Almost every parent will eventually face the day when their child begs them for the latest iPhone. After all, Apple’s iPhones are the most stylish brand of phone anyone can own. Simply having one is a huge status symbol, especially for older kids and teens. In this article, we have tested and reviewed the best spying apps for iPhones.
Apple owns about 30% of the world’s phone market. It’s not just kids either – one in three of all consumers own iPhones. That’s a bigger number than any one brand of Android phones.
So, if you plan to spy on someone using a spying app, then you need to know what the best options for an iPhone are. Otherwise, you might end up using an app that costs way too much while giving you way too little info. If you don’t have the info, you won’t get any reassurance that everything is going well.
We also have an article for the Best Spying Apps for Android if you want to check that out instead.
What is a Spying App and Why You Might Need One
The idea of a spying app is simple. It is an app that is stealthily installed on a phone. Once installed, it spies on your target’s phone and sends back various information to you.
If you are new to the idea of using spying apps, you might be wondering exactly why you should get one. After all, it is not a good thing to spy, right? However, that’s not always the case.
Sometimes it’s necessary to spy on a loved one or an employee. Suppose you have middle-school or high school-aged children. Did you know that more than 80% of school children are involved in cyberbullying?
If your own child is on the receiving end, it could give them a lot of stress and affect their mental wellbeing. If your child is perpetrating it, then you certainly don’t want such behavior from them, right? Even if they are not involved in cyberbullying, there are still other possible threats on the internet – scammers, predators, mature or adult content.
In all of these cases, your child likely won’t tell you anything at all. They might be too embarrassed about it, or even coerced into silence. That’s why you should have a spying app on their phone instead, warning you about these potential dangers!
Spying apps are not just for children. Unfaithful spouses and lazy employees are also easy to catch if you use a spying app. You can easily get proof of their activities and confront them when you want. If you don’t, then your life could get messed up or your business could become unproductive.
Can you Use a Spying App with an Apple iPhone?
Yes, you can use a spying app with an iPhone. You can also use them with other iOS devices like iPads and Macs, but we will be focused on iPhones for now
Unfortunately, Apple is a lot more security-conscious compared to Android. As you know, it’s a lot harder to customize or edit the settings of an iPhone compared to an Android phone. That also means it is a lot trickier to spy on an iPhone since you cannot get the same degree of in-depth access.
Track all the social media apps
Installing iPhone apps is a little different from Android. Normally, you can install it on the target phone by borrowing the phone, visiting the App Store and downloading the app.
So, compared to android devices, all spying apps for iPhones have fewer features. The features themselves are also generally more limited, so don’t expect the same level of detailed info as with the android version of the app.
The only way to unlock additional features is Jailbreaking. However, even this approach does not work on the latest iPhones. Plus, it requires some technical know-how to pull off successfully. So, if you are not confident in your tech skills, it is best to leave it alone.
Still, there’s a lot of key info you can collect by spying on an iPhone. Feel free to go ahead and install one of these apps to get some peace of mind.
Our Top Five Picks for the Best Spying Apps for iPhone
Compared to Android, iPhone spying apps tend to be a little limited. However, we still checked out the best ones and what features they offer.
Mspy
Mspy is one of the best spying apps for iPhone out there. It owes this status to the fact that it offers iPhone users a lot more choice than is normal. For starters, normally, iPhone users do not have access to a lot of the tools that Android users do. Many other spying apps do not even bother trying to make workarounds for this.
However, Mspy does. That’s what makes it one of the best spying apps out there.
There are several different installation options for Mspy for iPhones. The normal Mspy app is suitable for all modern iPhones, but it is limited to a few features only: checking contacts list, call logs, texts, browsing history, messages from iMessage and WhatsApp, and a list of installed apps.
You cannot actually get things like keyword alerts, keylogging, screen recording, messages from most messaging apps, limiting or restricting apps, or location tracking. Fortunately, for the last two, it is possible to use iOS’s built-in tools instead.
If the target device isn’t one of the latest iPhones, then you have an alternative option: jailbreaking. Jailbreaking the iPhone unlocks a higher degree of access comparable to what Android enjoys. That means you’ll be able to get more features.
On a jailbroken iPhone, you can get keyword alerts to let you know if certain words or phrases are typed in. You can also track the location and get alerts if they leave a designated area, via geofencing.
Plus, Mspy is not all that expensive. Using the 30% first-timer discount, you can get a full year’s plan for only $11.66. Occasionally, you can get an even bigger discount up to 45% or 50%.
Pros:
- Covers iMessage and WhatsApp, the most popular messaging apps for iPhones
- Available for all modern iPhones past iOS 7
- The installation process is very quick and simple
Cons:
- Most updates from an iPhone are 24 hours apart.
- Can install the app remotely by using iCloud if you know your child’s username and password
Use spyware on all new versions of iPhone
Umobix
Umobix is a great app if you want to monitor what your children do online. Not only does it let you view their activities, but it also lets you delete, restrict and block things from their devices. If you think your kid is talking to someone dangerous to them, or viewing content they shouldn’t be, you can remove them.
The great thing about Umobix is how you can do all that while being undetected. You will need your child’s phone to install the app, and once it is done you can simply delete the app icon from the menu. The app will continue working but your child will not know about it!
If you aren’t very good with technology, don’t worry. Installing Umobix does not require jailbreaking. You can use iCloud credentials to install the app remotely from your own device. It can get a little expensive if you want to monitor more than one device though because Umobix only gives you access to 1 device per subscription.
Pros
- Streaming
- Supports more apps than most
- Remote control
- Does not need jailbreaking
Cons
- Only 1 device per subscription
- No alerts
- Not all features available for iPhone
Spyware can track all digital activity including keylogs
Flexispy
This app is great for many different kinds of spying. If you want to monitor your children, you can use Flexispy. If you are trying to determine if your partner is cheating on you, you can also use Flexispy for that. Flexispy is an app created to be used for all your spying needs.
Even if you own a company and need an app to monitor your employees, you can install it on all the office computers. It will help you understand when an employee is stealing from you.
Flexispy does need jailbreaking to be installed on an iPhone. If that is too complicated for you, you have the option to order a phone that already has the app installed in it. You can choose from any modern phone model. Flexispy offers express delivery.
Pros
- Great for multipurpose use
- You can get a device with the app already installed
- You can monitor all the popular apps with it
Cons
- No remote control feature
- Much more expensive than competitors
- Needs jailbreaking
eyeZy
For a sophisticated, modern spying app designed to leverage the latest technologies, look no further than eyeZy.
It is very simple to install eyeZy on any iPhone or iOS device. All you have to do is enter the iCloud credentials. eyeZy will automatically connect that phone to its cloud monitoring services. At regular intervals, the updates from the phone such as its messages, call logs, list of installed apps, and more.
eyeZy’s pricing is also quite reasonable! It costs only $14.27 per month if you purchase the annual package. If you only want it for one month, then it will set you back over $68 every month. This is one reason why you should check out reviews of any spying app before you spend the money! But the features are worth it.
Also, first-timers get a discount that brings the price down to less than $10 monthly. Plus, while it normally monitors only one device you can get a family pack that covers 3 devices with a steep discount!
You can check out the demo to see how eyeZy’s dashboard works and what kind of analytics and data it collects and organizes. And if you aren’t sure if your device will be compatible, then there’s a compatibility checker as well.
eyeZy can be used anywhere in the world, and if you ever have any issues or confusion, you can contact 24/7 customer support.
Pros:
- Features a lot of sophisticated data collection and analysis features
- Great pricing with a big discount for first-time users
- Extremely easy to install on any iPhone or iOS device, since you can just enter the iCloud credentials.
Cons:
- Does not have as many features as the Android version.
- Installation can become complicated if the phone has two-factor authentication enabled – you will need to have physical access then.
Xnspy
The next top pick for the best Spying apps for iPhone is Xnspy. Xnspy is a relatively well-known app with an incredible range of features – as many as Mspy, if not more.
Even though the iPhone version of Xnspy does not have every single one of the features the android version has, it is still a really useful and helpful app.
There are two editions of it: one for jailbroken iPhones and iPads and one for non-jailbroken devices. The former has a lot more features, but using a jailbroken phone can be risky. Meanwhile, the latter is safe but restrictive.
It takes a little bit of tech-savvy to jailbreak an iPhone. If you are not confident or if it is not already jailbroken, we do not recommend messing around. Plus, the jailbroken version is only available up to iOS 9.0.3, which was first launched in 2015.
On non-jailbroken devices, you can remotely read texts, emails, iMessage and WhatsApp. You can also get details on browsing history and which websites they visit. For example, if your child is visiting adult or mature websites, you can put a stop to it before they are harmed psychologically. If your significant other is spending hours on dating apps, you can confront them about it.
Jailbreak iPhones to use spyware
Despite the lack of access, Xnspy also does its best to provide you with some data analysis. You can get analytics on call and browsing data.
If you jailbreak it, you get more access to data, such as WhatsApp photos, Skype, Tinder, Line, Kik, and Viber texts, Location tracking and Geofencing, and more. The last two are really useful and important since the built-in location tracking in an iPhone is not as effective.
Pros:
- Can view multimedia files even without jailbreaking.
- WhatsApp and iMessage, the two most popular messaging apps, are available by default
- Tracks call history and browsing and even provides data analysis.
Cons:
- Need to jailbreak to get a lot of features, which can be hard for many people
- The basic edition lacks too many features.
Spytrac
Spytrac is another popular and highly used spying app for mobile phones. However, it is not available for iPhones! Even though that’s a big letdown, otherwise we found this software to be really useful.
If you are targeting an android phone to spy on, then you might want to take a look at Spytrac. Otherwise, iPhone users need to wait and hope they release an iOS version soon.
MyCellSpy
Like Spytrac, MyCellSpy is one of the best spying apps out there – but it is also exclusive to Android. We consider this a disappointment since MyCellSpy happens to have one of the best free versions out there.
Until the developers of MyCellSpy release an iPhone version of this app, it will stay at the bottom of this list.
Visit MspyConclusion
With all the myriad dangers and secrets out there on the internet, it's essential to keep an eye on our children and loved ones. Since their mobile phones are the gateway to the internet, that’s where you should be focusing your efforts.
It is very simple and easy to set up a spying app for the iPhone. You can use any one of the above apps to gain access to their activities and messages. With this, you are equipped with the tools to protect them from any dangerous threats out there. Or to protect yourself in case someone you trusted suddenly goes behind your back.
Our top choices for Spying Apps for iPhone are Mspy, eyeZy and Xnspy. As you can see, there aren’t as many choices available for iPhone spying compared to Android. Feel free to choose from any one of the three and earn yourself some peace of mind!
FAQ
How do I install spyware on an iPhone?
Some apps will require you to jailbreak the phone. If you do not know how to jailbreak, you can find many resources online to guide you. Some apps have the option for you to order a device that the app is already installed on. Apps that don’t need jailbreaking can also be installed remotely using iCloud credentials.
There are many free spyware apps that are trustworthy. However, to be safe, you should always do your research before installing a free app. Running a spyware company requires licensing of many kinds which is why they are usually not free. Free spyware might use access to your device to steal your data and sell it to third parties.
It is legal to spy on a child if you are their legal guardian. It is legal to use spyware on devices that are owned by you, paid for by you and belong on your property. You can install spyware on your office computers if you are the owner. In any other case, you should take consent from the adults who you want to monitor.
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