Bark takes a unique approach to parental controls and device monitoring which is what we discovered during this Bark review. Rather than allowing parents to spy on their kids’ every online move, Bark encourages conversations between parents and children to improve digital literacy.
With the growing risk of exposing your children to online predators, bullies, or explicit content, you might be cautious about this approach. But don’t worry! While you won’t be able to read every single text your children send, this parental control app still provides excellent scanning and security features. In fact, Bark is one of the best parental control apps on the market right now!
To see how the monitoring app fares in day-to-day life, we put the Bark app through rigorous testing. Is Bark the right app for you and your family, or is an alternative a better fit? Let’s find out!
Bark: Short Review
What We Like
- Advanced content filtering
- Unlimited devices on one subscription
- Monitors 30+ social media apps
- Allows text monitoring on iOS devices
- Alerts are sent in real time
- Location check-ins and alerts
- Weekly reports on screen time and app use
- Free seven-day trial
What We Don't Like
- Set-up can be somewhat time-consuming
- No geo-fencing feature
- Not all devices, apps, and browsers are monitored equally
- No contacts screening, only on Bark Phone
- Only available in the US, Australia, and South Africa
Bark offers many great features, including customizable screen time schedules and regular activity reports. To cater to your family’s needs, Bark has different plans for older and younger children. With the most comprehensive plan, Bark Premium, you can use Bark on an unlimited number of devices for the price of $99/year. Bark Jr. is meant for kids who don’t use many apps yet.
To improve cybersecurity at home, Bark also offers a Bark internet filter called Bark Home and even their own Bark Phone.
Where Bark truly shines is in its advanced content filtering features. It covers 30+ social media platforms and apps that your kids are likely to use. On top of that, parents can set filters on the basis of 18 categories, including hate speech, depression, sexually explicit content, drugs and alcohol, and profanity. Bark will block and flag any content you consider risky. We are also very impressed by the precision and speed of Bark’s real-time alerts!
In previous rounds of testing, we were less enthusiastic about Bark’s limited location tracking services. However, while the Bark app still doesn’t have a geo-fencing feature, the location check-ins are very accurate and fast. Another disadvantage is that Bark is only available to families in the United States, Australia, and South Africa.
Nonetheless, for these residents, we highly recommend these parental controls! If you want to strike a great balance between security, internet safety for kids, and digital independence, Bark is the best app for you and your children.
Want to find out more? Read our full Bark review and get the seven-day free trial!
Bark’s Specifications
Bark has two different subscriptions for its parental control software:
- Bark Jr. ( $5/month): an entry-level product recommended for parents with younger kids who aren’t using many apps yet
- Bark Premium ($14/month): monitors more apps and websites, making it ideal for older kids or teens who use multiple devices, sites, or social media apps
For each plan, you can choose to pay for an entire year upfront, which saves you some money. Even so, Bark is not as affordable as Kaspersky Safe Kids, which uses a freemium model.
Luckily, you do have options with Bark. To help you decide which plan fits you best, we’ve created an overview of the features included in each subscription.
| SPECIFICATION | BARK JR. | BARK PREMIUM |
|---|---|---|
| Download link | Get Bark Jr. | Get Bark Premium |
| Pricing | $5/month (or $49/year, billed annually) | $14/month (or $99/year, billed annually) |
| Number of devices | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Screen time management | ✔ | ✔ |
| Website filtering | ✔ | ✔ |
| Location check-ins | ✔ | ✔ |
| Text message monitoring | ✖ | ✔ |
| Social media app monitoring | ✖ | ✔ |
| Alerts for cyberbullying, online predators, and more | ✖ | ✔ |
Besides its parental control software, the Bark app has two other products on offer: the Bark Phone and Bark Home internet filter. Below we go over the main features of each to make sure you can make an informed decision.
Bark Phone
For parents who would like a higher level of security on their kids’ devices, Bark has introduced the Bark Phone. This device has Bark software built into it and offers several additional features:
- On this phone, texts can’t be deleted without permission.
- Parents have the opportunity to set remote alarms.
- Contacts and recently installed apps need to be approved before they can be added.
On top of that, the phone includes location-tracking features and can be locked remotely. The Bark Phone subscription starts at $49/month, with no contract required. It includes Bark Premium, wireless service, and of course, the phone itself.
Bark Home
Bark Home has an internet filter that covers all internet-connected devices in your house, including gaming consoles. This is an added bonus since safety on consoles like the Meta Quest 2, for example, can be challenging to manage. A subscription for Bark Home starts at $6/month.
As for the parental control apps, one of the key Bark features of the internet filter is the chance to create custom schedules for screen time. Parents can easily choose when to allow access to certain sites, games, and devices. Moreover, Bark Home is a great pick if you want to ensure that your child doesn’t turn off safe search functions. With the mandatory Safe Search feature, Bark covers all your devices.
You can check out the Bark Phone and the Bark Home internet filter on the Bark webpage.
Features and Effectiveness: How Well Does Bark Perform?
Bark’s features performed well for us when we put them through extensive tests and had the app reviewed by parents and children. As a parent, you want to make sure your kids can enjoy spending time online without coming across unsuitable content. You should also ensure that you can protect your child from online predators. And Bark was up to the task.
For this Bark review, we mainly focused on the Premium account over the Bark Jr. subscription. Overall, we give Bark an effectiveness rating of 8.5/10. Here’s what we found:
- Bark’s content filters are supreme: even minor concerns are flagged immediately.
- Parents can adjust sensitivity for different categories, though customization could be improved.
- 30+ social media apps are filtered, but Bark’s coverage is slightly more limited on iOS.
- Real-time alerts work well with notifications in under one minute.
- Bark doesn’t offer geo-fencing, but location check-ins are very accurate and work well.
- It’s easy to set up screen time schedules.
Content filters
Compared to some of the best parental control apps, Bark has some of the most intuitive content filters in the market. Right now, Bark monitors 30+ social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. On top of that, the parental controls cover games, email accounts, and internet browsers.
When any of your child’s activity or content is flagged, you receive an alert in real-time. Bark parental control software is highly sensitive — even a beer mug emoji in a text message can set off alerts.
One parent in our testing panel received an alert for her son’s phone in response to a text about needing some Tylenol for a headache. This triggered Bark’s “Medically Concerning Content” and “Drug/Alcohol-Related Content” filters right away.
By using algorithms and machine learning technology trained on contextual clues and natural language processes, Bark’s content filtering is very specific and effective. For example, it includes filters for profanity and helps to combat and prevent cyberbullying. Again, the Bark app outdoes the competition on this front since other parental control apps tend to filter only on keywords.
In total, Bark screens content across 18 categories, including the following:
- Anxiety and depression
- Body image
- Cyberbullying
- Drug/alcohol-related content
- Hate speech and profanity
- Self-harm and suicidal content
- Sexual content
- Violence and weapons
Parents have a degree of control when it comes to app and website filtering. Say, you’re specifically worried about exposing your children to self-harm but are less concerned about changes in account activity. You can adjust the sensitivity filters as you like. You can do so in the account settings.
In some cases, the filters are almost too sensitive, especially for teenagers. One parent in our test panel during our Bark review noted that songs about love and kissing were also flagged by Bark’s systems. In that case, it’s recommended to adjust the sensitivity filters, though you can’t customize them with too much detail.
Web browsers
Bark also monitors web browser activity, including private mode on browsers such as Chrome, Firefox, or Microsoft Edge. It can block any content that you’ve deemed inappropriate in the settings. Within the Screen Time Rules, you can also specifically enable Safe Search for Google, Bing, and DuckDuckGo.
Bark never gives you an exact play-by-play of your children’s online activity. You only get to see the search history and browsing history that Bark flags. However, you can change the privacy settings on Google, for example, to add an extra layer of security to your kids’ browsing sessions so that inappropriate content is less likely to reach them.
Note:
It’s good to keep in mind that there are some limitations depending on which device you use. For example, on iOS, you need to set up web browsing through the Apple settings specifically. This is a bit more time-consuming.
We were notably impressed by how thoroughly the Bark app assesses past online activity and search history. Unless your child has cleared their history, Bark will find any alarming content and flag it. This includes time stamps and the IP address the searches occurred from.
Bark monitors several email hosts and can restrict access to the following platforms:
- iCloud Email
- Outlook
- Gmail
- Yahoo! Mail
- AOL Mail
- Comcast
We found email monitoring to be very reliable while conducting this Bark review. The Bark parental control app reviews incoming and outgoing emails in addition to email attachments. You can see flagged content quickly from your parent dashboard.
Social media monitoring
There are ways to make social media safe for kids without taking away the fun. However, an effective parental control app can make a big difference.
When it comes to social media apps, Bark’s monitoring capabilities are more limited. On most social media apps, Bark monitors text but only screens direct messages. This is because not all social media companies have agreed to work with Bark for comprehensive monitoring.
This means that the Bark app doesn’t scan what images and videos your child receives. It also can’t see what your children are searching for. We definitely recommend discussing internet safety tips with children to teach them some digital literacy skills. Knowing who they interact with and which apps they like goes a long way!
On social media apps, some content can slip under Bark’s radar. However, for the apps that Bark does monitor, a lot of red flags are caught in time. There are some differences between Android and iOS devices, however: not all apps are covered on both operating systems.
What does Bark monitor? We have listed the apps that are monitored on both iOS and Android devices below:
- BIGO LIVE
- Dropbox
- Flickr
- Google Drive
- GroupMe
- Kik
- LiveMe
- OneDrive
- Slack
- Spotify
- Tumblr
- YouTube
Android has some additional apps that are screened. The following apps are only covered on Android devices:
- Discord
- HOLLA
- Houseparty
- Lipsi
- Facebook Messenger Kids
- Skype
- Snapchat
- Steam
- TikTok
- VSCO
Alert speeds
We were very pleased with the speed of Bark’s alert notifications during this Bark review. For YouTube’s monitoring feature, notifications showed up right away. One of the parents got an immediate alert when their son looked up “Sex Pistols” on YouTube, flagged for “Weapon” and “Sexual Content.” Real-time alerts are a great plus for any parental control app, even for websites that might be unsafe like YouTube Kids at times.
Moreover, if your child has not deleted their browser and search history, you will also receive notifications for past searches as well as any content in earlier text exchanges you might want to review.
For location tracking, alerts are also very speedy—and very precise. We got alerts down to the exact address. Bark sends notifications to the dashboard as well as to parents’ phones.
Location services
When you have older children or teenagers that go places on their own, it can be useful to keep an eye on their whereabouts. The Bark parental control app offers location check-ins and alerts to help you out. The app lets you know when your child has arrived at or has left a certain location. If you’re looking for some peace of mind, this feature might just give you the reassurance you need!
One thing to note is that the Bark app, unlike competitors Qustodio and Norton Family, doesn’t offer a geo-fencing feature. This would allow you to set geographical parameters for a safe zone: if your child’s location is outside this safe zone, you will be notified.
Screen time schedules
Screen time schedules is another useful feature that Bark offers. According to the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, children’s screen time is increasing. Kids aged eight to 12 in the United States spend between four to six hours per day using screens. For teenagers, who may also be prone to video game addiction, this can go up to nine hours per day.
Bark monitors screen time and aims to help parents set healthy screen time limitations that benefit their kid’s well-being.
In terms of functionality, we found it easy enough to set up screen time schedules in the parental portal during this Bark review. On top of that, the Bark website offers useful guides and resources to make discussing limitations easier with your children. They even offer up self-care ideas to replace screen time.
Ease of Use: How User-Friendly Is Bark?
Bark has a user-friendly interface but to make sure your parental controls function properly, it does take some time to set up Bark. Luckily, the installation of the software itself is very easy and fast — and you’ll only have to sync your children’s accounts once. For overall ease of use, we give Bark an 8/10. Here is what we discovered:
- The website is easy to navigate and has high-quality resources readily available.
- Bark’s desktop app is user-friendly and consistent.
- Syncing all your children’s devices, apps, and social media accounts takes some time (1-2 hours, depending on the size of your household).
- Customer support is helpful, though if you wish to speak to an agent on the phone, you’ll have to schedule it in.
Bark’s website and installation process
Bark’s website is very user-friendly and simple to navigate. You can find information on different products, how certain features work, and find a variety of resources, including reviews and a blog page.
Similarly, the Bark app’s interface is clean and uncluttered and easily directs you through the steps of setting up parental controls. Once you log in for the first time, you’re prompted with a setup checklist on the Dashboard.
If there are any alerts you need to review, they will show up on your dashboard, or you can navigate to the top menu. Here you can see the type of alert, which device it occurred on, and for which child.
Under your profile tab, there are also basic sections like Settings and the Help Center.
How to install Bark
While conducting this Bark review, we installed Bark on a Windows PC. To make sure you can fully monitor your family’s devices, the installation requires a bit of a time investment, but it shouldn’t take more than two hours.
In fact, we managed to set up Bark in under an hour for two kids and multiple devices, including phones, tablets, and computers. Grab a cup of coffee, carve out a free hour in your day, and you should be all set!
Here’s a step-by-step guide for installing Bark:
- Choose your Bark subscription: Bark Jr. or Bark Premium.
- Sign up for your Bark account. Enter your email and choose a password.
- Select the frequency of your billing cycle and submit your payment details. If you’ve opted for the seven-day free trial, Bark will only charge you once the trial has finished.
- Enter the birth year of your child. This is so Bark can optimize the default settings.
- Specify what categories are concerning to you and indicate which devices, apps, and email hosts your child uses.
- Install the Bark app for your operating system. You will see this notification:
- Follow the steps to the Bark interface. Your dashboard looks like this:
- Click on “Connect [Child’s] apps and devices” to begin syncing your child’s social media accounts. For iOS, you will receive the notification that setup can take a bit longer.
As stated, it can take a bit of time to sync everything. But once you’ve connected your child’s device and apps, the parental controls are effective immediately.
Keep in mind that setting up Bark is an app-by-app process. Since social media apps can have different security policies, connecting your child’s Snapchat account may have different directions than an email host. Also, ensure that you evaluate the safety of Snapchat or other social media apps you want to add to Bark and research if these apps are appropriate for children to use.
Bark also offers a lot of visual guides and even has options for you to schedule a one-on-one phone call to get your devices set up.
Note:
If you regularly reset passwords for privacy reasons, you will have to re-sync them in the Bark app every time. To make sure, content doesn’t slip through the cracks in the meantime, we recommend making a note to yourself to update login details in Bark at the same time you reset passwords.
Using Bark
We found the Bark desktop app very easy to use. The interface is clean and effective, and the steps for changing settings and alert features are very straightforward.
One of our favorite parts about Bark is the high-quality parent resources, video tutorials, and conversation starters available to parents. You can learn great tips on how to talk to your kids or watch simple how-to videos.
The Resource Hub also has tons of information to help parents along when it comes to cybersecurity, including how kids can create an email account with the most secure email service providers.
Customer service
Overall, the Bark app’s customer service works well. We did find a two-week wait for scheduling a phone call — yikes! However, once we submitted a help ticket, we had someone reach out to us via email within an hour. With that, our problem was solved in minutes.
If you prefer talking on the phone, you will have to schedule a specific time because there’s no customer service number on their website. Overall, our email help tech was responsive and supportive, and all our questions were answered.
Data Privacy: How Does Bark Use Your Data?
We have to say Bark does not misuse your data and really cares about your privacy. In fact, Bark goes beyond what is legally required of them to protect your personal information. They have also incorporated multiple layers of security to keep hackers out. All these features make Bark a privacy-focused app and earn it an overall score of 9/10 for data privacy.
Here’s what we found:
- All of Bark’s databases, servers, and web browser sessions are encrypted.
- Data is automatically removed after 30 days, but you can make a request to remove it even sooner.
- Bark is regularly audited.
- Compared to other parental control apps, Bark is not too invasive.
- It’s not required to jailbreak your child’s device.
- Bark is easily compatible with most major operating systems.
Privacy policy
Here’s how the Bark app keeps your data safe according to its privacy policy:
- No data is given to third parties without consent.
- Bark is COPPA, FERPA, CIPA, AB 1584, and SOC 2 Type II compliant.
- All databases, servers, and web browser sessions are encrypted, so online criminals can’t access your data.
- Bark requires employees to meet security standards, including multi-factor authentication, hard-disk encryption, and frequent software updates.
- Bark uses TLS Encryption and second-layer security from Amazon Web Services, multi-factor authentication, and user-specific access keys.
- The company hosts internal security audits and training regularly.
What’s commendable about Bark is the fact that they only provide you with information you “need to know.” This ensures that your kids’ privacy is also protected to a certain extent.
With parental controls, the last thing you want is to alienate your teens or make them resent you. In our experience, this always backfires. Therefore, it’s excellent that Bark doesn’t let you spy on your children and only filters out content you’ve marked as risky.
Note:
The best recommendation for making sure your children don’t turn against you, is communicating honestly about parental control software. Discuss cybersecurity advice with them, make sure they understand why you want to keep an eye on their devices, and show them how the app works, so they know what you can and can’t see.
Device privacy
In addition to keeping your data secure, we noticed during this Bark review that Bark also ensures that your child’s device warranty and terms of service are uncompromised. Bark does not require parent or child devices to be rooted (Android devices) or jailbroken (iOS devices).
There’s also no need to buy new devices and match operating systems. Even if you’re using an Android phone, you can still monitor your child’s iPhone or iPad and vice versa.
Keeping Kids Safe Online With the Bark App
The Bark app can keep kids safe online even though it doesn’t monitor absolutely everything they do on the internet. However, in comparison to other parental control apps, Bark has a very high level of sensitivity when it comes to web filtering, text monitoring, and social media monitoring, as we discovered while conducting this extensive Bark review.
It is the perfect app for families who want to improve cybersecurity but still teach their kids and teens some online independence.
Once apps and devices are connected, alerts are accurate and sent in real time. Location tracking is very precise. Moreover, Bark treats your data with care: all information is automatically removed from Bark’s servers after 30 days.
With Bark, parents get a user-friendly and advanced parental control app. We highly recommend it!
If you want to know more about other parental control apps, have a look at the articles below:
- Kaspersky Safe Kids Review: Affordable Parental Control
- Norton Family Review: Will It Keep Your Family Safe?
- Qustodio Review: Is It the Best Parental Control App?
Want to learn more about Bark monitoring services? Read some of the most commonly asked questions in our FAQ section.
Yes, Bark works very well for the apps and devices it connects to. We are particularly enthusiastic about the sensitivity of Bark’s filters (great for younger kids!), the speed of alerts, and the fact that the app places a lot of value on data privacy. If you want to know more have a look at our thorough Bark review.
Yes, kids can delete the Bark app.
Bark doesn’t keep kids from removing the app from their device. However, Bark states that most kids are usually receptive to keeping the app on their device when parents explain why their safety is important and that they still have a degree of privacy, especially in comparison to other good parental control apps.
The app only alerts parents to flagged content that might put kids in danger.
At this time, Bark does not monitor any streaming services like Netflix. However, it does monitor 30+ social media apps and web services on Android, Apple and Amazon devices. For more information read our comprehensive Bark review.
Bark can monitor Snapchat, but only on Android devices. On iOS devices, it doesn’t have the required permissions.
