Did you know that over 90% of teens use smartphones regularly, and text messaging remains their preferred mode of communication? In light of this, parental control apps like Bark have emerged, claiming to monitor these texts for potential dangers.
As parents, caregivers, and guardians, it’s natural to question whether these claims hold true in real-world scenarios. Does Bark’s functionality align with its promises? Can it truly decipher the nuances of conversations and alert us to potential dangers lurking within our children’s messages?
So, let’s review Bark’s capabilities by focusing on its flagship feature – monitoring text messages. We will answer the question on every parent’s mind: does Bark monitor text messages as advertised?
Table Of Contents
What Is Bark Text Monitoring Feature?
First and foremost, yes, Bark is capable of monitoring text messages. But you don’t get access to every single message on the target device. The app detects and alerts parents whenever their child sends or receives an inappropriate text message, photo, or video on a monitored device.
Bark’s algorithm scans for specific keywords, emojis, and phrases that indicate bullying, online predators, drug use, and other unsafe behavior. Parents can customize the list of keywords based on their child’s age, interests, and past behavior.
So, as Bark promises on their website, to start monitoring messages, you need to do these 3 steps:
- Connection
By linking to over 30 platforms, Bark monitors text messages, emails, and social media activity for indications of harmful interactions and content. - Detection
Operating discreetly in the background, Bark actively scans for any indications that might suggest issues in your child’s online environment. - Notification
Receive alerts through email, text, and push notifications whenever Bark’s advanced algorithms identify potential risks, allowing you to assess the situation and ensure everything is satisfactory.
Can Bark See Deleted Messages?
Technically, no, Bark cannot access deleted messages.
However, it can still capture deleted messages from a backup of the child’s device if they haven’t been overwritten yet. This means that parents can still get a sense of what their child has been up to, even if they try to cover their tracks.
The same situation is with blocking text messages, contacts, or phone calls. Bark is unable to block text messages, contacts, or phone calls on devices other than its own (Bark phones). This is because text messages and phone calls utilize a distinct technology that currently cannot be filtered by Bark on those devices.
Bark vs. The Competition: What Is the Best Text Monitoring App?
Although Bark has lots of incredible features, it is not perfect. The app can sometimes miss inappropriate content or generate false alerts due to its keyword-based approach.
Parents must review “What words does Bark monitor” regularly and carefully to avoid overreacting or ignoring genuine concerns. For example, teen slang can be a gray area for Barks, as they often use abbreviations, contractions, and new words that are not dangerous at first glance.
While Bark text monitoring is a great solution, some alternatives offer more comprehensive monitoring capabilities. One such alternative is mSpy. Like Bark, mSpy is a mobile app that allows parents to monitor their children’s online activities, including text messages.
To start using the mSpy text monitoring feature, you will need:
- To create an account and choose a subscription plan.
- Install the mSpy app onto your child’s phone, which can be done with different methods.
- Monitor the text messages and other forms of communication across various apps, including WhatsApp, Facebook, and Snapchat.
mSpy captures incoming and outgoing text messages and displays them on your online Dashboard. Even if the text messages are removed from the device, mSpy stores them in your user account, where you can access them anytime.
mSpy offers a keylogging feature that records keyboard strokes on the target device, meaning that all messages, including those deleted, are recorded.
Furthermore, mSpy offers several extra features that may be useful for parents, such as location tracking, website filtering, and time-based restrictions on device usage.
Final Verdict on Bark Text Monitoring
Can Bark monitor text messages efficiently? Yes. Bark is an excellent parental monitoring tool. It offers a good range of features and has user-friendly controls that make monitoring easy. Bark can detect and flag possible risky online behavior through its AI-based algorithms.
But depending on your needs, Bark might not be the best app to go with if you’d like full control of your child’s messaging activities. If you’re looking to have more control, consider mSpy.
