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Parental control software includes any service, feature, or utility that allows legal guardians to monitor and regulate the digital activities of their children. This may include restricting access to adult and violent content, content filtering, monitoring cellphone activity, blocking certain apps on their phones, and tracking their location. This enables parents to keep an eye on their children, ensuring they stay safe.

In recent years, the use of parental control software has witnessed a steep growth indicating that parents are concerned about their children’s safety online more than ever. Since digital life forms a major part of everyone’s life, it has become crucial for parents to ensure they know what their children are doing.

Global Trends of Best Parental Control Apps & Software

According to Data Bridge Market Research, the size of the global parental control software industry in 2018 was around $1.8 billion, with the United States having the largest share of close to 50%. By 2026, the market is estimated to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.2% to hit $3.7 billion figure by 2026.

The market is segmented based on a multitude of factors, including device type, platform, deployment, and application. Best parental control software covers computing devices, game consoles, digital television, and smartphones while popular platforms include Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android.

Primary Factors Driving Parental Control Software Growth

As mentioned earlier, the parental control software industry is witnessing a steady surge that is expected to continue in the foreseeable future. According to the studies, there is a number of factors driving guardians to use parental control software.

• Cyberbullying – On the one hand, the internet has made lives easier and more connected for children while on the other, it has also provided another space for cyberbullying. Unfortunately, cyberbullying on social media is much harder to detect and in some cases, parents have found out only when their kids have already been subjected to cruel psychological torture for months, even years.
• Catfishing – This is usually when a person pretends to be a girl when they are not or vice versa to establish an emotional bond with someone. Kids usually do this to have a laugh but there are instances where people behind catfishing accounts are sexual predators trying to solicit compromised photos of their underage victims.
• Dangerous Activities – For social acceptance, many children give in to peer pressure and get involved in activities that can send them down the wrong path. This may include bullying other children, smoking, substance abuse, and many other activities that pose physical and mental harm. Using parental control software enables parents to nib any such activity in the bud.
• Content Filtering – Many parents do not want their children to see sexually explicit or violent content and rightly so. Parental control software allows them to restrict adult and age-inappropriate content ensuring their children stay away from anything that can shape young minds to normalize violence, inappropriate language, or drug usage.

Best Parental Control Apps Delivering Peace of Mind

Although there are underlying factors that keep parents concerned about their children, there are companies that have gone above and beyond to deliver exceptional monitoring and parental control experiences ensuring parents and guardians have the peace of mind they require. From user-friendliness and technical assistance to innovative features and affordability, best parental control apps have made life easier for parents in a multitude of ways.

Some of the major contributors include Norton, Kaspersky Lab, mSpy Instagram, TeenSafe, Bitdefender, Salfeld Computer GmbH, and more. They do not have made content filtering and blocking much easier but offered services like call logger apps and complete cellphone monitoring solution that allow parents to keep an eye on everything including phone calls, texts, instant messages, media, contacts, location, and browsing history of their children’s phone.

Final Word

As the internet continues to become a more and more integral part of our lives, including children who rely on it for everything from basic communication and entertainment to education and productivity, the significance of parental control software will only increase from here on. Rising incidents of cyberbullying and catfishing mean that parents need to be vigilant and cautious about what their children are doing and who they are talking to.

Only the best parental control apps allow parents to monitor a wide range of digital activities, which have also fueled the growth of the mobile parental control market. The only trend we need to know about is that parents will go to any length to keep their children safe.