Have you ever noticed unusual activity on your phone, strange background noise in phone calls, or unfamiliar apps on your device? It’s probably because a spy application is monitoring your phone. What is a spy app? Let’s discuss the Android spy app, how it operates, what features it has, and how to choose such an app. 

What is an Android Spy App?

Spy app is a software designed for mobile devices that collects information regarding someone’s messages, calls, or location and sends it to a third party. It can be used as a secret tracking app for Android phone users aren’t aware of and as a tool for monitoring kids. Most often, parents concerned about their children’s safety install such apps on their kid’s phones to track their location and online activity. Some employers can also use spy apps to monitor their employees’ performance. 

In the cases mentioned above, the spyware is installed with the knowledge of the phone’s owner. However, cybercriminals often use such applications without the owner’s consent and steal their personal data. Such usage of spyware is illegal. 

How Do Spy Apps Work?

The main purpose of spyware is to gather data and monitor the activities performed on the phone. After the installation, the app works silently in the background and rarely sends notifications revealing its availability. However, whenever the user receives calls, messages, or emails, the app immediately “reads” the data and stores it for transferring to a third party. The monitoring party can access this information without any password and read the messages or listen to recorded phone calls. So, in the hands of parents, spy apps work as surveillance tools, while in the wrong hands, they can cause tremendous damage and loss of personal data.  

Popular Spy Application Features

Let’s see the full list of Android spy apps’ features. 

• Call Tracking: The feature allows tracking of real-time and recorded phone calls. Moreover, you can also see the call log, i.e., outgoing, incoming, and missed calls. 
• Text Message Tracking: The feature allows opening and reading the sent and received standard text messages (SMS). You can also see the date and time information. 
• Monitoring Messaging Apps: Since nowadays most communication is done via messaging apps, the message spy app Android phones include can track them as well. The software can access and read conversations on Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Viber, etc. 
• Monitoring Social Media Accounts: People spend most of their time on social media like Facebook or Instagram. Spy apps can monitor their activity on these platforms to see what information they view. 
• Accessing Browser History: Spyware can access the user’s browser history and fetch the list of visited websites. Over time it can even make a list of most frequently visited sites. 
• Location Tracking: If the phone is connected, this feature shows the user’s location in real-time. If the phone is disconnected, the spyware collects information about its location and updates the data whenever the phone is online. 
• Email Monitoring: This feature is mostly used by employers to monitor the business communication of their employees. It shows the sent and received emails as well as displays email addresses. 

How to Choose the Best Spy App

Choosing spyware apps for Android for surveillance purposes is difficult because they offer great features and guarantee results. Click here to read more about hidden spy apps for Android, and let’s see what steps to take for selecting suitable spyware:

1. Define your purpose: As a parent, you’ll need spyware with monitoring tools, but as an employer, you need an app with a wide selection of tracking features. 
2. Check phone compatibility: If the spy app is designed for Android devices, don’t assume it’s equally compatible with Samsung and Huawei phones. 
3. Compare the pricing: Though some spyware offers free features, users have to purchase a subscription plan to access all features. Choose an app with affordable subscription packages.
4. Check out the refund policy: If you purchase a subscription plan, but the app doesn’t perform as expected, you don’t want to lose your money. Hence, make sure you can get your money back if you’re dissatisfied with the app.  

Conclusion

To sum up, spy apps can be used for stealing personal data in the wrong hands, but in the right hands, they can be used for surveillance and tracking purposes. According to CellTrackingApps.com, mSpy, Spybubble, and eyeZy are the most popular Android spyware that offer affordable pricing and a large variety of tracking features. These apps have call, message, and location tracking and email monitoring features. For choosing an app, you should clearly define your purpose, check the app’s compatibility with your phone, and make sure it has a reasonable refund policy.