Image Credit: Rami Al-zayat / Unsplash
We’re living in a world where our actions, location, purchases, browser history, and all kinds of personal information are becoming more and more public domain. State authorities have access to most of our footprints, which are growing more and more digital every day. Advertisers and big data tech companies are deeply curious about our consumer habits. Our loved ones may also want more access, some theoretically, some more aggressively, interfering with our personal space.
Phone tracking, mobile spying, parental control software – all these are synonymous, and basically allow a user to gain information about his or her counterparty without his or her consent. The only case in which such actions are legally appropriate in most countries is that of underage children, and even with employees’ company phones, people have to be forewarned that there’s a possibility of their phones being monitored. Even though there are situations when resorting to such apps is understandable, you do need to remember that the legal requirements in your country are probably against it.
Phone tracking is a growing industry, since the desire to monitor your teen’s activities in the dangerous world out there or make sure your employees are acting properly is not decreasing. It gives a person a sense of control, although, we must admit, produces constructive results in only a small number of cases. Interpersonal communication is a far more efficient tool in achieving harmony in a relationship.
What’s new on the market?
What’s new in the fledgling industry? Actually, 2017 was not marked by any breakthrough discoveries, rather, the already existing popular apps and new releases that are similar to them fine-tuned their software, made it more compatible with various operating systems and more efficient, and added new features.
The phone monitoring industry leaders are still the same, namely,
- mSpy
- FlexiSpy
- Highster Mobile
The smaller and weaker players have been mostly pushed to the margins, while these three are splitting the greatest portion of the market between themselves. No new players emerged, at least none that can rival the leading apps in features and price/quality ratio, or offer something exclusive as far as the technological possibilities are concerned.
Most of these apps offer a similar set of features, including text message, call, e-mail and social network monitoring, GPS locators, media access, browser access, etc., in different combinations. The prices range significantly, so make sure you study the set of features offered and select one that’s most appropriate to your situation. Another thing to keep in mind is that some of the app only require a fee for downloading it, while with others it takes a recurrent monthly payment to keep the program running.
Ambiguous future of the phone monitoring industry segment
It would seem fair to say that the mobile monitoring spyware market has been predominantly shaped for now, and is unlikely to undergo any radical changes any time soon – until the technology takes another leap forward, of course, and then we’ll be in for another round of new features and breakthrough opportunities. Do people need more technologically advanced opportunities for monitoring each other even closer? Well, it’ll definitely be tempting to many, but regardless of whether we consider it a positive development, it’s an almost certain one. Just like the fact that people will always worry for their young and feel pangs of jealousy, leading some to take the step and consider installing a phone monitoring app on someone’s phone.