The questions parents ask before and after they install it
Twenty-one answers in five groups, written from the support inbox rather than a marketing plan. Each group starts with a short note on what it covers, and each answer says what the app cannot do as readily as what it can. If your question is not here, the contact page is one click away and a person reads every message.
Getting started
The questions in this group are the ones that arrive in the first ten minutes: which phones, which build, whether you need anything on your own device, and how long the first evening takes. The short version is that only the child's phone has to be Android, the parent side is a website, and the whole pairing job done together is about fifteen minutes. If you have not yet decided whether to install anything at all, the read-only demo lets you poke around a full panel for a made-up family first, which is what we would do in your position.
Which phones does GuestSpy support?
The child app runs on Android 9.0 or later, on phones and tablets from any manufacturer. The parent panel is a website and runs in any modern browser on any device, including an iPhone or a Mac. Only the child’s device has to be Android.
Do I need an app on my own phone?
No. There is no parent app at all. You use the web panel in a browser, which means nothing to install, nothing to keep updated and nothing to keep signed in on your side. If you want it on your home screen, add the panel as a shortcut from your browser.
How long does setup take, and do I need my child there?
Plan for fifteen minutes with your child in the room. The panel part takes two or three minutes. Installing the app, typing the pairing code and walking through the Android permissions together takes the rest. Doing it together is not just good manners; the consent switches for the sensitive features can only be accepted on the phone.
What is the difference between the Google Play build and the direct download?
The Google Play build covers location and Places, screen-time budgets, routines, app limits, the website filter, notification-based alerts, reports and tasks. The direct-download build adds the parts Google Play does not allow in this category: SMS and call logs, call recording, photo and video review, the remote camera, ambient audio and email headers. If the Play build does what you need, use it; it updates itself and is the simpler choice.
Can I try it before installing anything?
Yes. The read-only demo signs you into a made-up family’s panel with a realistic week already in it. Every screen opens and nothing can be changed. It is the honest way to decide whether this fits your house before you touch your child’s phone.
What the app can and cannot see
This is the group most parents read twice, and the one where other products are least straightforward. GuestSpy is built to be visible on the child's phone, so the answers below say what the child sees as well as what you see. Several of them explain why a feature shows headers rather than content, why call recording is best effort, and why there is no keylogger. Where something is possible only in the direct-download build or only after a consent switch is accepted on the phone, the answer says so rather than leaving you to find out later.
Will my child know the app is there?
Yes. The icon is visible, the app opens to a Transparency screen that lists what is shared and whether each category is on, and every remote action, lock, ring, locate or rule change, shows on the phone as it happens. GuestSpy has no hidden mode and we will not build one.
Can GuestSpy read text messages and chats?
By default it shows headers only: the contact or number, the app, the time and the count. Reading message bodies is a separate consent switch, accepted on the child’s phone, available only in the direct-download build. Chats in end-to-end encrypted apps such as WhatsApp are visible only as the notification lines Android shows, which is true of every monitoring app, whatever it claims.
Does it record calls?
It can, in the direct-download build, where the Android version and the manufacturer allow it, and only after the recording consent switch has been accepted on the phone. On many recent phones Android blocks third-party call recording entirely, so treat it as best effort. The call log itself, with names, numbers, direction and duration, works everywhere.
Can it turn on the camera or microphone without my child knowing?
No. The remote camera and ambient audio tools take one photo or one short clip on request, need the camera and microphone permissions, need the consent switch accepted on the phone, and show a notice on the screen each time they run. There is no live feed and no always-on listening.
Is there a keylogger?
No. GuestSpy does not log keystrokes. Keyword alerts work on the notifications the phone already shows, which catches the useful part of that job without a transcript of everything typed, and without the privacy cost.
What happens if my child uninstalls the app or switches off a permission?
The phone stops reporting whatever was removed, and your panel shows that it has, with the time. The app does not resist being removed and does not switch permissions back on by itself. It tells you, so you can talk about it.
Location, limits and routines
The free core does most of its work here: a map with an accuracy circle, saved Places that send arrive and leave alerts, a daily minute budget counted on the phone, and routines that lock at bedtime while calls to parents keep working. The questions below cover the situations that cause confusion in the first week, such as a map that shows an old position, a budget that seems to do nothing, and what the child sees when the minutes run out. None of these rules exist until you switch one on, so a quiet first few days is normal.
Why does the map say the location is old?
Because the phone has not reported a fresh one. Usually that is a flat battery, a phone that is off, or no signal in a classroom. The panel shows the last position it has and when it was taken rather than pretending. Press Locate now to ask the phone for a fresh fix; it answers as soon as it has a connection.
How accurate is the location?
Outdoors, usually within a few metres. Indoors, the phone falls back to Wi-Fi and cell positioning and the circle on the map widens to tens of metres. The panel always shows the accuracy radius beside the pin, and the Wi-Fi history gives you a second, steadier source for whether the phone settled somewhere.
Does the screen-time limit block the phone straight away?
No. A newly paired phone has no budget and no routine until you set one. Nothing is enforced that you did not switch on, and we recommend setting one rule for the first week rather than ten.
What happens when the budget runs out?
The phone gives a wind-down warning first, then the limited apps stop opening. Phone, Messages and Maps always keep working. Your child can ask for more time from the app, with a reason, and the request lands in your Needs you list, where you can give twenty minutes, say not tonight, or offer a task worth some minutes.
Cost
There is no price, no card and no subscription, which tends to raise more questions than a price would. The short answer is that every new account gets 10 days of everything, the core stays free for as long as you use it, and the advanced tools and extra access days are earned by doing a small task for us, such as a feedback survey or a bug report with a screenshot. The three answers below cover what the tasks are, what happens if you never do one, and what you are and are not giving up. The pricing page has the full feature-by-feature table.
How much does GuestSpy cost?
It is free to start, with no card and no subscription. Every account begins with ten days of full access, and the core features, location, screen time, routines, app and website blocking, alerts and reports, stay free after that. Extra access days and the advanced tools are earned by completing small tasks instead of paying.
What are the tasks, exactly?
Short things that help a small product improve: a feedback survey, a bug report with a screenshot, a vote on what to build next, checking a translation, or telling another parent about the app. Each one adds access days or unlocks an advanced tool. There is nothing that asks you to post a review in exchange for a reward.
What if I never do a task?
The core keeps working. Location, screen time, routines, blocking, alerts and reports do not switch off. The advanced tools stay locked until you unlock them, and that is the whole consequence.
Trust, privacy and the law
Monitoring a child's phone is lawful for a parent in most places and unlawful for almost everyone else, and the product is built around that line. The answers in this group say who may use it, where the data is kept, who can see it, and how to remove all of it. They are short because the privacy policy and the acceptable use policy carry the detail, but the practical points are here: unpairing stops collection immediately, deletion is yours to do, and your family's data is never sold or used for advertising, including on the guides elsewhere on this site.
Is it legal to monitor my child’s phone?
For your own minor child, on a phone you provide, openly, it is lawful in most countries, though the detail varies with the child’s age and where you live. That is the case GuestSpy is built for. Monitoring another adult without consent generally is not legal, is against the acceptable use policy, and leads to the account being closed.
Where is the data kept, and who can see it?
Your family’s data is tied to your account and visible to you and any second parent you add. It is stored on our servers and with the providers we rely on for hosting and email. It is not sold and it is not used for advertising. The privacy policy lists what is collected and for how long.
Can I delete everything?
Yes. Unpairing a phone stops collection immediately. Deleting a child removes their history, and deleting the account removes the family’s records. You can export a copy first if you want one.
Still have a question?
Some questions do not fit a list because the answer depends on your child's phone, your country or what has already happened in your house. Those are the ones worth writing to us about. Tell us the Android version, which build you installed and what you expected to see, and you will get a reply from a person who has set the feature up on a real phone. Setup and account questions usually get an answer within one working day; privacy requests have their own address and their own timetable, both listed on the contact page. If you would rather see the thing than ask about it, the read-only demo shows a full week for the Bennett family with every screen open.
Write to us with the phone model and Android version and we will answer the specific case rather than the general one.
Ask a questionAsk the question this page did not answer
A short message with your child's phone model and the feature you are asking about gets a specific reply, usually within a working day. Or open the demo and see the panel for yourself first.