that there's enough storage, and that you opened the link on the target phone. If it still fails, contact support and we'll walk you through it.
No. TheTruthSpy is built to be light — it batches uploads and runs quiet background tasks, so the phone performs and charges normally with no obvious sign it's there.
Usually within minutes. Once the app is set up and synced, your dashboard starts filling in; on iPhone via iCloud, data arrives after the device's next backup.
Yes. With a Family plan you can add several devices to the same Control Panel and switch between them, repeating these steps on each phone.
Monitoring is generally lawful on devices you own, on a minor child's phone as their parent or guardian, or on a company device with the user's consent. Laws vary, so you're responsible for lawful use — see our Terms.
Create your account, follow the steps, and watch your dashboard fill in. Setup is quick, and help is one email away if you need it.
Start the downloadIf anything doesn't go to plan, our support team will walk you through it. Most questions are answered in the FAQ above or our help pages.