8 Digital Wellbeing Apps For Kids And Parents

Modern-day parents face difficult questions regarding technology: What screen time limit is suitable for a child? How can parents ensure their child’s mental health and safety online? Luckily, digital wellbeing apps for kids and parents are available to help families manage these concerns and take control of their digital wellbeing.

Digital wellbeing apps for kids and parents have productivity features that help device users build a healthier relationship with technology by setting screen time limits, for example. In addition, digital wellbeing apps created for families include parental controls promoting safe online activities and offer.

Digital wellbeing apps for kids and parents let you choose will depend on your family’s needs, for example, limiting your kid’s focus mode on their devices or monitoring their social media usage.

Below is a roundup of some of the more common mental health apps and digital wellbeing apps for kids and parents to help you set screen time limits and monitor mental wellbeing.

8 Digital Wellbeing Apps for Kids and Parents

1. Google Family Link

Compatibility: Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, Chromebooks

Price: Free

This basic parental control service from Google lets you set digital rules for your child as they learn, play, and explore online using a device. Unlike other digital wellbeing apps for kids and parents, Google Family Link is free. However, it might be worth exploring a different app if you need more advanced features.

The Google Family link app allows you to limit your child’s screen time through the following controls:

• Set time limits on their screen time to help children fall asleep more easily in the evening.
• Lock your child’s device.

With Google Family Link, you can also keep your child safe online by:

• Viewing their online activity.
• Managing your child’s apps.

An additional safety feature that Google Family Link offers:

• Tracking your child’s location

2. Microsoft Family Safety

Compatibility: Android, iOS, Windows, Xbox

Price: Free

Microsoft Family Safety aims to help you and your family grow healthy habits while using your mobile or computer. For example, you can set and manage screen time limits, create a safe space for your children to explore content online, and set boundaries by blocking inappropriate apps and games and only allowing access to child-friendly websites.

With Microsoft Family Safety, you can limit your child’s screen time through the following controls:

• Set limits to apps and games.
• Set limits to devices.
• Receive activity summaries.

Microsoft Family Safety helps you keep your child safe online by giving you the ability to:

• Apply apps and game filters.
• Apply web and search filters.
• Activate content filter requests.

Additional safety features that you get with Microsoft Family Safety: 

• Family location tracking lets you stay connected to your children if you are apart. 
• In addition, you can save the places your kids visit.
• Get a drive safety report.

3. AirDroid Parental Control

Compatibility: Android, iOS, Mac, Windows

Price: $59,99 per year

The AirDroid app gives you more control of your child’s device, monitoring their activity and incoming notifications to protect them from cyberbullying and tracking their physical location.

AirDroid allows you to limit your child’s screen time through the following controls:

• First, lock your child’s mobile phone.
• Set and schedule screen time for your kids.

With AirDroid, you can also keep your child safe online through the following app features:

• First, mirror your kid’s android screen to monitor their activity.
• Then, synchronize your child’s social media notifications.

Some additional safety features that AirDroid offer include:

• Remotely monitor your child’s surroundings by accessing their device camera.
• Tracking your child’s location through a GPS phone tracker. 
• Geofencing 

4. Qustodio

Compatibility: Android, iOS, Kindle, Windows, Mac, Chromebooks

Price: From $54,95 per year

Qustodio lets you track your child’s device activity, from social media usage to phone calls, texts, and locations. One standout feature is that you can make the app ‘disappear’ from your child’s device so they can’t uninstall it.

With Qustodio, you can limit your child’s screen time through the following controls:

• Track the time your child spends on social media platforms. 

Qustodio helps you keep your child safe online by giving you the ability to:

• Track and monitor your child’s calls, texts, and location.
• Restrict your child’s access to specific domains and social media platforms.

An additional safety feature that you get with Qustodio: 

• Your child can send an emergency message to a trusted contact with just one click. 

5. FamiSafe

Compatibility: Android, iOS, Kindle, Windows, Mac, Chromebook

Price: From $60,99 per year

Like other digital wellbeing apps for kids and parents, this one lets parents control their child’s screen time, track real-time locations, and detect inappropriate content. A distinctive feature of FamiSafeis the ability for parents to block in-app purchases through their child’s device. You can follow these steps to install FamiSafe on your mobile phones or computers.

FamiSafe allows you to limit your child’s screen time through the following controls:

• Get informed of the time your child spends on various apps.
• Set your child’s screen time with downtime and app limitations.

With FamiSafe, you can ensure your child’s safety online through the following features:

• Get informed of your child’s phone usage, including pages viewed and videos watched.
• You can block specific apps on your child’s device and filter websites to avoid explicit content.
• Get notified when your child sends or receives communication that contains offensive words.
• Get a report of your child’s internet viewing history, including YouTube and TikTok.
• Block videos with harmful or explicit content.

Some additional safety features that FamiSafe offers include:

• You can set up a safe zone for your child and get instant alerts whenever they leave/enter the area, e.g., leaving school or home.
• Real-time location tracking
• Geofencing
• Driving report

6. Kaspersky Safe Kids

Compatibility: Android, iOS, Windows, Mac

Price: $14,99 per year

Kaspersky is an affordable app that offers advanced parental controls, making it possible to keep your children safe online and offline and control their device usage. You can access this tutorial to see how you can set up your and your child’s profile. 

With Kaspersky, you can limit your child’s screen time through the following controls:

• Set the hours your child is allowed screen time per day.
• Block your child’s device during specific time slots in a day, e.g., during homework or dinner time. 
• Finally, block your child’s device once they have reached their screen time limit.

Kaspersky also helps you keep your child safe online by giving you the ability to:

• Block their access to apps and websites that are not age-appropriate.
• Limit app use by setting time limits.
• Create a set of apps for which your child needs permission to open.
• Monitor your child’s YouTube searches.
• Block search requests with inappropriate content protecting your########

A few additional safety features that you don’t find on many other digital wellbeing apps for kids and parents: 

• Tracking and pinning your child’s location.
• Geofencing – alerts you when your child exits certain areas. 

7. Net Nanny

Compatibility: Android, iOS, Kindle, Mac, Windows, Chromebook

Price: $39,99 per year

Net Nanny has been designed to give parents methods to control and monitor their children’s device usage, whether it be a smartphone, tablet, or computer. One feature distinguishing it from similar apps is that you can create multiple parent profiles, giving more caregivers administrative control over a child’s device.

The Net Nanny app allows you to limit your child’s screen time through the following controls:

• Limit screen time by setting curfews with schedules on your child’s device.
• Set up different time restrictions for individual young children age .
• Monitor and control your child’s device remotely.

With Net Nanny, you can also ensure your child’s safety online through the following features:

• The app comes with pre-installed safety settings and web search filters.
• You can either block or allow specific websites according to your preference to allow content such as sleep stories.
• You can receive real-time notifications if your child access explicit or harmful content.
• The Parent Dashboard lets you see your child’s digital activity reports.
• The app comes with Dynamic Contextual Filtering for 14 age-inappropriate categories.

An additional safety feature that you get with Net Nanny: 

• Tracking the location of your child through their device.

8. Norton Family

Compatibility: Android, iOS, Windows

Price: $49,99 per year

Digital wellbeing starts with families having open discussions about the impact that device usage may or may not have on their lives. Norton Family aims to encourage lines of communication between parents and kids by, for example, allowing a child to send their parent a message through the app if they disagree with blocking a particular site. Once purchased, this app only takes a few minutes to set up.

With the Norton family, you can limit your child’s screen time to help your child develop good habits:

• In addition, you can schedule specific daily or weekly screen times for your child.
• You can lock your child’s device so they can take a break from their screen. To unlock it requires a PIN code. For safety reasons, your child will still be able to contact you while in lock mode. 

The Norton Family app also helps you keep your child safe online by giving you the ability to:

• Block harmful or explicit websites.
• Monitor the words and phrases your child searches online. 
• Get reports on your child’s online activities on your phone, including YouTube videos your child watches on their device and the apps they download.

A few additional safety features that you get with Norton Family: 

• Track the location of your child’s device.
• Get a 30-day history report on all the places your child has been. 
• You can set Favorite Locations, which lets you establish approved physical locations for your child. This feature will notify parents when a child enters or exits these areas when turned on.
• You can set up to receive automatic notifications that alert you to your child’s location. 

Round Up

This article only mentions a few free digital wellbeing apps for kids and parents that promote digital wellbeing within the family context, but numerous other parental control options are available, including mindfulness apps.

The first vital step is to have honest conversations with your children about digital wellbeing and what it means for both parties, and then establish some agreed-upon ground rules that keep them safe online.