Download GuestSpy — set up in about two minutes
This is the whole thing in one place: get the app, pair the phone, and see how the pieces talk to each other. Create a free account in your browser, add your child, then install the Android app and scan one six-digit code. The panel side takes about two minutes. The full setup, done together on the phone, is under fifteen.
Android child app
Parent side in any browser
Getting started is genuinely quick. There is no parent app to install and nothing to keep signed in on your side — you run everything from a browser tab. One app goes on your child’s phone. You connect the two with a six-digit code, and you do it with your child in the room, because that is the whole point.
How it works: the panel and the phone, connected
Before the steps, here is the idea in three moves. It is the same shape whether you are the most technical person in the house or the least. The numbered walkthrough further down is just this in detail.
Your panel makes a code
You open the web panel in a browser, add your child, and it shows a fresh six-digit pairing code. The code lives for a few minutes so nobody can reuse an old one.
Their phone types it in
You install the app on the child’s Android phone, open it, and type that six-digit code — or scan it. That is the moment the two sides recognise each other.
Connected, and visible
The phone appears in your panel and the app shows its Transparency screen. Now — and only now — you can turn on the first rule. Nothing was watched before this.
That is the connection in plain terms: your panel makes a code, their phone types it in, and you are connected.
How a rule reaches the phone, and how you see what happened
Once the phone is paired, the panel and the phone keep a quiet conversation going. It runs in two directions, and it helps to picture both, because it explains why the app keeps working when you are nowhere near it.
Rules sync down to the phone
When you set a bedtime, a screen-time budget, or a blocked site in the panel, that rule syncs down to the child’s phone. From then on, the phone is the one doing the work. The website filter runs on the phone. The screen-time budget is counted and enforced on the phone. The app limits are applied there too. So when nine-thirty comes and the games are meant to wind down, it is the phone that winds them down — not a server somewhere, and not you tapping a button in the moment.
This is the important part: enforcement runs on the phone, and it works offline. If the phone drops off Wi-Fi, wanders out of signal, or your laptop is shut, the rules you already agreed keep holding. Bedtime still starts. The blocked sites stay blocked. Nothing lapses just because the connection did.
Events sync back up to your panel
The other direction is what you see. As the phone lives its day — arriving at school, hitting a time limit, flagging a keyword, joining a Wi-Fi network — those events sync back up to your panel and gather in the Today dashboard as a “Needs you” list. When the phone is offline, the events queue on the device and arrive the next time it reconnects, so you get the honest picture rather than a gap.
So the panel is your window, not the engine. That split is why setup is the only fiddly part: once the rules are down and the app has its permissions, the two sides look after themselves. You dip into the panel when you want to, from any browser, and the phone gets on with the day.
Step by step: the full setup
Five steps. The first two happen in your browser and take about two minutes between them. Steps three and four happen on the child’s phone, together, and are the longest part — about eight minutes, done once. Step five is a conversation.
1. Create a free account in your browser
Go to the panel and sign up with an email and a password. No credit card, no download on your side. You land on an empty Today dashboard — the morning-glance screen that will later hold your “Needs you” list. Right now it is quiet, because you have not added anyone yet. This is the whole of the parent app: a web address you can open on a laptop or your own phone.
2. Add your child
Open the Children area and add a child — a first name and an age is enough, the way the Bennett family added Sophie, 15, and Ethan, 11. The age helps the panel suggest sensible starting points later, like a weekday screen-time budget. Add as many children as you like; child devices are unlimited. Adding a child does not monitor anything. It just makes a place for their phone to connect to.
3. Install the Android app and scan the pairing code
Now pick up the child’s phone. Get the app from the Play Store or the web download, then go to Devices in your panel — it shows a six-digit pairing code. On the phone, open the app and either scan the code or type the six digits. The phone and the panel shake hands, and the device shows up in your Devices list within a few seconds. If the code has been sitting there a while, tap for a fresh one — codes expire on purpose.
4. Grant permissions together
Android asks the phone for permission before the app can do anything useful — location, notification access, and so on. Walk through these on the phone together. The app explains what each one is for as it asks. You only grant what you plan to use, and you can change your mind later. This is the part that takes a few minutes; after it, the app settles into the background.
5. Agree the first rule
Do not turn on everything at once. Pick one thing that solves a real argument in your house and set only that — a bedtime routine for the half-past-nine phone fight, or an arrive-alert at school so nobody has to text “you there yet?”. Show your child what it does, agree it, and stop. You can add more next week.
Steps 1 and 2, in the browser
The parent side never leaves the web. You create the account on the sign-in screen, and adding a child is a short form — name and age. That is the two minutes people mean when they say the panel setup is quick. There is nothing to update and nothing to keep running, and you can sign in from any browser.
- Free account with an email and password, no card
- Add a child in a few seconds — name and age
- Unlimited child devices on one account
- Works in any modern browser, laptop or phone
Step 3, on the phone: install and pair
Now pick up the child’s Android phone, with them beside you. Install GuestSpy from Google Play or from the download link on this page, open it, and tap I’m the child. The app asks for the six-digit code your panel is showing under Devices → Pair a phone. Type it or scan the QR code, and the two sides recognise each other. If a phone ever needs re-pairing — a factory reset, a new handset — come back to Devices and generate a fresh code. Old codes stop working after fifteen minutes.
- Install from Google Play or our direct APK — never from a link someone sends you
- One six-digit code per phone, shown in Devices; scan it or type it
- Codes expire — request a new one any time
- Manage, rename, or unpair devices from the same screen
What you need before you start
Not much. No shopping list, no hardware. Two things and a short window of calm.
A free account
An email address and a password. That is the parent side, opened in any browser. No card, no download on your own machine.
The child’s Android phone
In your hands for about eight minutes to install the app, scan the code, and grant permissions together. Done once.
Ten quiet minutes
Ideally with your child, not in a rush. The setup is easy; the conversation about what it is for is the part worth doing well.
The permissions, explained in plain English
Android asks before the app can reach anything, and the app tells you what each request is for as it appears. You are not signing a blank cheque — you grant only what you intend to use, and you can turn any of it off later from the phone. Here is what the common ones actually do.
| Permission | What it enables | If you skip it |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Live location, history, and arrive/leave alerts for saved Places like home and school | The map and Place alerts stay off; everything else still works |
| Notification access | Message and social headers, keyword alerts, and app notification lines in the feed | Alerts and message headers are quiet; screen time still runs |
| Usage & accessibility | Screen-time budgets, per-app limits, and the website filter running on the phone | The phone will not enforce time limits or block sites |
| Camera / microphone | Remote camera photos and short ambient audio, only when you request them | Those specific tools are unavailable; nothing else changes |
A good starting rule: grant location and usage access on day one so the everyday safety features work, and leave the rest until you have a reason. Some features are gated behind your child’s explicit consent too — message bodies and the keylogger need a deliberate switch. The features overview lays out every control and what it needs.
If setup does not go smoothly
Most pairings just work. When one doesn’t, it is almost always one of four small things. Here is how to fix each without a support ticket.
The pairing code expired or says “invalid”
Codes are short-lived on purpose, so a stale one stops working after a few minutes. Go back to the Devices screen in your panel, generate a fresh six-digit code, and type it into the app straight away. Check you are entering it into the app on the child’s phone, not into a browser, and that there is no stray space. A new code fixes this almost every time.
The phone is not showing up in my panel
Give it a few seconds after you enter the code — pairing is quick but not instant. If it still is not there, confirm the phone has a working internet connection, that you finished entering the code in the app rather than closing it halfway, and that you are looking at the right child’s Devices list. Reopen the app on the phone; it will retry the handshake on its own. If needed, request a new code and pair again.
A feature says permissions are off
If the map is blank or time limits are not enforcing, a permission was skipped during setup. Open the app on the phone, go to its permissions or Transparency screen, and grant the one the panel says is missing — usually location for the map, or usage/accessibility for screen time and the website filter. Once granted, the feature starts working within moments.
I installed it but nothing is being monitored
That is expected until you turn something on. Pairing connects the phone; it does not switch on any monitoring by itself. Pick one rule — a bedtime routine or a location alert — set it in the panel, and you will see it take effect. Remember the enforcement then runs on the phone, so it keeps working even if the phone later goes offline.
System requirements
Short list, honestly stated, including what is not ready yet.
- Child’s phone: the GuestSpy app runs on Android. That is where the one app is installed and where the guard runs.
- Parent’s side: any modern web browser, on any device — a laptop, a desktop, or your own phone. There is nothing to install and nothing to keep updated.
- iPhone child app: in development. Today the monitored phone needs to be an Android device. If your child is on an iPhone, this is the honest limitation to know before you start.
- Internet: the phone enforces rules offline, but new events and rule changes move across when the connection is back.
Get GuestSpy
Free to start, no credit card. Location and the core guard keep working for free. Unlimited child devices, all run from a browser. Grab the app below, or take a look around the demo panel first.
Where to go next
Once you are paired, these pages show what is on the other side and how it all fits together.
- All features — every control, grouped the way the panel groups it, with the honest limits.
- Pricing — why it is free and how you keep it going without a subscription.
- Location & Places — usually the first rule parents set after pairing.
- Screen time — the daily minute budget the phone enforces, offline and all.
- Routines — Bedtime and Homework Hour, the scheduled on/off windows.
Download and setup questions
Where do I download the app?
From the two badges on this page — the Play Store, or the direct web download. Both put the same GuestSpy app on the child’s Android phone. The parent side needs no download at all; you open the web panel in any browser and create a free account.
Do I need to install anything on my own phone?
No. The parent side is a web panel you open in any browser. There is one app, and it goes on the child’s Android phone. You can manage everything from a laptop or your own phone’s browser without installing a thing on your side.
How long does setup actually take?
The panel work — creating an account and adding a child — is about two minutes. Installing the app, scanning the code, and granting permissions on the child’s phone is the longer part, roughly eight minutes, and you only do it once. Agreeing the first rule together is a short conversation. Call it under fifteen minutes end to end.
Does it keep working if the phone goes offline?
Yes. Rules you have already set sync down to the phone and are enforced there, so bedtime, time limits, and the website filter keep holding even with no connection. New events queue on the phone and appear in your panel once it reconnects. The panel is your window; the phone is the engine.
Will my child know the app is installed?
Yes, and that is deliberate. The app is visible on the phone with a Transparency screen listing what it shares. It is a consent-based family safety tool, not built to hide, and we ask you to set it up openly, on a phone you are responsible for, within your local law.
Can I monitor an iPhone?
Not yet. The child app runs on Android today, and an iPhone version is in development. If the phone you want to look after is an iPhone, this is the limitation to know before you start.