Bark App Review: Effective or Overrated? (2025)

If you’re considering getting a monitoring app to receive insights into your loved one’s activity and keep them safe, you most likely came across Bark.

Over the years, this name has become pretty popular on the market. No wonder so many parents are searching for reliable Bark app reviews to learn more about how it functions and if it is worth it.

In the article, we’re going to take a close look at Bark to help you decide if it’s the right fit for your family.

Table Of Contents

How Does Bark Work: Key Features

Bark App Review: Effective or Overrated? (1)

Bark is a parental control app that lets you monitor your kid’s phone activity. The app doesn’t work like the most popular monitoring app on the market. You need to connect your child’s phone to monitor them.

Bark will alert you whenever it detects dangerous activity associated with bullying, drugs, profanity, weapons, anxiety, etc. To give you a better understanding, let’s review some of Bark’s key features.

Location Tracking

GPS tracker is a basic feature included probably in every parental control app, and Bark is not an exception. The app lets you receive real-time location updates and view location history. You can also set geofencing to receive a notification when they cross the virtual boundaries.

The great thing about Bark is that it promotes open and honest relationships with your kids. It provides a location-sharing feature, allowing you to check in on your kids. You can send them a request and receive their exact location if they decide to share it.

Social Media Monitoring

Bark claims to give access to more than 30 social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Kik, Snapchat, and others. But the features don’t work the way you expect. The app uses a content filter to search and find inappropriate words and behaviors.

While Bark text monitoring doesn’t show every message they send and receive, it will display messages that contain potential issues.

Screen Time Management

With Bark, you can set screen time rules, limit the time they can spend on their devices, and create schedules for their free time, school, or sleeping hours.

Bark offers different sets of rules. You can either use default settings or manually customize the schedules for the tech use.

You can block or allow the app for a certain time or block the internet access completely. This can be helpful if you want to keep them focused during school hours or when it’s bedtime.

Website & App Blocker

Bark lets you filter and restrict apps and websites that can be potentially harmful to your kids. This can include websites and apps with adult content, profanity, violent gaming apps, etc. You can also block the entire categories of websites and apps associated with sexual content or gaming.

Bark App Review: Effective or Overrated? (2)

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Bark Compatibility

FeaturesBarkEyezy
CompatibilityiOS
Android
Mac
Windows
Chromebook
Amazon Fire
Android
iOS
PricingBark Jr.

$5.00/month
$49.00/year

Bark Premium

$14.00/month
$99.00/year

Bark Home

$6.00/month

Bark Phone

$39.00/month

Android & iOS

• 1-month plan for $47.99/mo
• 3-month plan for $27.99/mo
• 12-month plan for $9.99/mo

# of devicesUnlimitedUp to 3 with Family Plan
DemoNoYes
Location trackingYesYes
Social media trackingYesYes
Remote restrictionsYesYes

Bark Pros and Cons

Bark App Review: Effective or Overrated? (3)

Bark offers a range of features designed to enhance safety and provide peace of mind, but it may also have limitations that affect its overall effectiveness. Knowing both strengths and potential drawbacks helps to decide if the app really fits your needs.

Pros

  • Work on smartphones, PCs, and laptops
  • 1-week trial
  • Uses AI technology to detect potential issues

Cons

  • Only shows activity
  • No uninstall protection
  • Available in several countries

What Real Users Think of Bark

When people are thinking about buying something, they often look for real reviews to help them decide. But when it comes to the Bark app, there aren’t many real reviews on the internet. And the ones we did find? Most of them are negative, mentioning issues with setup and features not working quite as advertised.

Bark App Review: Effective or Overrated? (4)

Bark App Review: Effective or Overrated? (5)

Is Eyezy a Better Alternative for Bark?

Bark App Review: Effective or Overrated? (6)

When it comes to your family’s safety, you want the best tools available. After reading some negative comments above, it’s natural to be curious about Bark alternatives. Eyezy might be a great solution worth considering. We’ll compare both parental controls to help you choose the ONE.

Call History Monitoring

While Bark offers many practical features to help parents safeguard their kids, it lacks some basic features that Eyezy provides. One of them is Phone Analyzer, which lets you view their full call history, including all incoming and outgoing calls.

Not only you can check who they’re talking to, but you can also see the exact timestamp and duration of the call. A helpful feature if you’re concerned about them interacting with strangers.

iOS Setup

Bark is compilable with lots of devices, including iOS. But it offers one installation method for iPhone. The data only updates if the device is connected to the Wi-Fi used for setup. This means when they leave the house, you can no longer receive information on their location and other activity.

Meanwhile, Eyezy offers several installation methods for iPhone: iCloud Sync, Wi-Fi Sync and mobile app. You can choose the one that works for you or use all of them at the same time to access more features and receive in-depth information.

Detailed Insights

Bark focuses on alerting you only when it detects potentially dangerous issues like bullying, violence, sexual content, or drugs. This means you only see activity that triggers these specific alerts.

With Eyezy, you can track almost everything happening on the phone, including calls, web history, social media activity, and even keystrokes. This comprehensive monitoring allows you to identify any potentially dangerous activity more effectively, giving you a fuller picture of your kid’s online behavior.

Final Words on Bark

Like any other app, Bark has its strengths and drawbacks, but it’s a great tool for protecting kids from dangers like bullying, violence, sexual content, and drugs. While it provides quick, essential notifications to identify potential threats, it only tracks activities that trigger specific alerts.

If you are looking for more in-depth insights and a broader range of features, Eyezy might be the better option.

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Bark App Review: Effective or Overrated? (7)Jeremy Heyer

Jeremy is a journalist and a blogger who is deeply passionate about digital technology. He keeps an eye on the latest digital trends and innovations, enjoys reviewing brand-new devices, and wants to test as many mobile apps as possible. Jeremy crafts content around trending technologies related to various industries, including the parental control niche. His articles and posts are based on his own observations and experiences.

Bark App Review: Effective or Overrated? (2025)

FAQs

What are the downsides of the Bark phone? ›

Cons
  • - Limited support options.
  • Phone plan is expensive.
  • Most affordable phone plan has no mobile data.
Apr 25, 2023

What is the Bark app controversy? ›

Bark's biggest selling point is also its most controversial feature. By giving parents access to their children's private messages, Bark helps you highlight and deal with issues your kids might not want you to know about.

Is there a better app than Bark? ›

Qustodio offers a wider range of features and coverage

From the Family locator to Calls and SMS monitoring, Qustodio's powerful features provide more detailed and accurate information when comparing the basic plans of Qustodio and Bark.

Is Bark monitoring worth it? ›

Bark is excellent at monitoring and giving parents more peace of mind as their child navigates a new world of devices, apps, and web surfing. But some parents are looking for more surveillance and more of a play-by-play of their child's online activities, and Bark doesn't offer that.

What are the disadvantages of Bark? ›

Cons of Bark Mulch
  • Because it breaks down eventually, you'll have to replenish it eventually. ...
  • Colored decorative bark possibly was treated using chemical dyes. ...
  • When you buy bagged bark for mulching big spaces it will create a lot of plastic waste. ...
  • Pine bark's more acidic.

Can Bark see everything on your phone? ›

Because Bark's software is built directly into the phone, it automatically monitors texts, emails, social media, and apps.

Which is better, Life360 or Bark? ›

When you compare Bark vs Life360, the clear winner is Bark. Bark provides a ton more options to help keep kids safe online. Bark gives parents and families the ability to: Manage screen time.

Can Bark read text messages? ›

Bark monitors content in text messages, Android and iOS photo and video albums, six email hosts, and a long list of social media and doc sharing apps.

Can my child delete the Bark app? ›

You'll also be alerted if your child uninstalls our Bark for Kids companion app. You can prevent the companion app from being uninstalled from iOS and Android devices: If your child has an Android device, make sure that the Bark for Kids app is version 3.0. 9 or higher so we can enforce Uninstall Protection.

Which app is best for parental control? ›

Compare parental control app features
ProductBest forLocation tracking and geofencing
BarkBest overallYes
QustodioBest free versionYes
FamilyTimeBest management toolsYes
CanopyBest for explicit contentYes
1 more row

What's better, Bark or aura? ›

While Bark and Qustodio allow you to manage and monitor your children's online activities, these apps lack the digital security and identity monitoring tools that can keep your family safe. This is where Aura's all-in-one digital security solution shines.

Does Bark monitor sexting? ›

Bark works with iOS and Android to monitor texts, photos, and videos for concerning interactions. Our service looks for activity that may indicate online predators, adult content, sexting, cyberbullying, drug use, suicidal thoughts, and more.

How do kids get around Bark? ›

Bark. While the Android version of Bark includes uninstall protections, if your child figures out the passcode, they can delete it. Kids can also remove Bark by doing a factory reset on their phone.

What does Bark notify parents of? ›

The Bark app runs in the background on a child's device and sends parents or caregivers a text alert if the child has discussed or searched for unsafe content. MINNEAPOLIS — It might be easy sometimes to avoid learning about all the apps your kids are on and how they're using them--it can be overwhelming.

What are the cons of anti barking devices? ›

Veterinarians warn pet owners against the idea that an ultrasonic bark control product will be a “cure” for their dog's barking problems. “They might modify behavior, but they don't address the underlying motivations and reasons for the barking,” explained Rigterink, who runs Veterinary Behavior of Indiana.

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