There are a hell of a lot of parental control apps in the market nowadays, and rightfully so. More and more children are spending their evenings surfing the internet instead of playing hide and seek on the streets.
So, it gets absolutely necessary for parents to keep an eye on their internet activity just to make sure they are safe. And that is why parental control monitoring/spying apps are gaining more popularity, like mSpy.
mSpy is a popular name when it comes to remote monitoring apps. Recently, I got an opportunity to test this app, and to be honest, I dug down to its absolute core to find out if the app is worth its reputation.
From my personal experience with the app, I can say that to some extent it does stand tall in its name. However, that being said, there’s a lot to this app that you need to learn before actually going for it. And in this review of mSpy, I am going to shed light on all aspects of mSpy app so that you can make the enlighted decision of whether to go for it or not.
So, let me put my reviewer’s cap on and get started. And don’t forget to check out the special 15% mSpy discount code exclusively for SpyDrill users which I will reveal at the end of the review.
mSpy Review
To make you understand every single thing about this tracking app, I’ve segregated my entire review of mSpy under a few sub-sections. You can go through them all, or if you want to learn something specific, then you can skip straight ahead to that section only.
- Does mSpy Need Rooting Or Jailbreaking?
- Setting Up mSpy On The Target Device
- Setup mSpy On iPhone
- mSpy Private Key
- How Does mSpy Work?
- mSpy Features: What Does It Monitor?
- How Long Does It Take For mSpy To Work?
- Can mSpy Be Detected?
- How Is After Sales Support Of mSpy?
- How Much Does mSpy Cost? Is It Free
- mSpy Vs eyeZy Features Compared
- Is mSpy The Best Spy App?
- mSpy FAQs
- 15% mSpy Discount Code 2022
- Learn More About mSpy In Our 8 Video Series
Does mSpy Need Rooting Or Jailbreaking?
Before anything else, every user should go through the compatibility section. It doesn’t matter how amazingly mSpy works and what features it provides unless it’s friendly with your target device.
You will be glad to know that mSpy doesn’t require rooting or jailbreaking. It can very well monitor a non rooted Android and non jailbroken iPhone. However, it does provides more features if the target device is rooted or jailbroken.
The majority of cell phone users use Android phones, so let’s see which Android versions are compatible with mSpy.
Well, every Android phone that is running on version 4 or above is compatible with mSpy. If I talk of myself, I used it to spy on a Samsung phone that is running on Android 11, and frankly speaking I didn’t face any compatibility issue as such.
Talking about iOS devices, if the target iPhone is jailbroken, then it should be running on version 7-9.1. Similarly, if the target phone is not jailbroken, then it doesn’t matter which version it is running on, it will be compatible with mSpy.
Setting Up mSpy On The Target Device
Once you go through the compatibility part, you know if the app will work for your device or not. So for those who have a compatible Android phone, here’s how to install mSpy.
Setup On Your/Parent Device
1. Go to the official website of mSpy and click on the TRY NOW option that you see on the top.
Before creating your account, you can also check out the mSpy free demo which gives you a better idea of how mSpy works. I highly recommend you test out the demo before purchasing it as it will give you a better idea of whether it’s good for you or not.
2. This will take you to the page where you need to create your mSpy account by providing the email account and then tapping on TRY NOW.
3. On the next page, select the device type of your lover’s phone or kid’s phone i.e. iOS or Android.
4. Time to purchase the services of mSpy by selecting a plan and making payment.
5. After your registration is complete, you’ll get a password for your account from mSpy. Make sure you save that password if you want to log in to your account. Because the generated password is not something that is easy to remember.
6. Once the payment is done, you will land on a page where you need to further continue the setup of the app. Here you need to add the information about the target person and then tap on PROCEED.
On the top, you will see the registration code for your account. Note down this code as it will be used while setting up the target phone.
7. Then in the next step, you have to select the model of the target device. If the device’s model isn’t mentioned in the drop-down menu, then select the other model option to move forward.
With this, your device is ready, and now it’s time to set up the app on your partner’s phone.
Click Here to Create mSpy Account
How To Install mSpy On Android Phone
For starting with the app set up on the target phone, you need to physically possess it. Once you have the cell phone handy, these are the steps that you need to follow.
Disabling Play Protect
Before downloading the mSpy app, it’s necessary to disable the Play Protect option first. As mSpy is not some regular Play Store app, Play Protect will notify you that the app is harmful. But you need not worry, using mSpy is completely secure.
Note: You only need to disable Play Protect if the target phone is running on Android 7 or less. On Android 8 or above, the option to disable Play Protect shows while installing the app itself so you don’t have to do anything in advance.
1. Go to the Play Store and tap on the hamburger icon on the top-left side.
2. Select the Play Protect option from the various available options.
3. In the next step, tap on the gear icon.
4. Simply turn off the Scan apps with Play Protect option.
Now that you have turned off Play Protect, it’s time to start with the installation process.
Installing mSpy
1. For installing mSpy, you need to open any browser and visit b55y.net/a. This will open the mSpy installation page where you need to pass the captcha and then click on Download.
2. Once the downloading is done, it’s time to install the app on your teen’s phone.
3. To proceed with the installation, you need to enter the registration code that was provided to you after setting up your device.
4. It’s time to give some permissions to mSpy now. These permissions include access to contacts, manage phone calls, calendar, phone call logs, location, photos and media, and messages.
5. Once you have given these permissions, it’s time to change some settings on your spouse’s phone, starting with the permission to monitor the target phone.
6. Now enable the messages tracking by tapping on OK. Similarly, change the settings that will enable call recording and social media on the target phone by tapping on OK.
7. For successful monitoring, you need to make the app undetectable by tapping on OK and then changing the settings on the next page. This will make the app work in hidden mode.
8. Finally, change the settings that will prevent the uninstallation of the app.
With all these steps, the setup on the target phone is complete. Now go back to the setup screen of mSpy on your device and click on PROCEED to end the setup process.
iOS (Without Jailbreak)
To monitor an iOS device, you don’t need physical access to the smartphone as you do with an Android device.
All you need is the iCloud credentials and you’re good to go. You can start monitoring the device without even installing the app on the target device.
However, it is that simple only if the two-factor authentication isn’t enabled on the device. Because if two-factor is enabled, then you’ll receive the code in the target device only. And you would need that code in order to start monitoring the device.
From my personal experience, I would like to suggest that you should disable the two-factor authentication. Because it might get in the way of monitoring the device efficiently. That said, you can’t disable two-factor authentication if the target device is already using it according to the latest iOS update.
Your target device, be it Android or iOS will now be ready for tracking. So, you can move on to the mSpy dashboard to start monitoring the device. But before you close the setup page, you’ll see one option to get the Private key.
Private Key On mSpy
This private key is sent to your registered email after you input the current mSpy password. And this key is used when you have to reset your password to something else, which you can remember. All you have to do is download the key and save it in your system for the time when you would want to reset your password. You’ll have to upload this same private key file and if you reset your password without it, then all the collected or tracked data on mSpy will be encrypted. And you don’t really want this to happen, do you?
How Does mSpy Work?
mSpy Dashboard
Before starting with the features, have a look at the mSpy dashboard. It will give you a great insight into what you can track remotely and how easy it is to use.
The mSpy dashboard works exactly how it is supposed to. It shows all the relevant data in a single place. This data includes target device information like the device’s model, battery life, and the status of internet connectivity on the device.
Other than that, it shows you a line graph representing the number of activities conducted under browser history, GPS location, Text Messages, and WhatsApp.
Below the line graph, you’ll see three tabs showcasing the data under the “Most” category i.e, Most Calling Contacts, Most Messaging Contacts, and Most Visited Websites.
And finally, at the bottom of the dashboard, you can witness the Last Locations of the target phone, if the GPS is enabled on the device. You can expand all the given information on the dashboard if you want to get into more details.
All in all, from my point of view the dashboard of mSpy is very well designed to give you a glimpse of all the relevant information. So, if you don’t have much time, then you can go through the dashboard only and get all the data you need.
mSpy Features: What Does It Monitor?
1. Track Calls, Contacts, And Text Messages
Tracking calls, contacts, and messages is a quite common feature of every Android and iPhone monitoring app. So, as soon as you set up the target device, mSpy starts recording all the new data for calls, contacts, and messages.
While evaluating mSpy, I found that it also shows you the data for these 3 things for the time when the device wasn’t being tracked i.e. the time when mSpy was not installed on the phone. However, the data needs to still exist on the target phone.
This means that mSpy can show you the entire call logs, contacts, and message box of the target device. So, if you want to track some data for an older period of time, then you can very well do that.
To give you the best monitoring experience, mSpy provides complete details in all 3 sections. For instance, in the calls section, you can check the state of the call, that is, incoming or outgoing, phone number, name of the contact, duration of the call, and the date and time.
Similarly, in the Contacts section, you can check the name of the contacts along with all the numbers associated with that contact.
In the Text Messages section, all the contacts will appear on the left-hand side. When you click on any contact, all the messages from that contact will appear on the right side. With each message, the date and time stamp will also appear.
While testing these features I have analyzed that, mSpy is capable of tracking messages which were deleted from the target phone. However, the same is not true for call logs that are deleted within seconds of receiving them. So, if your kid/lover/spouse deletes a call log immediately after hanging up then you may never know who they were talking to.
I would like to point out that, unlike FlexiSPY, mSpy doesn’t offer call recordings feature.
2. Track New Photos, Videos
After the tracking is enabled, mSpy starts tracking all the captured photos and videos from that point onwards. And to clarify, it can only track a few older photos and videos, plus the new photos and videos that are captured after setting up mSpy on the device. This means you can’t access the entire phone gallery, which is a setback.
That said, it’s still amazing that you can still see what kind of photos or videos are captured on the target device.
Don’t expect to get the photos and video data within seconds as the app isn’t that fast especially when I compare mSpy with KidsGuard Pro spy app. It will take some time before you’ll be able to see the latest photos and videos received or made on the target device.
Downloading all the photos and videos is possible and if there are captions in your video, you can enable them as well.
During my usage, I noticed that the speed with which the photo and videos on the target phone are synced to your mSpy account also depends on whether you have selected it to be synced via cellular data or WiFi.
If you have selected WiFi, then the media will only be updated on your mSpy account once the target device is connected to WiFi. However, you should keep it to WiFi-only because if the media is synced through the cellular data then the target person may get suspicious.
3. Wi-Fi Networks
Addiction to the internet and cell phone is unbearable. But how often can you scold your child for limiting their internet use and do some physical activity instead?
Well, it could be better if you had a remote control that can turn on and off the Wi-Fi used for internet connection, right?
Here’s a surprise for you. mSpy actually has that remote control that will enable or disable the Wi-Fi used by the child, as per your wish.
Wi-Fi Logger feature will reveal the names of all the Wi-Fi the child phone connects to, including the last date and time of connection.
And by clicking on the Block option adjacent to the Wi-Fi name, you can stop your teen from using that Wi-Fi connection.
Besides all this, what I really liked about this feature of mSpy is that it can also show you the location of the WiFi by sharing its longitude and latitude values. By knowing the location of all the WiFi networks you can tell where your kid or lover visits on a regular basis. This is one of the features that sets mSpy apart from its competitors.
4. KeyLogger And Keyword Tracking
This feature does exactly as it sounds, tracking every keystroke that is made on the target device. Suppose if your child is using the keyword “John Wick 3 review” to find out if the movie is worth it, then you’ll see that same keyword in this section. So, you can keep an eye on every keyword that is being used on every app.
With each keystroke, you can see a date and time stamp as well. So if you are curious to know when was a particular message sent, mSpy’s Android Keylogger will assist you in knowing that.
One thing I noticed during inspecting the keylogger feature of the app is that with time, the number of keystrokes will increase and it will start to become difficult to keep a track of all the keystrokes. However, this app has a solution for that as well. It allows you to sort keystrokes on the basis of apps they were made on which doesn’t let all the keystrokes pile up in one place.
Now, it doesn’t end here only. With Keyword tracking, you can also put rules on certain keywords. Like, there must be a specific keyword you want to be notified about whenever used by the child. If that’s so, then you just have to provide that keyword along with the platform where you want to track it.
Like if you want to track that keyword on WhatsApp, then select that. After this, you can select the rule ‘Notify to Email’ to get notified whenever the keyword is used. Now, you’ll be the first to know whenever that keyword is used in the selected platform.
5. Installed Apps
Do you think your spouse is cheating on you and using the dating apps like Tinder? The Installed Apps feature puts every single app that is installed on the device right in front of you.
If you actually find a dating app, then you can block that app with just a single click. The response time of the instruction given by you to the app is amazing. You click on the block button and Boom! The app gets blocked within a minute.
6. GPS Locations And Geo-Fencing
Did I mention that you can track the location of your loved ones through their smartphones? If I didn’t, then let us tell you that if the GPS is enabled on the phone with a live internet connection, then you can keep a track of every location your lover has been to.
When I put the location tracking feature of mSpy to test, I found that it works quite efficiently most of the time. However, sometimes the data takes too long to be updated. And if you’re tracking your child live, then not being updated can be troublesome.
GPS Locations feature of mSpy updates the visited locations under its LIST VIEW heading. So you can always check the places visited by your spouse.
By clicking on the MAP VIEW, you can check the current location of the target person.
Now, let’s jump on to discuss a little about geofencing. So, this is one of the major features of mSpy. Why so? Well, it is quite common for parents to put location restrictions on their children. And a child being a child, they will always lie about not breaking those restrictions.
But there’s no way you can get the truth out of their mouth because you know, children nowadays are pretty smart about lying.
So, you can be one step ahead of them in terms of smartness by using the Geo-Fencing on mSpy.
This feature enables you to put location restrictions on your child’s(Target) device in two ways. First, you can set a radius within which you want to allow your children to roam around, it is called the Allowed zone. And with the second option, you can set a radius where you want to restrict them from going, which is called the Restricted zone.
Obviously, the app wouldn’t stop them from going to any location. However, you’ll be notified with an email every time they violate your trust. You also get the information about their leaving or entering a geofenced zone on your mSpy account itself. Fair enough, right?
You can learn all about mSpy location tracking and its Geo-fence feature in our video below.
>7. Social Networks
If you really want to spy on someone then you need to keep an eye on all of their social media profiles. It is because what someone does on social media tells a lot about them. With mSpy you can track all the target person’s messages and chats that they have shared with people on various social & instant messaging apps. Here’s what you can expect from mSpy in the social media department.
How Does mSpy Work For WhatsApp?
WhatsApp is the most used instant messaging app in the world. So it should be your top priority when looking to track your partner’s or children’s social media accounts. Luckily, with mSpy, you can easily track all their WhatsApp messages. Also, one thing I noticed while testing the WhatsApp tracking feature of the app is that with respect to other apps it syncs the WhatsApp messages faster.
Does mSpy Track Facebook Messenger?
Apart from WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger is also an app that people readily use to chat with their friends. If the target person is one among them then you can read all their Facebook Messenger chats without their knowledge.
mSpy Instagram Tracker Review
With mSpy, tracking someone’s Insta messages and DM is quite possible. Moreover, while I was testing the app I discovered that it can even record the deleted Instagram messages which is a great thing about it. However, the problem is that apart from WhatsApp all other apps take some time to sync the messages from the target phone to the mSpy account including Instagram.
Besides WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram, I have also tried mSpy on other apps like Snapchat, Skype, Kik, and more but it was not able to track their messages. I think it depends on the make and model of the target phone. However, if the target phone is rooted then it will track all the social networks.
8. Track Social Media With Screen Recorder
If a spy app does not let you monitor social apps and instant messaging apps, then it’s useless. But thankfully, mSpy does not fall in this category.
With the Screenrecorder feature of the app, it’s easy to keep a track of all the social activity going on the target phone remotely.
Whenever your girlfriend/boyfriend opens their Instagram, WhatsApp, Snapchat, or Facebook account, Screenrecorder works in the background and starts taking screenshots on their cell phone remotely.
Soon those photos will start to appear in the online portal of mSpy for you to check remotely.
With each screenshot, the date and time stamp are also available, and downloading the screenshot is also possible. However, when I analyzed this feature for multiple social media apps I found out that it may not take screenshots of all the apps depending on the make and OS of the target phone. Personally, for me, it was able to provide screenshots from WhatsApp, Instagram and Snapchat, and Facebook.
But the problem with mSpy is that it takes a lot of time to sync the recorded screenshots from the target phone to your mSpy account.
It may take up to 15 minutes and in some cases, it can even take 30 minutes but that shouldn’t be a problem for you because most people only check their tracking account once or twice a day.
9. Does mSpy Track Private Browsing?
I don’t need to tell you how influential is the internet in the life of teens. And when I talk about influence, it can be both good and bad.
But unfortunately, the internet is mostly used by teens for the wrong purpose. This is what makes it necessary to keep a track of the searches made by the teen on the internet.
With the mSpy Browsing History feature, you can check all the searches made on the internet. While accessing the app, I got to know that it cannot track the keyword of the search, but it does provide the URL of the visited website, so you can directly check what the child was watching. The last visit on that website and the number of visited times can be checked as well.
Moreover, if your kid tries to fool you by browsing in a private window or incognito mode or by applying a VPN, you will still know about all the sites visited in the incognito window using mSpy.
10. Block Websites
Now suppose you saw something in the browsing history that is not appropriate for the kids given their age, and the number of visits is also quite high.
The only solution to this problem is to block access to those sites. mSpy will help you block those websites with its Block Websites feature.
You just need to provide the link to the website that you don’t want your child to access. Once you do that and click on BLOCK, the problem is solved.
Apart from blocking websites, you can also block a particular WiFi if you don’t want your kids to connect to it. Also, you can block some applications and games that your child wastes a lot of time on.
11. Device Management
Of course, if you are monitoring a device, then it is important that you are able to manage it properly.
Fortunately, you can get to the device management page by clicking on the profile option at the top right corner and selecting the Device Management option. There, you can change the device’s name along with other few details.
You can also unbind or delete the target device from mSpy and add a new device from this screen only.
Also, you can select to sync the monitoring data through cellular data, WiFi, or both of them from the device management settings itself.
How Long Does It Take For mSpy To Work?
Once installed mSpy app can take anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes on average to transfer all the recorded data to your tracking device. However, the time it takes to remotely sync the data from the target phone to your mSpy account also depends on whether the target phone is connected to the internet or not. If the phone is not connected to the internet then mSpy won’t work until the connection is reestablished.
Can mSpy Be Detected?
Don’t worry mSpy cannot be detected, it is installed with a fake name and icon (Update service) on the target device. Moreover, its icon is hidden automatically so no one can tell that there is a spy app installed on their phone.
Also, the impact of mSpy on the target phone is negligible which means it does not hang or heat up the device. It does consume some battery but not at an alarming rate so it does not raise any red flags.
How Is After Sales Support Of mSpy?
After-sales support is an important factor that you must look upon before purchasing a spy app. I can say with full confidence that the customer support of mSpy before and after purchasing the app is amazing.
To get in contact with their customer support you need to head over to their website and then click on the Help option at the bottom right corner. This will launch the Live chat window where you will get answers to all your questions related to mSpy.
How Much Does mSpy Cost? Is It Free?
mSpy is not free. It has 3 pricing plans i.e. monthly, quarterly, and yearly. The monthly plan starts at $48.99 while the yearly plan will cost you $11.99/month.
If you go for a 3-month or 12-month subscription, then you can save a lot of money.
How Many Devices Can mSpy Support?
It depends on the plan you have chosen. Generally, you can track one device per account but the Family Kit plan can track up to 3 devices on one account.
You can check the plans with the details on mSpy official site.
mSpy Vs eyeZy Features Compared
| Feature | mSpy | eyeZy | Comments |
| Call & Message tracking | Yes | Yes | Both can track deleted messages, but cannot track instantly deleted call logs |
| Call Recording | No | No | Not available on either of the apps |
| Keylogger | Yes | Yes | Both apps have a decent keylogger |
| Social Media | Yes | Yes | mSpy and eyeZy both does a good job in tracking social media messages, even the deleted ones |
| Screen Recorder | Yes | Yes | mSpy recorded screenshots of WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook. While eyeZy only captured WhatsApp and Instagram in my case |
| Geofencing | Yes | Yes | mSpy geofence works well while eyeZy geofence didn't work for me |
| Location tracking | Yes | Yes | Both the apps can track GPS location as well as WiFi location |
| Keyword tracking | Yes | Yes | I find the eyeZy keyword tracking slightly better than that of mSpy |
| Blocking Connection | Yes | Yes | Both can block WiFi, apps, and websites. However, mSpy is slightly better at it. |
| Photos & Videos | Yes | Yes | Both apps can track photos and videos and allow you download them on your device |
Is mSpy The Best Spy App?: Final Verdict
If you missed anything while going through the text content then you can watch our detailed mSpy review video.
mSpy has made quite a good reputation among its users. And is it the best spying app you can go for? Well, certainly not. The app has a couple of shortcomings that may irritate some people. That said, mSpy has a lot of cool spying features as you have seen in this mSpy review that can be used to efficiently track everything, yes! almost everything on the target device.
However, if the target device is iOS, then the “everything” statement doesn’t apply. Because there are a lot of great tracking options that don’t work for iOS.
So, all in all, the mSpy app is pretty decent and you can very confidently go with it without second-guessing the reliability of the app.
Click Here to Check the Official Site
mSpy FAQs
Is mSpy Safe To Use?
Yes, mSpy is safe to use on both Android and iOS devices. It doesn’t install any sort of malware in the device, so your device along with the tracked information will be completely safe.
Is mSpy Detectable?
mSpy works in the background with the name ‘Update Service.’ So, it stays hidden especially if you’ve chosen not to keep the icon while installing the app on the target device.
Can You Read Deleted Messages Through mSpy?
You can read the deleted messages if they were in the target device for at least 2 minutes. If they are deleted before that limit, then those messages can’t be tracked.
Is mSpy Legal?
It is completely legal to use the mSpy app if you’re tracking your child and not someone else without their knowledge.
Can I Track More Than One Device On mSpy?
As of now, you can only track one device/account on mSpy. You can always change the device by removing the current one.
What Is The Private Key On mSpy?
The private key on mSpy is required when you try to reset your mSpy account password. You can get the private key on your registered email by going to your profile page.
How To Reset The mSpy Password?
To reset the mSpy password, you’ll have to upload your private key. You can reset your password by going to the profile page if you’re logged in. And if you’re logged out, then you have to click on the “Forgot password” option on the login page.
Is Rooting Or Jailbreaking Required To Use mSpy?
Absolutely not. You don’t have to jailbreak or root your device in order to make mSpy work.
How To Delete mSpy From The Target Device?
To delete mSpy from the target device, you have to navigate to Phone’s Settings > Security > Device Administrators > Update service(Deactivate it). Then, find the Update service app in applications and uninstall it.
How To Delete The Target Device From mSpy?
You can delete the target device by going to the device management page. You can navigate to that page by clicking on the Profile option at the top right corner and selecting the ‘Device Management’ option. On that page, you’ll see the current device and you just have to click on the Unlink Device option to get the work done.
Here Is The Special 15% mSpy Discount Code 2022 For You
How To Activate The Coupon?
- Visit this 15% special discount link.
- Select your desired mSpy plan and click on the Buy now button. You can select any plan as our coupon code is valid for all the plans.
- On the next page, click on I HAVE A COUPON CODE button.
- Finally, enter the exclusive 15% discount coupon for mSpy – SPYDRILL15 and click Apply.
- The discount will be applied.
Learn More About mSpy In Our 8 Video Series
mSpy
Pros
- Enough Tracking Options
- Very easy and quick setup process
- Doesn't require jailbreak or rooting
- Works in the hidden mode
- Track social media activities with screenshots
- Geofencing available
Cons
- Only one device per account
- Sometimes data takes too long to be updated
- All the existing photos and videos were not synced
