Bark App: A Detailed Review

Bark App Review – An Overview

In my quest to find the best parental control app, I came across a list of top apps for parental control. All of these have exceptional features and variations to let parents enable the digital well-being of their children. However, among the list, I found the Bark Parental control app slightly different from the paradox. The App’s exceptions made me do a Bark review after a hands-on experience.

Bark takes the child’s privacy seriously and does not allow parents to spy on their children. You cannot expect a series of notifications or alerts and 24/7 access to a child’s device location. Parents have to request a check-in to get a location update, and the child will confirm it.

Bark supports extensive content monitoring from text, photos, videos, and more. During the Bark setup, you must select your child’s potential concerns or threats. Following the given information or your priority filters, the App will automatically filter and monitor content or the child’s digital activities. It will catch the red flags even from your child’s direct messages on social media and report them. It’s interesting to note that the Bark app gives you notifications only for sensitive matters. That means you do not have an overflowing mailbox.

Bark has some limitations and lacks at specific points in comparison, not its competitors. The App does not provide you with a complete location history. Plus, you cannot see the live location of your child’s device. You must request a check-in, and only you can access the location. It seems dangerous if your child is unresponsive to the lost device; you cannot locate it.

It does not provide details about how long your kid used which App. Bark only reports the potentially harmful content or message in the social media apps, not the entire activities.

Bark App is limited to regions like Australia, the US, Guam, and South Africa. Plus, it offers monthly and yearly plans starting from $14/month. Before you subscribe to a plan, you can have a 7-day free trial, which requires payment verification before you get along with a trial.

My Hands-on Experience with Bark Parental Control App

Usually, when other parental control apps define the rules, set up limitations, and lead toward spying, Bark behaves differently.
As parents, we must face significant pushback from children whenever there is a parental control app. It simply triggers a crucial war between us and the children. They are uncomfortable with the restrictions imposed on them, and we do not have any other choice.
However, Bark, in this case, provides you with room to discuss parental control with children and teens before deciding the limits.
Similarly, Bark’s efficient monitoring approach lets parents have dedicated controls and reports. You can select the content or potential issues your child faces that require parental control.
The App respects the child’s privacy by monitoring and reporting limited information to parents. According to Bark’s interface, you do not need to know everything your child does. However, you should know the potentially wrong things your child did or threats received.
It was new for me, as I have previously experienced full-control parental apps like Qustodio and FamilyTime. So, I considered Bark suitable only for parents who are not sceptical about their child’s digital activities.

Setting Up Bark Parental Control App

For an extensive Bark app review, I went down to installing and setting up the App. I was surprised that the App is not available on Google Play Store, even though there was an official explanation for this on site.

The developers claim that Bark uses a specific mechanism of monitoring children’s activities that Google does not support. However, they take parental controls seriously and stick to their procedures and offer Android APK app files on their website.

Downloading and setting up Bark is quite different from other apps. Usually, parental control apps have two apps, one for parents and the other for children. However, Bark offers a single-child app you can set up using your parental dashboard on the browser.

After downloading the App on your child’s device, you must provide a device number to process further, and here you will be redirected to Bark’s website. After creating your account on the website, you will access your dashboard and start setting up your child’s profile.

During the setup, the App will ask you about the essential intel, like the threats you are concerned about, devices and apps your child uses, or more.

Once you finish these settings, you will redirect to the payment verification. Remember, even if you take a free 7-day trial with Bark, you must provide a valid payment source.

Bark Highlights

Top Features

• Text & Content Monitoring – Keep a keen eye on the content your child access and messages sent or receive.
• Web and App Filters – Smart and foolproof filters for web browsing and app usage.
• Screen Time Schedules – Monitor screen time and allow you to set up time for the whole day along with screen freeze for a specific time.
• Location Tracking – Keep track of location milestones but do not provide a continuous map.
• Activity Insights – Provide detailed activity reports mentioning the top contacts, App used, installed, and other information.

Content Monitoring

Content Monitoring is one of the standout features of Bark. It goes above and beyond by monitoring texts and emails and more than 30 social media platforms and other online spaces.

Bark includes popular platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube. It uses advanced machine learning algorithms to detect signs of cyberbullying, depression, online predators, adult content, and other potential threats.

Besides random social media platforms, the App is suitable for providing monitoring services for apps like Spotify. I was surprised by the effective filtration of the songs. The app marked the songs as having inappropriate lyrics or profanity on my child’s playlist. It not only alerts me with in-text lyrics of the song but with a Spotify link, so I can listen to it myself.
Another aspect of content monitoring I liked in Bark is related to apps. Whenever your child installs an app, creates a secret account, or switches to an alternative account, bark can detect it. The App automatically stops your child from doing that and keeps you notified.

Bark offers you extensive monitoring of messages but never shows you the whole conversation. It only reports potentially harmful messages from the chats. One thing I experienced was a lack of efficiency in alerts. The App takes almost 20 minutes to notify you about threatening messages. But, each alert comes with a complete text of the message.

Content Categories bark Filter

The specificity and thoroughness of Bark’s content monitoring are impressive and hard to match. This tool is beneficial for parents looking to keep an eye on their child’s digital footprints without constantly prying.

Website & App Filtration

Bark lets you block the access of multiple apps and websites on your child’s device or profile. Using the VPN, the app monitors internet activities on your child’s device, allowing and restricting connections to the web and apps.

You can change the default filter or block settings to custom options. Bark lets you set the rules for app usage in different time brackets according to your preference. I used most of the restrictions for school and bedtime. It allowed me to ensure my children were focusing on their studies and having enough rest.
Surprisingly, Bark offers a good range of apps with the blocking feature. To simplify the process, you can create a custom list of blocked or allowed apps. I found it relatively helpful to just make a custom list. It saved a lot of my time.

Apps Bark Can Block

Bark did an excellent job for me in the online apps. However, it is unable to block the offline App. It doesn’t work on offline games, video players, cameras, phone books, etc. However, other parental control apps are good enough to block almost every App from Settings to a mere calculator.

Overall in my testing, I found the app-blocking feature good. With just one click, I blocked the App and got an instant notification on my dashboard. But unfortunately, disabling Bark’s VPN is a smooth process. For my elder child, it was a matter of seconds to disable it by following the screen and surfing through settings.

Screen Time Management

The Screen Time Management feature lets parents limit the time their child spends on their device, helping to ensure a healthy digital diet. You can set schedules for when the device can and cannot be used, helping enforce rules for bedtime, homework, and dinner.

One thing I like about the feature is the custom time allowances for children on specific days like weekends or holidays. My children were happy about this feature; however, one thing that set them off was no time reserve. If they cannot consume their time allowance, they cannot save it in TimeBank like they can with FamilyTime.

The screen time limits are also for device usage, not for a specific app. I allowed my child to have screen time of 2 hours a day, so he could use the device for 2 hours a day. I could not split my time between apps like YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. So, it’s my child’s choice to use one App for 2 hours a day to 10 apps.
Overall the tool is good enough to help me teach my children about responsible device usage.

Location Tracking & Check-ins

While Bark doesn’t have real-time location tracking, it offers a Check-In feature. Children can “check-in” to share their location with their parents manually. It’s a nice feature, but it doesn’t offer the same level of security as continuous GPS tracking.

In case a child’s device is lost or the child is unresponsive, the App cannot help to track it. Though the feature is satisfactory, it does not meet the competitors like FamilyTime, Qustodio, and more.
I found another feature missing in Bark was the geo-fencing. You cannot mark the boundaries but add a list of addresses to get notifications when your child enters or leaves the area. Plus, the alerts are not real-time; you will get these with a delay of almost 5 to 10 minutes.

For location tracking, Bark only gives you a text-based alert; it doesn’t show the map-pinned location or a GPS view. I did not find the feature surprisingly good, but it is average.

Alerts & Activity Reports

As a concerned parent, I want to be informed about what my child is doing. From this perspective, I found Bark a little underperforming. At first, it does not provide 24/7 GPS tracking or let me access the whole chats or conversations. But it does provide me with alerts and reports. Unfortunately, these alerts are received with delays of almost 10 to 20 minutes in different cases.

The App does send me weekly reports in my email box. I was overwhelmed with the idea, but it was a turn-down when I opened the report.

These reports are extremely vague and do not have any details. You will have all the general information about blocked apps, used apps, and standard child activities. All these stats and information are actually what I can access on my dashboard.

Parental Resource Library & Customer Support

Additionally, I am impressed with Bark’s customer support and knowledge base. The app provides a rich library of resources and advice for parents with various digital safety concerns. The articles, guides, and videos are insightful and beneficial for parents navigating the complexities of raising children in a digital age.

The FAQs page on Bark’s website has 100+ questions answered. These are the answers and detailed articles that help parents troubleshoot problems and navigate the App or tools. I found these resources helpful in understanding multiple tools and their operations.

Sometimes, when I felt overwhelmed by information and needed a quick solution, I wasn’t unavailable with a live call or chat agent like FamilyTime. However, I could schedule a call with the representative for later. This feature can help someone not read too much or be interested in chatting with a bot.
Overall, I was satisfied with the resources and custom support setup arranged by Bark. It seems helpful for parents looking for ultimate parental control apps.

What Impressed Me in the Bark App?

The comprehensive nature of Bark’s content monitoring is unmatched. Its ability to check direct messages on Instagram or Snapchat, where harmful interactions can occur, sets it apart from many other parental control apps.

Plus, the app offers a dedicated machine learning monitoring system to suggest parental controls based on your child’s needs. When you select the threats, challenges, devices, and app usage of your child in his/her profile, the app reviews it smartly. Following your preferences, it develops a framework for your child’s monitoring and guides you accordingly.

What impressed me the most was Bark’s unique approach to privacy. Instead of showing every detail of a child’s online activity, it only alerts parents when there’s a potential issue. This balance ensures safety while respecting the child’s privacy.
Another plus is its extensive resource library for parents. It offers expert advice on digital parenting, mental health, and more, aiding parents in dealing with complex issues.

A Few Downsides

Though I was pretty impressed with the clean and minimalistic interface of the App, additionally, it offers some reasonable features for parental control. However, the App still has some downsides that are enough to ruin the impression of the App.
It lacks a real-time location tracking feature, which could be a deal-breaker for parents who want to know their child’s whereabouts. While the App does provide a check-in feature, real-time tracking adds an extra layer of assurance.

The Bark app has no interactive features like FunTime and TimeBank in the FamilyTime app. Plus, the unavailability of SOS/Panic alerts in the App leaves room for parental concerns. I prefer FamilyTime over Bark as it offers me more features and assurance that my child is safe.
The App’s pricing might also be a bit steep for some. At around $14 per month for the premium version, it’s more expensive than many alternatives. While it offers a lot for the price, the cost can still be a factor for budget-conscious families.

Lastly, I found the App a little restrictive in providing services. It is only accessible in the US, Australia, South Africa, and Guam. You cannot access or use the App if you reside outside these areas.

Pricing

Bark Premium app plans start from $14/month, giving you access to all Bark app features for Android, iOS, tablets, and more.

Bark Vs FamilyTime

My Take on Bark!

I believe Bark is a formidable tool for parents aiming to safeguard their children in the digital space. Its extensive monitoring and comprehensive alerts make it a top contender in the parental control arena. Although it misses out on real-time location tracking and is a bit pricier, its privacy-conscious approach and extensive reach into social media make it stand out.

That said, the choice between Bark and FamilyTime (or any other parental control app) will heavily depend on what you value most as a parent. If real-time tracking and other additional features are crucial for you, FamilyTime is a better fit. Check out pricing plans and take a free 3-day FamilyTime trial to experience control.