Bark vs Life360, which one is best for you as a parent? Bark and Life360 are popular parental control apps that you can use to protect your loved ones online.
While they both have certain similarities, they also differ in specific instances. For example, Bark can monitor content in over 30 apps and platforms, while Life360 mainly focuses on location tracking.
In this article, we’ll dive into each app’s features and share their pricing and disadvantages. We’ll also give you a parental control app that can help you care for your kids’ online safety much better than Bark and Life360.
Bark Vs. Life360
In this section, we’ll dive into each app and share their features:
Bark
Bark app is an all-in-one safety app that enables parents to monitor their kids’ online activities.
Key Features:
- Block Websites and Apps: Bark enables parents to block specific websites and apps that may have inappropriate content.
- Social Media Monitoring: Bark can track content on social media and detect any instances of cyberbullying and threats.
- Manage Screen Time: You can set screen time limits for various apps on your kid’s phone using the Bark app.
- Location tracking: Bark enables you to track your kid’s location in real-time using GPS technology.You also get location alerts.
Pros:
- Can monitor calls
- Sends alerts and notifications in case of dangers.
- You can access kids location history.
Cons:
- There is no free plan.
Compatibility: Android, iOS, Windows, and MacOS.
Price: $ 29 /month
Life360
Life360 is also a parental control app focusing primarily on location tracking using GPS technology. It is one of the central players in the family tracking app market, providing a series of functions aimed at increasing safety and communication between family members.
Features of Life360:
- Crash Detection: Life360 can detect when a family member has a crash. This way, you’ll make the necessary arrangements to help them, such as calling the police or going there to save them.
- Location History: You can see where your family member has been throughout the day without a hassle.
- Low Battery Notifications: Low battery notifications are sent to users when a family member’s device runs out of power.
- Location Tracking: You can see your family member’s location in real-time from the Life360 app.
Pros:
- Offers customizable alerts to parents.
- Its connectivity is advanced.
- Comes with a free plan.
Cons:
- There are privacy concerns.
Compatibility: Android and iOS
Price: $4.99/mo.
Similarity and difference between Bark and Life 360
Let’s dive into the similarities and differences of the Bark app and Life 360:
Similarities:
Location Tracking: Both Bark and Life360 provide location-tracking functionalities so that parents can monitor the physical locations of their family members.
Differences
Free Plan: Life360 has a free plan offering basic features for no fees. In contrast, Bark does not have a free plan, and users need to subscribe to its paid subscription to access all of the features it provides.
Limited Features: Life360 only offers location tracking and driving safety features. Bark, on the other hand, gives more than five features to help you keep your kids safe while online, including content monitoring, location tracking, and screen time management.
Safety Driving: Life360 has safety driving features probably to track and promote safe driving behaviors. Bark, on the other hand, lacks this feature.
Is using Bark a good idea?
Using Bark to track and manage your kid’s online activities is a great idea, as it offers numerous features. For example, with screen time management, you can regulate how much time your kid uses their phone or a specific app.
Is Life360 good or bad?
Life360, a family location-sharing app, is an effective way for families to stay connected and improve safety by sharing locations and driving. It is useful only if you want to track your kid’s location in real-time. However, if you’re looking for a comprehensive app that will help you protect your kid from online dangers, its’ not the right one.
The best alternative to Bark and Life 360
FlashGet Kids is a parental control app offering the features Bark and Life360 have and much more. From screen time management to geofencing and location tracking, you’ll have complete control over your kids’ online activities with FlashGet Kids.
Here is how to download and set up the FlashGet Kids app:
1. Download FlashGet Kids for parents on your device to get started.
2. Now register an account and sign in.
3. Download the Flashget Kids for child on your kid’s phone.
4. Bind the parental control app on your phone to the app on your kid’s device by tapping on “Parent’s devices” on the the parent’s phone. Go ahead and choose, ” agree”. Tap”Next” to get a 9-digit code on the parent’s app.
5. Enter this 9-digit text on the app on your child’s device. Click , ” Next”, then ” Confirm” to complete the binding process. From there, you can control your kid’s phone from your phone.
Key comparisons among Bark vs. Life360 vs FlashGet Kids
Even though Bark and Life360 apps are popular, they still don’t offer comprehensive features to enable a parent to monitor their kids’ online activities well. This is where the FlashGet Kids app comes in as a better alternative. It offers useful features and has an easy-to-use interface.
Here is a table showing a comparison of FlashGet Kids as an alternative to Bark and Life360:
| Features | Bark | Life360 | FlashGet Kids |
|---|---|---|---|
| Comprehensive Monitoring | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Location Tracking | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Screen Time Management | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Content Filtering | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| User Interface | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Comprehensive Monitoring
FlashGet Kids can monitor every app, and website in your kid’s phone without them knowing. Through its live monitoring feature, you can see what your kid is doing in real-time. You can also hear what is happening around your kid through audio monitoring.
Even though Bark does monitoring, it is not in real-time. It monitors content for over 30 apps, including social media apps like YouTube. It will then send alerts to you when it notices cyberbullying, online predators, and more.
Life360 doesn’t have the capability to monitor apps in real-time. It focuses more on location tracking for loved ones.
Location tracking:
Flashget Kids has a dedicated location tracking feature, enabling you to know your kid’s location in real time. You can check your kid’s current location and also view their location history to understand their movements when they were not with you.
FlashGet Kids app also has geofencing options that notify you when your kid leaves a specific area. This way, you can act swiftly in case they may be exposed to danger.
Life360 also has great location-sharing options. Its features include location safety, advanced driving, digital safety, emergency assistance features, and Tile™ Bluetooth trackers. For example, you can attach a tile Bluetooth tracker to your kid’s bag or keyholder to know instantly where they are from your app.
Bark offers basic location-tracking features. You can spot your kid’s location in real time from the app.
Screen time management:
Flashget Kids app offers an efficient screen time management feature to help you control your kids’ screen time. You can see how much time your kid spends on each and reduce the app time limit to whatever duration you want.
You can also set the phone to lock when the screen time reaches a limit. This enables your kid to focus on other important things in their lives, such as doing homework or interacting with your family.
Bark also has screen time management features, enabling you to set custom screen time schedules for your kids. Life360, on the other hand, doesn’t have any screen time management features.
Content Filtering
Flashget Kids has an Alerts and notifications feature that lets you get notified whenever the kid accesses inappropriate content. With this feature, you can easily spot and stop cyberbullying and pornographic content, which may affect the kids’ mental health.
Bark also has an efficient social media content filtering feature that tracks the messages your kids interact with on platforms like Instagram and TikTok. Life360 doesn’t have any content monitoring features.
User Interface
Flashget Kids has an intuitive user interface that enables you to easily track your kids’ online activities.
Life 360 and Bark apps also have a user-friendly interface.
Pricing
Flashget Kids offers a monthly subscription plan of $8.99. Bark, on the other hand, offers $14 per month. Life360 offers $4.99. While life360 may be cheap, it main offers location tracking.
What should parents know about before using Bark and Life360?
Here are some of the things you need to know to get the most out of the Bark and Life360 parental control apps:
Study the features of the parental control app
Go through the features of Bark and Life360 to know how you can take care of your kid’s online safety. Most parental control apps usually have tutorials on using every feature they offer.
Let your kid know that you intend to track their online activities
When your kid knows from the start that you’ll track their online activities, they’ll be free with you. Going against your kids’ backs and accessing their online activities without their knowledge may strain your relationship when they find out.
Respect your kids’ privacy
If your kid is a teen, there are certain things you should keep off when accessing their online activities. Most teens love independence and would not like it when you’re snooping on their texts unless they allow you to.
Go through the legal laws of your region
Various laws show how you’re supposed to handle tracking of phones. For example, unless you have the consent of the phone user, you should not install any app without their knowledge and start spying on them.
Be sure to keep your phones and apps safe from cyberhacking
Create strong passwords that are difficult to hack for the apps you’re using to track your kid’s online activities. Also ensure that you download the apps from safe sites such as play stores or the home page of the actual app.
FAQs
What is the downside of Bark app?
While Bark is an excellent parental control app, one possible disadvantage might be giving false positives. The app uses algorithms to identify potential hazards, but sometimes, it can label innocent content as harmful. Parents need to review flagged content to ensure correct monitoring manually.
Does Bark monitor sexting?
Yes, Bark does track sexting and other unacceptable content. It uses machine learning to process text messages, emails, and social media pages to detect signs of cyberbullying, explicit content, or potential threats.
What is the downside of Life360?
Privacy is one common issue with Life360. Some people, particularly older children and teenagers, may regard continuous tracking of their location as an invasion of privacy.
Does Life360 work without the Internet?
Life360 is based on internet access for continuous tracking and communication. Although the app may temporarily cache location data, its full functionality – including live updates of locations and alerts -runs off an active internet connection.
