There are applications for smartphones designed to fight against mobile thieves, unfortunately increasingly common so if the device is stolen, we can find it thanks to the geolocation system. These applications also allow you to create alarms even if the device is silent, and we can even control the device remotely through its website.
In this list, we will offer you the 10 best free spy applications for both Android and iPhone, although some also have the option of including other more advanced functions, paying a monthly or annual fee.
In addition to being able to know where your own phone is, you can also know where your child is or what applications he has on his mobile, or even know with whom he talks. We know that spying on people is not good but some exceptions must be taken into account, such as minors, their safety is very important. Besides, these apps are also used in the work team to know if the employees are at the workplace.
1.- Google Family Link – Free Phone Spy Apps
Price: Free
OS: Android and iOS
The application is available for Android on devices with the KitKat update (4.4) or higher. In the case of Apple, it can be installed on iPhone from iOS 9. If your device meets these requirements, download the app from Google Play or the App Store.
This app is great to control your kids and you will be able to review the apps that are installed on the minor’s smartphone, the services, and the phone. Once you have installed everything, you can add more members to the family group, limit the hours of use of the device, revoke access, and know the time they spend with the mobile and in which applications they invest it.
2.- Find My Device by Google
Price: Free
OS: Android
In simple terms, Find My Device allows you to find your lost or stolen Android device and be able, in a matter of seconds, to erase personal data remotely thanks to this app, being an interesting alternative to protect our terminals from eventual theft. Google’s tool works similarly to other mobile location and tracking services, although in Find My Device you can find an application for Android devices.
The Google app works by registering our Google account on the smartphone and must have the location function activated, which using GPS will send accurate information about the last whereabouts of your smart device.
The interesting thing about Google’s Find My Device is that it works on old terminals as well as next-generation mobiles, being able to track the location, block it or delete it remotely.
3.- Prey Anti Thief
Price: Free
OS: Android
Prey is an Open Source application that is not only available for Android, but for other platforms such as iOS, Windows, Linux, and OS X. Its objective is clear: to locate our phone, laptop, or tablet if it ever disappears.
The application is free, but it has a Pro version with options that are especially interesting for business users. At Prey, we will find everything we need to protect our mobile devices in case they are lost or stolen. In the Android version, we will have features such as geolocation through the GPS receiver and WiFi triangulation, the detection of the change of the SIM card, the activation on demand of the device through SMS messages, and the blocking of the mobile or tablet to guarantee the privacy of the same.
4.- Spyera
Price: Free
OS: Android
Spyera is an application to monitor the Smartphone, Tablet, or PC, which makes it possible for the user to remotely and secretly track and even control a specific device on which the application has been installed. It is a tracking application that has to be downloaded to the phone, tablet, or PC that you want to spy on. The application is the one that collects all the available data, sending it to a secure web account. The data is sent using the available internet connection.
The list of individual features that Spyera has are numerous, such as, for example, it allows you to keep track of incoming and outgoing calls, even showing a record of dates, times, number names, and even the duration of the calls. In addition, Spyera makes it possible to listen to live phone calls and record them.
You can also configure a notification that makes it possible to know when the numbers that we have designated participate in a certain phone call, so it can be heard or recorded at the time these calls occur.
5.- Safe365
Price: Free and Premium
OS: Android and iOS
It is an application available for iOS and Android devices that have a very interesting objective and that can be very useful for family members and emergency services at a certain time.
As you may be guessing, this is an app that works as a GPS locator in those terminals where it is installed. That is, you can find out at any time the location of anyone who has this app on their phone using a simple map. Therefore, it will be an extremely useful service in emergencies, in which we need to contact someone because we need help, or simply find out where our relatives are if, for example, they take a long time to get home.
Among other possibilities, you will be able to know when the person who has the app on his phone moves, when he runs out of the Internet or even you will be able to know if it is static or enters and leaves a specific area.
6.- Life360
Price: Free and Premium
OS: Android and iOS
This is an app that works as a family locator. Thanks to GPS technology, with this app you will enjoy a precise location and tracking service for registered devices.
With this app, you can create a space for your family to always be connected, as well as guaranteeing the safety and protection of its members thanks to the smart functions offered by this exceptional application.
It is considered one of the best applications to share the location in real-time with your friends and family who are also using it.
With the app you can instantly receive automatic notifications when family members who are connected through it go to school, work, return home, deviate from their usual route, and much more.
7.- MyFamily
Price: Free and Premium
OS: Android and iOS
To use this app, the steps to follow for its installation are very simple since you will not need to enter personal data, which makes its use faster. The app allows those who have it to share their location and movement history thanks to GPS. To be all in tune, it will be necessary to create a group where those who want to know their locations are included.
All members of this group will receive the location of users in real-time. This option is available for both the free and paid versions, with the difference that the free version receives the location every 5 minutes and the paid version every 60 seconds. It is a very easy-to-use app and it is useful if you are going on a trip with friends.
Its interface is very clean, in addition, it also becomes an ally of parents to take care of their children since it offers a service that is exclusively for children with mobile phones. With this feature, parents will know where the child is located, being able to make calls without being answered, just to listen to the environment where they are. If you use the free version, the call will only last 30 seconds but if you use the paid version, the call will last 10 minutes, including turning on the camera automatically.
8.- KidControl
Price: Free and Premium
OS: Android and iOS
If you have kids who use a lot the tablet or mobile phones, this application will give you peace of mind. As parents and more in these actual times where a lot of crimes happen have your kids under control is the best. That is why with this app you will be able to know their location, also you can create safe places for them and if they cross that limit, you will receive a message notification. It allows you to configure up to two zones for free, but if you want more, it is necessary to use the pay version. It will depend on what do you need. Still, you can use the app also for free.
The pay version does not show advertising, gives access to one of the distinguishing features of this application: the Black Box. This is a function to know where other people are even if they do not have an Internet connection. In addition, with this paid version it is possible to view the location history up to two weeks ago.
9.- Spyzie
Price: Free and Premium
OS: Android and iPhone
This is a popular application to monitor and control mobiles, capable of accessing data such as calls, location, messages (even WhatsApp), photos, use of social networks, and much other information. Ultimately, this is a spy app for smartphones, although it has several legitimate uses. For example, read the conversations of your children on social networks to avoid bullying or monitor the location of an employee’s mobile, to check if he is in her position.
The app can collect a lot of data without the mobile user knowing. It is available on Android and iPhone, with a very different operation. In the case of Android, it installs an app on the device, while in iPhone it is based on the associated iCloud account.
We are facing a monitoring solution full of options, which allows access to almost any aspect of a smartphone. Some of its functions are obtaining the list of calls and contacts, SMS content and history of visited websites, access to messages and photos from WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and Snapchat, location control, and alerts if you leave an area. designated, review of mobile photos and possibility of taking screenshots, recording of all the text written on the keyboard and notifications of keywords and blocking of specific applications and limitation of time of use.
Beyond spying on the mobile, this app also allows you to control its use, blocking applications and limiting the time of use, something key to use as a parental control system.
There are also preventive functions such as the so-called geofencing, which alerts us if the mobile phone leaves a specific area, for example, if a child’s phone leaves the neighborhood where she lives.
This monitoring app has a basic plan with the most limited functions, a Premium plan with the most advanced functions, and a family plan with which up to 3 devices can be monitored.
10.- Cerberus
Price: Free
OS: Android
This is one of the most famous systems to locate a lost or stolen mobile. Knowing how to use it can help us find the mobile that we have lost, but currently, the task of using it has become a bit complicated. After the latest changes in Google’s policy, the app has lost its access to the Play Store since this app requests permissions such as “send SMS” and “make calls” to function. These are two permissions that, in the eyes of Google, are dispensable, but in reality, they are two accesses that make the normal operation of the app possible, since it is through SMS sending that allows the victim of theft to locate the mobile.
This free spy app will send you information about your phone to a profile that you must create and will tell you if it is connected or turned off, as well as information about nearby networks, SIM card, IP address, operator, etc. However, locating a turned-off mobile is impossible, but as long as the mobile is on, there is a glimmer of hope.