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FamiSafe Review 2023 — Does It Keep Kids Safe Online?

Published on: May 25, 2023
Sam Boyd
Sam Boyd
Published on: May 25, 2023

FamiSafe Review: Quick Expert Summary

FamiSafe is a decent parental control app — it has both industry-standard features and some pretty cool extras, it’s easy to use, it provides a significant improvement to the built-in parental controls on Android, iOS, ChromeOS, Windows, and macOS, and it offers reasonably-priced plans that are covered by a 7-day money-back guarantee.

In addition to providing standard parental control features like web filtering, app monitoring, screen time limits, and location tracking, it also comes with:

  • Driving monitoring — Monitor your child’s driving habits and get alerts in case of dangerous driving.
  • Reverse location tracking — Kids can see your location and find you in an emergency.
  • TikTok and YouTube monitoring — See what videos your kids have been watching and receive alerts if they’re inappropriate.
  • And more…

Some of FamiSafe’s features are excellent. The screen time controls are pretty good, the location tracking and geofencing features are among the best on the market, and the driving monitoring is a unique extra that gives you peace of mind when your child starts driving.

However, there are several things I dislike about FamiSafe. The web filter doesn’t always block inappropriate sites or terms, the screen time limits can easily be bypassed on Chromebook, the app monitoring feature claims it can monitor apps like TikTok and YouTube, but it didn’t work during my testing, and the activity reports are pretty basic.

FamiSafe offers coverage for 5-10 PCs, Macs, iPhones, iPads, Androids, Chromebooks, and Kindle Fire tablets, and it’s a pretty good value. Yet, because of all the issues I listed above, I can’t say it’s the top parental control app for 2023.

🏅 Overall Rank Ranked 4th from 13 parental controls
🖥️ Web & App Filtering
⏲️ Time Limits
📍 Location Tracking
💸 Starting Price $10.99 / month
📀 Supported Operating Systems Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, Chromebook, Kindle Fire
📱 Number of Devices 5–10
🎁 Free Plan
💰 Money-Back Guarantee 7 days

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FamiSafe Full Review

FamiSafe Full Review

After spending weeks testing FamiSafe on various devices, I can say it’s a pretty decent parental control app.

Its web filtering tools are good (although they don’t always block unwanted content), and its location tracking and geofencing features are among the best on the market. In addition, FamiSafe can block, schedule, and set time limits for iOS apps — which many parental control tools struggle with. I also like that FamiSafe has unique features like driving monitoring and reversal location tracking, which make it a particularly good parental control app for older kids.

However, FamiSafe has too many flaws to be considered the best parental control app in 2023. Its screen time controls need to be improved on Chromebook, its app monitoring isn’t functional, and it lacks important features like call and SMS monitoring (which top competitors like Qustodio have).

But, despite these downsides, I still think FamiSafe is a good choice for most families. It’s affordable, covers 5-10 devices, and comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

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FamiSafe Features

FamiSafe provides all of the essential parental control features you need in 2023, including:

  • Browser and search engine filters.
  • App monitoring.
  • App usage limits.
  • Location tracking and geofencing.
  • Driving history.
  • And more…

I was particularly impressed with FamiSafe’s location tracking and driving monitoring — they both worked great during all of my tests, pinpointing the location of my test devices with perfect accuracy and providing detailed driving reports. I also like that FamiSafe can block apps on all operating systems — even iOS.

However, FamiSafe’s web filter didn’t always block inappropriate content in my testing, and its TikTok and YouTube app monitors are pretty useless. I’m also disappointed that FamiSafe doesn’t provide SMS and call monitoring for iPhones and Androids (like Qustodio does) and can’t recognize inappropriate pictures or explicit content (something Bark does really well).

That said, if you want to block unwanted apps, enforce app time limits, or view your child’s location in real-time, FamiSafe is an ok choice. Most of its features are good, It’s easy to use, and all of its plans offer a good value.

Web Content Filtering

FamiSafe Features

FamiSafe’s web content filtering does a decent job of detecting and blocking unwanted content. It works across a huge variety of browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Brave, and Edge, and it uses an impressive database of unsafe search terms and websites.

FamiSafe can prevent your kids from accessing content in 19 categories, which include:

  • Porn.
  • Drugs.
  • Weapons.
  • Tobacco products.
  • Religion.
  • And more… 

FamiSafe’s web filter performed well in most of my tests — but it didn’t block all inappropriate content. It successfully blocked me when I searched for porn-related terms and when I tried to navigate to adult websites. However, it failed to block erowid.org — one of the largest pro-drug websites on the internet — and it allowed me to search for terms like cocaine, heroin, and LSD (although it did block marijuana). Furthermore, I could search for “guns” on Google and visit several gun websites and stores in my weapons-related searches.

FamiSafe Features

That said, while FamiSafe’s filtering mechanism sometimes misses unwanted terms and websites, I appreciate how easy it is to add new terms. Clicking on the 3 dots in the top right of the menu allows you to whitelist and blacklist terms in FamiSafe’s banned vocabulary list.

FamiSafe Features

However, adding so many words and websites to FamiSafe’s blacklist is pretty irritating. Competitors like Qustodio have more comprehensive blacklists — some even use AI technology to block inappropriate websites and search terms.

Another downside is that your child can’t request access to blocked sites on PC or Mac (like you can with Norton Family). For some reason, FamiSafe only lets kids request access to blocked websites on Chromebook, iOS, and Android.

Even so, I appreciate how FamiSafe logs all browser history and notifies you about attempts to visit blocked websites — even in incognito mode. I couldn’t bypass any of FamiSafe’s blocks by using a VPN either, which is excellent.

FamiSafe Web Content Filtering Works With:
Microsoft Edge
Google Chrome
Mozilla Firefox
Opera
Safari
Brave

Overall, I think FamiSafe’s web content filtering is decent. I like how easy it is to add new websites and search terms to its blacklist, but it requires parents to do way too much work to provide a good level of filtering.

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Screen Time Controls

FamiSafe Features

FamiSafe’s screen time controls allow you to instantly block every app on your kid’s device, set screen time limits on app categories or specific apps, schedule downtime, and more. The controls work really well on iOS and Android. However, they’re more limited on PC and Mac, and they didn’t work very well on my Chromebook. That said, some competitors, including Norton Family, don’t let you set screen time limits for apps at all.

When you toggle Instant Block, your kid is immediately blocked from opening any apps, and they lose access to any running apps. Your kid will receive a pop-up saying that the screen time limit has been reached, and their only option is to send you a notification requesting more time. While this worked well on my Android and iOS, I could still browse the internet and interact with apps if I minimized the pop-up on Chromebook.

FamiSafe Features

You can also set a time limit on how long your kid can use a particular app for, or create a restriction schedule so that they can only use specific apps during certain hours. I like how you can block both individual apps and entire categories of apps, but I wish there was a way to set up multiple restriction schedules. Bark lets you set up numerous restriction schedules that block different websites depending on the time of day. I was also disappointed that you can’t block apps on Windows or macOS and can only block your entire computer. Qustodio lets you set time limits and block apps on Windows and macOS.

FamiSafe Features

Finally, FamiSafe’s downtime feature blocks your kid from using their device after a specific period (or outside of selected days/hours). It works well and is super straightforward to set up. However, I wish there was a way to let your kid know how much screen time they have left on mobile so they can finish up what they’re doing — when your kid’s screen time elapses on Windows and Mac, they get a one minute countdown to finish what they’re doing. But on iOS and Android, they’re instantly blocked from their device with no warning.

Windows and macOS Restrict overall screen time during specific hours, days, or after a certain amount of usage. Your kids get a one minute timer to finish what they’re doing.
Chromebook, Kindle Fire, Android, IOS Restrict screen time or individual apps during specific hours, days, or after a certain amount of usage. Your kids don’t get a timer to finish what they’re doing.

Overall, FamiSafe offers really good screen time controls for Android and Mac. Although it’s disappointing you can’t block specific apps on Windows or macOS — and it’s really easy to bypass the screen time restrictions on Chromebook — FamiSafe is still a good option for monitoring your kid’s overall screen time.

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App Usage Limits

FamiSafe Features

I tested FamiSafe’s app blocker and usage limiting tools on my iPhone, Android, Chromebook, MacBook, and PC. While they worked well on most devices, they performed poorly on my Chromebook as I could easily bypass the restrictions.

That said, I was particularly impressed with FamiSafe’s iOS app blocking because many parental control apps can’t block apps on iOS devices. When I selected an app to block on my iPhone, it was removed completely from my iPhone’s screen the moment I blocked it. Although I couldn’t block built-in apps, such as the camera and settings app, I never had a problem blocking apps I’d downloaded from the Apple App Store. When I performed the same tests on Qustodio, it failed to block several apps that I’d downloaded from the App Store.

FamiSafe Can Block:
Facebook
Instagram
Reddit
Snapchat
Twitter
YouTube
TikTok
WhatsApp
Tumblr
Telegram
Kik Messenger
Bumble
Tinder

Overall, I think FamiSafe’s app blocking tools are excellent for Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS users, but they didn’t work as expected on my Chromebook.

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App Monitoring

FamiSafe Features

FamiSafe claims to offer live notifications for unwanted YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook searches, but in my testing, this live monitoring didn’t work. FamiSafe didn’t flag or record any searches in the YouTube app on my iPhone, and it didn’t provide monitoring for any other social media apps on iOS either. I could also look up adult and racist content, in addition to various supposedly filtered search terms, without being blocked or flagged by FamiSafe.

My experience on Android and Chromebook was slightly better — FamiSafe documented every search I made and video I watched on YouTube and TikTok, but it didn’t flag or block anything. This is really frustrating because most kids watch dozens of YouTube videos per hour, and often hundreds of TikToks. I can’t imagine how exhausting it would be to comb through every single TikTok video your child has watched, trying to ensure they’re staying safe on the app.

Ultimately, FamiSafe loudly boasts on its website that it provides live monitoring and filtering for YouTube and TikTok, but in my testing, it completely failed to do this. At best, it can give parents a mountain of homework by listing every single search and video watched on these apps.

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Location Tracking & Geofencing

FamiSafe Features

FamiSafe’s live location tracking and geofencing tools provide highly responsive device tracking for Android and iOS.

In my testing, FamiSafe gave me live updates about my test iPhone’s location every 15 minutes. As you can see from my image above, it successfully tracked every step of my drive from the Willamette Valley to Portland.

I also tested FamiSafe’s geofencing feature by setting a 100 meter geofence around my house. I asked my friend to go out walking with her dog, and sure enough, I got a notification from FamiSafe on my iPhone a couple of minutes later when she got about a block and a half away from my home.

FamiSafe Features

I also like how easy FamiSafe makes it to adjust your geofence parameters — you can easily add new locations and increase the distance between 0,06-0,60 miles or 100-1,000 meters. This is great for kids who attend schools with large campuses, live on larger properties, or like to hang out around a specific neighborhood.

In comparison, Qustodio only lets you create geofences up to 0.12 miles miles or 200 meters (which isn’t quite as good as FamiSafe), and Norton Family lets you create geofences up to 2 miles or 3,200 meters (which is much better than FamiSafe, but maybe a little excessive).

Overall, I was impressed with FamiSafe’s location tracking and geofencing features. They’re very accurate and they provide quick and frequent updates on your child’s whereabouts.

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Drive Safety

FamiSafe Features

Drive Safety lets you monitor your kid’s driving habits, and it works really well. It offers up to 3 weeks worth of driving reports and shows the following information:

  • Highest speed.
  • Average speed.
  • Total distance.
  • Driving time.
  • Number of hard brakes.
  • Number of times speeding.
  • And more…

I drove around the block in my Peugeot 207 Sport while Drive Safety was running, and I was quite impressed by the accuracy of the driving report that was generated when I got home. The report was easy to read and used color-coding to show me dangerous figures (such as the number of times I drove over the speed limit or hit my brakes harder than usual). It also sent alerts to the parental app warning of dangerous driving (for example, if your kid goes over the maximum speed you want them to drive at).

FamiSafe Features

You can also choose if you want the driving report to use miles or kilometers — which is a pretty cool customization feature.

FamiSafe Features

Overall, I was pretty impressed with Drive Safety. It’s an excellent way to ensure your kids stay safe on the road, and it worked really well in my tests.

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Activity Reports

FamiSafe’s activity reporting shows you a list of every app and website your kid has visited, but it doesn’t really do anything else. You can see how long your kid has used an app for, and you can see how many times your kid has visited a certain website — but that’s about it.

FamiSafe Features

I’d really like to see more information in the activity reports, including location history. Qustodio lets you receive daily, weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly reports, and each report contains an in-depth overview of everything your kid has been doing during that period.

That said, a second report is hidden away in the Notices tab. It shows your kid’s most used apps in the previous week and their most visited URLs. However, it’s not that helpful. You can’t set any restrictions from the report, and it doesn’t show you any in-depth information. For example, I could see I spent 10 hours on Brave on my test device, but I couldn’t see what websites I had visited.

FamiSafe Features

Overall, I was disappointed in FamiSafe’s activity reporting. It’s not very helpful, lacks depth, and is hidden in two separate locations.

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Additional Features

FamiSafe comes with some interesting additional features — my favorite one is reverse location tracking. It lets your kids reverse the location tracking and see your location. This is a unique feature other parental control apps don’t include, and it’s excellent if you need to meet your kids somewhere or if they get lost and need to find you. When your kid sends a request to view your location, you must allow them permission before they can see where you are, so you can still maintain your privacy if you want to.

FamiSafe also includes a Safe Search feature that stops your kids from entering inappropriate search terms into search engines. If Safe Search registers an inappropriate term, it will block the search engine results page and send you a notification. It works well, and I like how you can easily whitelist and blacklist suspicious terms — however, it only works on specific search engines. In my tests, Safe Search blocked inappropriate terms entered into Google and Bing, but not many other search engines.

Safe Search Works With:
Google
Microsoft Bing
Yahoo
Ask
DuckDuckGo
AOL

However, some of FamiSafe’s additional tools didn’t work very well in my tests — including detecting and blocking inappropriate images. FamiSafe claims it uses machine learning to detect and alert you to explicit photos downloaded onto your kid’s device. However, when I downloaded explicit images onto my test device, I didn’t receive any alerts on the parental app. When I performed the same tests on Bark, it alerted me to suspicious images. Similarly, FamiSafe claims it can detect explicit content in apps such as WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook — but when I got my friend to send me messages containing words that FamiSafe had banned, FamiSafe failed to detect the words and alert me.

Overall, some of FamiSafe’s additional features are hit or miss. That said, they’re cool inclusions, and if you can get them to work, they’re all pretty helpful features to have.

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FamiSafe Plans & Pricing

FamiSafe includes both a free and a premium version. However, no matter which version you pick, you get access to every feature. The free version of FamiSafe only protects a single device and it doesn’t store any of your user settings. In other words, if you remove FamiSafe from your kid’s phone or computer and try installing it on a different device, you have to set it up all over again — which can be a pain if you have custom blacklists set up. The premium version of FamiSafe covers between 5 and 10 devices and is offered on a monthly, quarterly, or annual plan.

The monthly plan costs $10.99 / month and offers coverage on up to 5 devices. Both the quarterly ($20.99) plan and annual plan ($60.99 / year) cover up to 10 devices. Honestly, I find it weird that FamiSafe restricts the number of devices on the monthly plan — especially when Bark offers monthly plans without any restrictions.

You can also pay a little extra with each FamiSafe family plan to add Geonection to it — a separate mobile app for iOS and Android that adds GPS tracking to your kid’s device. I think this is a cool inclusion, and I like how it lets you track an iOS device from an Android phone (something you can’t usually do) — but I think FamiSafe’s built-in location tracking works really well anyway, so I don’t think you need to add Geonection to your device.

Overall, all of the FamiSafe options are good for small families. That said, if you need to protect more than 10 devices, I’d recommend Norton Family or Bark, as they both come with unlimited device coverage. However, each FamiSafe premium plan is backed with a 7 day money-back guarantee, and the annual plan includes a 3-day free trial.

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FamiSafe Installation & Setup

FamiSafe offers a parental control app for Windows, Mac, Android, Chromebook, iOS, and Kindle Fire. For the parental controls to work, however, you need to download a separate parents app on iOS or Android (or use FamiSafe’s web-based dashboard on your computer). These apps allow you to create rules and set restrictions. It took me less than a minute to install FamiSafe and create a kid’s profile on my Windows 11 computer — but it took longer on my mobile device as I had to allow several permissions, including location and administrator privileges.

Apps for Kids Apps for Parents
Android, Windows, macOS, Chromebook, Kindle Fire, iOS Android, iOS, web browsers (Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Edge)

FamiSafe Parental App Installation & Setup

If you’re using FamiSafe on Windows or Mac, you can download and install it in just a few clicks. Once this is done, log into your account and enter your kid’s nickname and age.

FamiSafe Installation & Setup

Click Continue, and FamiSafe will automatically create rules and restrictions based on the age you entered. You can then visit FamiSafe’s web-based dashboard (or use the mobile apps) to tweak the predefined rules and restrictions to your liking.

FamiSafe Installation & Setup

If you want to use the iOS and/or Android versions of FamiSafe, download the parent’s app from the Google Play or Apple App Store. Then, either log into your premium account or tap Continue as a guest (if you’re using the free version of FamiSafe). If you’re using the free version of FamiSafe, you’ll need to enter a pairing code on the device you want to monitor, but if you’re using the paid version, FamiSafe will automatically pair the device you want to monitor with your account when you log in.

FamiSafe Installation & Setup

FamiSafe Kids App Installation & Setup

First, install FamiSafe’s Kids App onto the device you want to monitor. Then, log into your FamiSafe premium account or tap Pair with Code. If you log in with your premium account, the app will automatically pair with the parent’s app. All you have to do now is create a profile for your kid and enable the app’s permissions.

FamiSafe Installation & Setup

If you’re using the free version of FamiSafe, or want to pair FamiSafe using a pairing code, then you need to go onto the parent’s app and tap Account, Device Management, and Connect a New Device. When you do this, you’re given a pairing code that you can enter into your kid’s device. You also have the option to pair your kid’s device via SMS.

FamiSafe Installation & Setup

Once this is done, enter your kid’s profile and age like you would on a premium account, then set the app permissions. Just like that, you’re ready to monitor your kid’s online activity on your computer and mobile device.

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FamiSafe Ease of Use

FamiSafe’s web and mobile apps are all straightforward to use. Each feature is accessible in a single menu, and each setting can be changed or toggled in just a few seconds. However, I wish the kid’s apps for iOS and Android made it easier for your kids to see what restrictions are on their device. Norton Family lets your kids see what they’re allowed to access. The only options kids have in FamiSafe are seeing their top 5 most used apps or inviting their parents to share their live location.

FamiSafe Ease of Use

Mobile & Tablets

FamiSafe Ease of Use

FamiSafe’s Android and iOS apps are both easy to navigate. They share the same design and make adding or changing rules on your kid’s device straightforward. For example, to set a screen time limit, you simply have to navigate to the Features tab, tap Screen Time Limit, Enable Screen Time Limit, and then enter a limit.

The Android and iOS apps provide access to the same features, and neither slowed down my device while using them. My only complaint is that FamiSafe doesn’t provide as detailed explanations under each feature as Norton Family.

That said, FamiSafe is very user-friendly and intuitive and includes many features to keep your kids safe online.

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Web App

FamiSafe Ease of Use

FamiSafe’s web app is designed in a similar way to the mobile app, and it’s just as easy to use. The main dashboard shows a live map with the location of your kid’s device, lets you see how long they’ve been using that device, and shows you any immediate concerns you need to know about.

FamiSafe Ease of Use

You can also click Features, followed by Real-time Location, to see a larger version of the tracking map.

FamiSafe Ease of Use

If you want to change rules for a device, all you have to do is click Features, choose the rule you want to adjust, and adjust it. Honestly, no explanation is needed — most of the time, you can make adjustments with just a few clicks.

FamiSafe Ease of Use

And if you want to add a new device, all you have to do is tap Add a new device in the top right corner to get your computer’s pairing code.

FamiSafe Ease of Use

My only complaint with the web app is that there’s no auto-logout feature. I left my computer for 15 minutes while the web app was running, and I could still come back to it without needing to log in. This means if you leave your computer unattended, nothing is stopping your kids from sneaking on and removing restrictions. Both Norton Family and Qustodio’s web apps log you out after a period of inactivity.

Overall, however, FamiSafe’s web app is easy to navigate and accessible for beginners.

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FamiSafe Customer Support

FamiSafe Customer Support

FamiSafe’s customer support is pretty good — it offers live chat, email, phone support, and an online knowledge base. It also has an active YouTube channel where its customer support staff regularly post content, including instructional videos on how to use FamiSafe.

FamiSafe Customer Support
Live chat
Email
Phone support
Knowledge Base
FAQ page
Community forums

FamiSafe’s phone support could be better. While it offers 24-hour phone support on weekdays and operates phone lines in the USA, Asia, and Europe, it provides a generic phone number operated by FamiSafe’s parent company: Wondershare. Wondershare sells 23 different products, so when I contacted them, I had to go through a listing of different product categories (i.e. Digital Creativity Products, Data Management Products, etc.) until I found FamiSafe. It quickly got frustrating having to navigate the different categories trying to reach a FamiSafe specialist, but when I eventually got through to one, they were pretty friendly and helpful.

FamiSafe’s live chat is a big improvement. It’s facilitated through Wondershare. You simply select FamiSafe from the product list in the live chat, choose the team you need (such as sales or technical support), and click on Chat now. I was promptly connected to an agent who was both friendly and efficient after doing this.

FamiSafe Customer Support

I next tested the email support, and I was really impressed. Once I’d filled out Wondershare’s contact form, the email support team got back to me in just over an hour. Their support team was also friendly and informative.

FamiSafe Customer Support

Finally, I visited the knowledge base, and it’s really good. FamiSafe offers clear step-by-step instructions on using every feature and even includes an offline PDF guide you can download and print out — something many competitors don’t do.

Overall, FamiSafe’s customer support is pretty good. While the phone support gets a bit annoying due to the number of products Wondershare has, the email and live chat support both work really well. The support agents are constantly friendly and helpful.

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Does FamiSafe Keep Kids Safe Online?

Yes, FamiSafe does keep kids safe online, and since it offers coverage on up to 10 devices, it’s a great option for smaller families. It also provides excellent real-time location and tracking tools, plus a unique driving monitoring feature, so you’ll also know if your kids are safe when they’re not using the internet.

FamiSafe includes all of the features you’d expect to see in parental controls in 2023. This includes web content filtering, screen time limits, and activity reporting. In my tests, I couldn’t bypass FamiSafe using a VPN, which means even the more tech-savvy kids will struggle to beat its restrictions.

However, FamiSafe isn’t perfect. You do have to make a few manual adjustments before you can rely on it. For example, the web content filters missed key search terms in my tests, which I had to add manually. Also, the app blocker often fails to block apps (especially on Chromebook), so you have to constantly keep an eye on the dashboard to ensure your kids aren’t using apps they shouldn’t be using. Finally, the app monitoring feature for TikTok and YouTube didn’t work in any of my tests.

That said, FamiSafe is beginner-friendly, easy to use, and offers good customer support. It can be challenging to get hold of a specialist on the phone, but the live chat and email support provided really quick informative responses.

Overall, FamiSafe is a decent parental control app. It offers multiple pricing packages, and it provides a 7-day money-back guarantee on all purchases.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can FamiSafe see Snapchat messages?

You can use FamiSafe to monitor Snapchat, but you can’t see your kids messages. FamiSafe’s app monitoring feature allows you to see how often your kid has accessed Snapchat and how long they have used it for in a given session. You can also set usage limits on Snapchat so your kids can only use it during certain hours or for specific lengths of time. In addition, you can set up FamiSafe to alert you to suspicious words or phrases used in Snapchat messages (but this didn’t work in my tests). Finally, if you don’t want your kids using Snapchat, you can block it entirely.

Is FamiSafe free?

FamiSafe allows you to log in as a guest and access all of its features for free, but if you do, you’re restricted to using FamiSafe on one device, and it won’t remember any of your settings — which can get pretty annoying if your kids change phones a lot. I’d recommend choosing one of FamiSafe’s monthly, quarterly, or annual plans. The monthly plan offers coverage on up to 5 devices, and the quarterly and yearly plans provide access on up to 10 devices. If you need to protect more devices, Norton Family offers coverage on unlimited devices.

Can my child delete FamiSafe?

No, your child can’t delete FamiSafe. If your kid tries to delete FamiSafe, they’ll be asked to enter your account password or a 4-digit PIN (which you create when you first install FamiSafe). Also, since you need to give FamiSafe administrative privileges on mobile, you can’t delete it like you would a typical mobile app. You have to instead navigate into your devices’s settings to uninstall FamiSafe — something kids might struggle with. However, even if your kids manage to guess your PIN or account password and successfully delete FamiSafe, you’ll be issued a notification on your own device saying FamiSafe has been uninstalled.

Can FamiSafe see my screen?

No, FamiSafe can’t see your screen. FamiSafe can monitor the apps your kids are using and allow you to set limits on those apps. For example, you can choose how long your kids can use a particular app for and during what hours they can use that app. FamiSafe also includes web content filtering, so if your kids try to visit an adult website, they won’t be allowed to, and you’ll receive a notification saying they attempted to access a blocked site. My only complaint is that FamiSafe doesn’t allow your kids to request access to a blocked website on computer (although they can on Android and iOS).

Is the FamiSafe app safe to use?

Yes, FamiSafe is a legitimate app that’s safe to use. It’s made by Wondershare, a trustworthy company that also makes video editing software, PDF readers, and more. However, if you’re unsure whether FamiSafe is a safe app, you should consider downloading an antivirus program. An antivirus program can scan apps for malware and viruses and alert you if they’re unsafe. Check out our list of the top 10 antiviruses in 2023 to see our favorite antiviruses that can keep you protected from all types of malware. I recommend choosing Norton, Bitdefender, or TotalAV. If you’re on Mac, then Intego is also a good choice.

Does FamiSafe monitor phone calls?

Unfortunately, FamiSafe doesn’t monitor phone calls. To monitor your kid’s phone calls, you should consider Qustodio — it provides both SMS and phone monitoring on iOS and Android, and it even allows you to block all of your kid’s incoming and outgoing calls. You can check out our full Qustodio review here.

Can FamiSafe read text messages?

No, FamiSafe can’t read text messages (but it can send you alerts if there are suspicious phrases used in texts). If you want to read your kid’s text messages, you should try Qustodio — it provides SMS monitoring for Android and iOS, and it also includes some other really good features that FamiSafe lacks, such as a panic button that lets your kids send alerts to you or a trusted contact if they’re in trouble.

Does FamiSafe work on Chromebook?

Yes, FamiSafe works on Chromebook. However, it doesn’t offer an exclusive Chromebook app. To use FamiSafe on Chromebook, you need to download the Android app from the Google Play Store on your Chromebook. FamiSafe also supports Windows, Mac, iOS, and Kindle Fire.

Can FamiSafe see incognito history?

Yes, FamiSafe can see incognito history. I tested this on my Windows 11 computer by performing searches in incognito mode, and FamiSafe successfully logged and blocked filtered websites. I also performed the same tests on my Android and iOS phones, and FamiSafe still showed all incognito history. That said, FamiSafe doesn’t alert you that kid is using incognito mode (and it doesn’t allow you to block it entirely). Qustodio lets you block incognito browsing.

Is FamiSafe detectable?

FamiSafe is detectable on most devices. Since FamiSafe is considered a device monitoring tool and not a spying tool, your kid will be able to see a notification on their device’s status bar saying FamiSafe is running. However, if you’re running FamiSafe on your computer, FamiSafe will only appear as an icon in your system tray — so your kid is less likely to see it.

Does FamiSafe have GPS tracking?

Yes, FamiSafe offers both location tracking and geofencing, and they worked really well in my tests. FamiSafe tracked my test phone with pinpoint accuracy and alerted me if the test phone left a preset area. FamiSafe also offers a drive safety feature, which monitors your teen when driving and logs their driving time, average speed, distance driven, and more.

Does FamiSafe drain battery?

FamiSafe drains the battery on your kid’s device when you’re actively monitoring their location. However, FamiSafes provides a warning for this on the location tracking map, saying that you should only use the location tracking feature for a short time. FamiSafe had a 0.94% impact on my devices’s battery life when using the parent’s app. Most apps (including Facebook and Instagram) have a 3-4% impact — so FamiSafe really isn’t that bad in comparison.

FamiSafe Products & Pricing

FamiSafe Free
$0.00 / year
FamiSafe Monthly
$10.99 / month
Free Trial
FamiSafe Annual
$60.99 / year
Free Trial
Bottom Line

FamiSafe includes every essential feature you’d expect in a parental control app in 2023, including web content filtering, screen time limits, and location tracking. It also comes with some unique features for older kids, such as Drive Safety, which lets you monitor how safe your kids are on the road, and reverse location tracking, which lets your kids see your location in real-time. While most of FamiSafe’s features are good, there’s room for improvement. The web filter requires a lot of manual adjusting before your can fully rely on it, the app blocking and screen time limites didn’t work well on my Chromebook, and the TikTok and YouTube monitoring left me with tons of videos to comb through. That said, FamiSafe is easy to use, offers good customer support, and comes with a 3-day free trial and a 7-day money-back guarantee.

About the Author
Sam Boyd
Sam Boyd
QA Editor

About the Author

Sam Boyd is a QA Editor at SafetyDetectives. He has years of experience writing, reviewing, editing, and optimizing blog articles, and he has researched and tested hundreds of cybersecurity products since joining the SafetyDetectives team. When he isn’t exploring the latest cybersecurity products, he enjoys chilling out with video games, watching sports, and exploring new parts of the world with his family.

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