Google Family Link, Qustodio, Kids Place and Norton Family compared — screen-time limits, app approval and web filtering, with the iPhone limits made clear.
Parental control works better as a way to stay involved than as a way to spy, and the tools split along exactly that line: some exist to block, others to give you and your child a record of what happened on the phone to talk about afterwards. The most useful difference is technical. A system-level tool that approves downloads and locks bedtime is far harder for a determined teenager to remove than a third-party app installed on top, and the strongest option on that measure is also free. The app reviewed in depth below is that built-in choice; the FAQ positions it against paid rivals, explains the very different situation on iPhone, and covers the legal basics of supervising a child in Spain.
Google Family Link is free and built into Android, so it sits at system level: every download needs approval, with per-app time limits, bedtime and location.
Because it installs as part of the system on the child's phone rather than on top of it, Family Link is the hardest parental-control tool to uninstall or work around. You approve every app download, set limits per application, fix a device bedtime and see where the phone is. Web content filtering is coarser than what paid rivals such as Qustodio offer, the experience on an iPhone is considerably weaker than on Android, and once the child reaches a certain age they can unlink the account themselves.
Pros
Completely free, with no subscription
Built into Android and hard to bypass
Approval for every app the child downloads
Cons
Web filtering is more basic than rivals'
Far fewer controls when the child uses an iPhone
The child can unlink once old enough
Download price only. In-app purchases and subscriptions may cost extra.
Questions & answers
What is the best free parental control app?
Google Family Link, with no real contest: it is completely free, built into Android, and that system position makes it the hardest to uninstall or bypass. It covers the essentials — time limits, app approval, bedtime and location — and falls short mainly on fine-grained web content filtering, which is exactly where a paid tool like Qustodio adds the most.
Do these parental control apps work on iPhone?
With significant limits. Apple restricts what a third-party app can control on iOS, so Family Link and Qustodio offer considerably less on an iPhone than on an Android phone. For a child with an Apple device, the parental controls built into iOS Screen Time are usually more effective than any external app, even if they are less convenient for a parent on Android.
Can a determined child bypass parental controls?
Teenagers with a bit of skill find routes: uninstalling apps, secondary accounts, guest mode or simply another device. Family Link is the most resistant precisely because it is part of the system, but no tool is foolproof. That is why specialists insist technical controls should sit alongside conversation rather than replace it — the goal is something to discuss, not a wall nobody can cross.
Is it legal to monitor my child's phone in Spain?
Parents have a duty to protect the children in their care, and proportionate, age-appropriate supervision is accepted in Spain. The recommended approach, and the line taken by the Spanish Data Protection Agency's guidance, is to tell the child the supervision exists rather than install anything in secret. With teenagers especially, hidden monitoring usually creates more problems than it prevents.
More related apps
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