Parental control app FAQ: what TheTruthSpy tracks, and what it cannot.

The monitored phone must run Android 8.0 or later. The parent panel is a website, so you can manage the family tracking, screen time limits and monitoring from an iPhone, a laptop, or any browser — only the child’s device needs to be Android.

No. Your side is a web panel. You only download and install the parental control app on the child’s Android phone during setup.

About ten minutes: a couple of minutes to make a free account and add a child, then five or so on the child’s phone to install the app, pair it with a code, and grant the location, notification and usage permissions together.

The Google Play build covers GPS location tracking, screen time limits, app control, web filtering and notification alerts. The direct-download build adds the SMS tracker, the call tracker and the advanced tools, which Google Play does not permit for this category. If you only want core parental controls, use Play. If you want to monitor text messages, call logs or use the advanced tools, use the direct build.

Yes — there is a read-only live demo with a full week of made-up family data. Every screen opens, including the GPS map, the screen time budgets and the SMS and call logs, and nothing can be changed.

Yes, and that is deliberate. The app is visible on their home screen and shows a plain-language list of what is shared. TheTruthSpy is a transparent parental monitor, not a hidden spy app — it is not designed to hide.

Only if you turn it on, and only in the direct-download build. The SMS tracker logs who texted whom and when by default; viewing SMS message content is off by default, needs the SMS permission on the phone, and is shown on the child’s screen when it is on. The Google Play build cannot read text messages at all.

Yes, in the direct-download build. The call tracker records who called, who was called, the direction, the duration and the timestamp, with names matched from the phone’s contacts. Call recording is not offered.

No. The remote camera and ambient recording tools exist in the direct build, but they require the camera and microphone permissions to be granted, each request is announced on the child’s phone, and there is no live feed or always-on listening. If those permissions are not given, the features simply do nothing.

No. There is no keystroke logger. TheTruthSpy works from notifications and the keyword alerts you set, not from a transcript of everything typed.

It sees what those apps show as Android notifications — counts, timing, sender names, and the notification preview text if you switch that on — and it flags your chosen keywords in them. It does not break into the apps or export their private messages. WhatsApp, Messenger and Viber are end-to-end encrypted, so only what appears in a notification is visible to any monitoring app.

That is an Android permission state. “While using the app” looks granted but collects no location in the background — only “Allow all the time” keeps the family locator map live when the phone is in a pocket. Change it in the phone’s app settings and GPS tracking picks up again.

Outdoors with a clear sky, usually within a few metres. Indoors, in a basement or in a dense city it can drift to tens of metres because the phone falls back to Wi-Fi and cell positioning. Location history evens this out: a trail of points tells you far more than any single pin.

No. A newly paired child starts with no screen time limit at all. TheTruthSpy blocks nothing until you set a daily budget, a bedtime or school schedule, or a per-app time limit. Blocking is opt-in, always.

They can request more time from their own phone. The request lands in your panel with their note attached, and you tap 15 minutes, 30 minutes or No. There is a daily cap on how often they can ask.

The phone stops reporting for whatever was removed, and your panel shows it. TheTruthSpy does not hide from uninstallation or force permissions back on. It tells you, so you can talk about it.

The core is free with no card and no trial clock: GPS tracking, geofencing, screen time limits, app limits, website blocking and alerts. The advanced tools and extra access days are earned by completing small optional tasks — a referral, a social post or a short feedback survey. There is no paid plan and no subscription.

Nothing changes for the core parental controls. Location tracking, screen time, filtering and alerts keep working indefinitely. The advanced tools stay off until you unlock them.

For your own minor children, on a device you provide, with monitoring they can see, it is lawful in most places — but rules vary by country and by the child’s age. TheTruthSpy is built for exactly that case. Monitoring another adult without consent generally is not legal, and is not what TheTruthSpy is for. If you are unsure about your situation, check your local law.

Your data is tied to your account and visible to you and any co-parent you invite. It is stored on our servers and with the providers we rely on for hosting and email. We do not sell it.

Yes. You can export your data and delete your account, which removes the family’s records. Unpairing a phone stops collection from it straight away.