Hoverwatch.com Review 2023 – How Useful Is The Parental Control App?

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Espionage is a pretty bad word, but that’s exactly what pretty much everyone would like to do at some point. Take a look at your husband’s or child’s smartphone, or, as a boss, at your employees’ smartphones to see who they write with, what they write, where they are, and other activities. With a spy software like Hoverwatch this is not a big problem. As of now the software has already been installed on 12 million devices, according to the provider’s statement.

But of course we are interested in the program in a completely different context. We want to find out if it is an alternative to Parental Control Apps.

The only legal background with which one can use such a program is as parents to protect their children. The younger they are, the more you should keep an eye on their early online activities today to avoid becoming victims of bullying or criminals. Another area of application where equipment monitoring is perfectly legitimate is with business equipment – as long as you tell the employees concerned that the equipment is being monitored.

What is Hoverwatch

Hoverwatch is a spy software for concerned parents or bosses. With a free registration on the Hoverwatch website a APK with the spy software can be downloaded to the smartphone to be monitored. Hoverwatch can run undetected on the monitored device thanks to a keylogger. It intercepts Facebook, Viber and WhatsApp messages, logs SMS and calls or locates the smartphone.

Getting started with the Monitoring App

After you have installed the trial version you choose one of three possible Hoverwatch packages.

First you have to register for free on the Hoverwatch website. With that a test version is activated. This expires after four days. After the trial period the purchase version must be purchased. You can use Hoverwatch to monitor other PCs (Mac/Windows) or Smartphones. To install the software on a smartphone the displayed link has to be entered via the browser of the smartphone.

After the free registration you choose a device you want to monitor.

Before you can do this, however, the option “Installation from unknown sources” must be activated in the settings and the Security category of your smartphone. Once you’ve entered the link in your phone’s browser, the APK download will begin immediately.

Your smartphone must allow the installation of apps from unknown sources.

Use the smartphone browser to access the link on your PC and download the APK using the Hoverwatch software.

Click it to grant all permissions to listen to audio, save SMS and MMS, read the call history and much more.

With one click on the install button the app gets all permissions.

The app is installed, you can now open it.

Click on the Install button and then on the OK button. You also have to tell why you want to use the software and choose if you want to hide the Hoverwatch icon or not. By clicking on the OK button you will be forwarded to the terms of use, which you accept. Afterwards you can log in with your previously selected login data.

Monitoring via the website

After you have logged in on the website with your login data, you will find yourself on the dashboard. On the left side you will find the resources and the connected devices. With the plus button you can add more devices.

On the dashboard itself are the tabs Reports, Locations, Calendar, Contacts and Settings. For example, the Reports tab displays photos that the camera has taken. Because every time the monitored person unlocks the smartphone, the front camera creates a photo without being noticed. The Reports tab also displays all interactions on the web and on the smartphone. So you can also see here which calls were made from the smartphone.

Via the website you log in with your data to get access to the dashboard. Use the Reports tab to see all the actions of the monitored phone, including the pictures the device creates each time you open it.

Using the filter you have the possibility to view only actions from a certain period of time. Furthermore, you can use the Action button to maximize or minimize the view, delete the dashboard or sort it. Behind each recorded action there is also a trashcan icon to delete the action individually and a location icon. By clicking with the mouse pointer you can immediately see where a photo was taken, where the call was recorded or where the smartphone was located when certain web pages were called.

The Locations tab shows the last and current location of the smartphone. Using the play button at the bottom of the screen, all locations can be “played” like a small movie. Furthermore, the Accuracy button in the upper left corner can be used to specify how the location is to be located: GPS, mobile phone, network or all together. The location also has a filter function to display the locations for specific days. You can also retroactively view locations from today, yesterday, the last 7 days, the last 30 days, this month or last month. Another possibility is to create a user-defined area. If the monitored person exceeds the area you defined, you will receive an alarm message on your smartphone.

The Locations tab shows all locations where the device was used. You can limit the display by date. The location is done via network, mobile phone and GPS.

The Calendar tab gives an insight into the installed calendar of the smartphone. You can view the calendar for the current day, the current week, or for the entire month. Likewise, only an overview of the entered appointments can be displayed.

The Calendar tab gives you an overview of all the appointments in the smartphone calendar.

The Contacts tab shows the contact list of the smartphone. In the trial version, no action on your part can be performed here. If you have purchased a paid version, you have the possibility to track, record and later download every single call.

Hoverwatch can access all stored contacts. Also a recording of all phone calls can be done.

In the tab Settings the device name is displayed. You can also see if your device is rooted or if you need permission to use it. You can see the installed version as well as the program PIN, the interval of data upload, the interval of location update and the options Hoverwatch is allowed to access (phone calls, SMS, Facebook and others).

Furthermore some call logs may not play correctly if you use the Chrome browser. This was recently updated and does not support some audio files anymore. In this case you have to use a different browser. You can also stop the device monitoring and delete the logs in the settings.

In the settings you can see which device is monitored, if it is rooted or not, the update intervals and all access possibilities of Hoverwatch.

In the settings you can also stop the access to the smartphone and delete the software.

With Hoverwatch you can monitor children, spouses or even employees. The operation of Hoverwatch is easy, so that even inexperienced users have quick access to the monitored smartphone. However, you have to think about whether you should have a little more confidence in your phone instead of using it for monitoring.

The registration at Hoverwatch is free and the software itself can be used as a trial version for four days. If you want to have a further monitoring of your smartphone after that you have to buy one of the three packages (Family plan, Business plan and Personal plan).

Hoverwatch Pricing

On the website of Hoverwatch there are three tariffs: The family tariff for monitoring up to five devices and the personal tariff for monitoring a single device. There is also a business tariff for monitoring up to twenty-five devices.

Personal tariff

• 1 month for $ 2495
• 3 months for $ 59.95
• 12 months for $ 99.95

Professional tariff (per device)

• 1 month for $ 49.95
• 3 months for $ 99.95
• 12 months for $ 199.95

Business tariff (per device)

• 1 month for $ 149.95
• 3 months for $ 299.95
• 12 months for $ 499.95

Is a software like Hoverwatch legal?

It depends, as already mentioned, exclusively on the reference frame in which the software is used. In most countries secretly listening in, taking photos etc. is clearly forbidden and can be punished with up to three years in prison. We are only presenting this app here as an option for parental control or legal business device monitoring but also to show what possibilities a potential attacker has if he gains full access to a smartphone with root privileges. As shown here, the smartphone can then be completely remote controlled and monitored without the user noticing. You should therefore not root your smartphone, or only if you know exactly what you are doing. And you should never install such software on other people’s smartphones.