The Bark parental control app helps parents monitor and manage their child’s online activity. Bark’s focus is for keeping them safe from online threats such as inappropriate content, online predators and cyberbullying. While most parental control applications are designed with these protections in mind, they are all a little different in how they do it and what devices and operating systems they are best used for.
In our effort to empower parents with the tools they need to protect their children, we want to make it as simple as possible to evaluate each product. From now on, we will use the same format to cover parental control products and will work to modify past posts to adhere to that format as well.
Devices and Operating Systems Protected:
- Mobile devices: Bark works on both Android and iOS mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets.
- Computers: Bark can be installed on Windows and Mac computers, and can monitor activity on popular web browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, and Safari.
- Gaming consoles: Bark can monitor activity on gaming consoles such as Xbox and PlayStation.
- Smart home devices: Bark can monitor activity on smart home devices such as Amazon Echo and Google Home.
Features:
Advanced AI monitoring: Bark uses artificial intelligence to scan your child’s online activity across multiple platforms, including social media, text messages, and email
Customizable alerts: choose keywords related to potentially harmful activity.
App and Social Media Monitoring: Monitoring across 30 + social media and app platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok. This page provides details about what monitoring is available by device type: What Bark Monitors on Each Device, App, and Social Media Platform | Bark App
Website blocking and monitoring: Customize settings for websites, categories of websites, apps and coordinate access with screen time schedules if desired.
Location sharing
Screen Time Management: Parents can set screen time limits for their child’s devices, and receive alerts when those limits are reached.
Ease of Setup:
Simple setup process: The setup process for Bark is straightforward, with clear instructions and prompts to guide parents through the process. It can be completed in a few simple steps, and there is no need for any technical expertise.
Ease of Management:
Bark parental controls are designed to be easy to use and accessible to all parents, regardless of how tech-savvy they are. The software provides a straightforward setup process and a user-friendly dashboard, making it simple for parents to monitor and manage their child’s online activity.
Support:
Support is available via email through their website. They also have a Facebook group.
Bark Contact Page
Price:
Apps
Bark Premium is their monitoring app that costs $14/month or $99 annually and provides content monitoring, screen time management, app and website blocking, and location sharing.
Bark Jr provides screen time management, app and website blocking, and location sharing. It costs $5/month or $49 annually.
Hardware
Bark Home is an internet filtering device for the home. It costs $79 one-time purchase or $6/month or $49/year.
Phone
Bark Phone provides a protected phone for your child starting at $49/month with no contract required.
- $49/month for unlimited talk, text, and Wi-Fi only (no data)
- $59/month for unlimited talk, text, and 4GB data
- $69/month for unlimited talk, text, and 8GB data
Each phone plan comes with a Bark Premium subscription and will cover any other kids, devices, and accounts a user’s family has.
Free Trial Available?
Yes, 7 days.
Product Website
Parental Control App for iPhone, Android, & Amazon Fire | Bark
