Bark - Parental Controls

• Bark Jr Monthly — $5.99/month
• Bark Jr Monthly — $49.99/year ($4.16/mo)
• Bark Monthly — $14.99/month
• Bark Monthly — $99.99/year ($8.33/mo)

Last verified 29 Sep 2026

• Free to download
• In-app purchases: $5.99 - $99.99 per item

Last verified 30 Sep 2026

4.3 35856 ratings · App Store

1. 3/5Customer Service is not very responsive!

   After installing the bark app on my daughter’s new iPhone 14 she lost all data capability, both cellular and wifi. Therefore, all location tracking stopped working, along with apps that require internet, safari, iMessages, etc. I thought it was an issue with her phone so I contacted our carrier’s tech support. Spent at least 2 hours on the phone with them trying to troubleshoot the issue only for them to finally just send us a new phone since we were within warranty. Once we received the new phone it worked until we reinstalled the Bark app. It immediately did the same thing. I then contacted Bark via email since that is the ONLY way to contact them. At this point it has been five and half days since my daughter had a fully functioning phone. Email correspondence is much too slow and inefficient for dealing with many issues. Their first email came quickly but it was useless. I am currently waiting on them to respond again and it has been over 2 hours. In the meantime I thought I would just uninstall the app from her phone. Guess what?! You can’t without Bark support!!! I can’t even get the app off her phone! I NEVER leave bad reviews but I have never been so frustrated with a company in my life! Think twice before using this company! UPDATE: A representative did finally get back with me and we were able to resolve the problem. I am giving 3 stars because I like a company that is easy to contact when a problem arises. I also prefer speaking to a person by phone instead of through email or chat and there is no option for that. I do appreciate the help I did get and hopefully I won’t run into any more issues.

   Krbradford · 29 Sep 2026

2. 2/5Mac and iOS people beware

   Apple has tried very hard to make security a top priority unfortunately, because of that, using this app on an iOS device or even a Mac desktop to computer has become an absolute nightmare. They are constantly bugs to fix. Forget trying to add a new device when your kid gets a new iphone or iPad. I I have deleted old devices only to have them repeatedly pop up again while the new devices won’t show it. I sit there trying to look at all the unknown devices trying to match up the number to identified advice. Sometimes there’s 10 or more but the one I need never shows. One time the reason the device wouldn’t connect was because I was using a different charger for my daughter‘s iPhone because hers was broken. Apparently only the original Apple cord would work so I had to go get a new one. Ridiculous. I have spent hours, literally hours, trying to fix these things over the years. And no, despite all the ads they send, I do not want to buy a Bark phone. I will say customer support tries to send really helpful emails, but I’ve often followed all the directions and still had to go back-and-forth with customer support for days and you absolutely will not get a person on the phone. I will say customer support via email is very friendly but the amount of effort I’ve had to put in to keep my monitoring going just isn’t worth the time anymore for me.

   GKnoth · 29 Sep 2026

3. 5/5Best Monitoring App for Kids and Parents!!!

   After two months of trying other recommended monitoring apps, I found Bark. I was struggling to get the phone to sync and Bark has a team if people who are thorough in making sure your questions and concerns are answered. They messaged me and emailed me I make sure I got the app installed and working. Any other app I tried wants to take over her phone, wasn’t user friendly and leaves you hours into just decide if the app works and what’s it format. Bark is easy! Clean. Concise. There is a strong team presence at Bark to make sure the app is downloaded and able to be utilize just through the trial. Imagine how amazing this experience will continue to be one you see what And how bark monitors our child’s activities. I’d spent several hour trying to set it up alone. Received help multiple times where I successuly linked Everything was finally downloaded and uploaded to where the app is working. The customer service and follow up that I’ve experienced since attempting to try this app, where now I am successfully using it- has been one of a kind customer service. Impeccable. Friendly. Personable. All virtual to. I’ve had multiple people reach out ensuring my last concern was resolved. Thank you to you and the team at Bark in assisting me in getting this app working. I already know this is what I will use to monitor my daughter and coach her in handling the difficulties children face with technology these days. Just only a day in, I love that the app alerts you about the alarming trends like bullying,depression, profanity etc. Then they provide insight how to talk to your child about the alerts so there is open dialogue. Thank you for the peace of mind!

   Mama 8J · 29 Sep 2026

4. 4/5Good app with great tech support

   I’m still fairly new to the app, and setting up an iPhone is a little tricky, but the tech support is amazing and one zoom meeting got me squared away. I know my 14 year old son would prefer not to have this app, but I’ve explained the reasons to him and also that as he gets older, more freedom will be given to him. I think it’s unreasonable to assume that a young teenager with his first phone wouldn’t be tempted to all the things full access to the internet and social media would bring. This app, along with the iPhone screen time settings, helps me sleep a little easier at night. He and I have laughed a few times at how sensitive the Bark is, like when it flagged his grandmother for ‘bullying’ when she was griping about her cat 😂, but it’s also brought up some good conversations about words he was using with his friends that he didn’t fully know the meaning of. I believe most parents are just doing their best in this digital world, and kids are always going to be frustrated with rules and restrictions. Children, even teenagers, just have no comprehension of how many things online can warp their innocence, change their brains and cause long-lasting problems. Why wouldn’t parents do anything they could to protect them until they’re old enough to combat these issues themselves? I wouldn’t have been ready for the full weight of the internet and social media when I was 14. I wouldn’t have been at 20. So as long as I’m paying for my son’s phone, he’ll just have to realize that I’ll be doing my best to keep him safe. #SorryNotSorry

   WeihermuellerS&J · 29 Sep 2026

5. 2/5Beware: your child can simply delete this

   It is completely useless for older children who know how to delete an app. I wasn’t sure if it was possible for my daughter to delete it, so I tried to see if I could delete it off her phone and sure enough I was able to. I did not get any notification until 30 minutes later. When I looked at the notification, all it said was my child’s account needs attention or something vague like that. This is the same as all other notifications such as when the VPN is being spotty, so I had no idea it was complete removed from my daughter’s phone. Thankfully I do not have any concerns about my daughter’s mental health, but in theory 30 minutes is ample time for a child to delete the app, look up how to commit suicide, and commit the act. Similarly, 30 mins is ample time to look up that photo or video or whatever that they’re dying to see that Bark would have blocked. This is a major issue and I no longer see the utility of this app for a tech-savvy pre-teen. I understand that Bark’s suggestion to circumvent this issue is to use Apple Screen Time to put parental controls on deleting apps, but the entire purpose of purchasing an app such as Bark is because of the very well known unreliability of Apple’s Screen Time. I should not purchase an app subscription and be told to rely on an external app in order for it to do its job. Very disappointed.

   Emily aka AB's mom · 29 Sep 2026

3.9 11700 ratings · Google Play

1. 1/5

   You can only try it for seven days for free but make sure you show us how to make you pay for it immediately. my child's safety is VERY important but 7 days really shows nothing and then its Uber expensive after that. enjoy... im deleting

   Evalena Hoover · 1 Aug 2026

2. 2/5

   The reports I'm getting alerts for are times when my child has not been on a device. Very confusing!! I can't question my child about what sites they have been on if the information isn't accurate.

   Connie Parks · 1 Aug 2026

3. 1/5

   Update: I spoke with cusromer support. One agent flat out lied to me. The promised replacements have not been issued. There is no answer as to how long it will take to send replacements for the faulty watches I was sent. I have yet to receive an explanation as to how this happened. The app is glitchy and slow. It is not easy to navigate. Its pages are cluttered and unorganized. I would not feel comfortable trusting my kids safety with this service after my experience.

   Bianca Graham · 1 Aug 2026

4. 1/5

   was not easy to setup 😕

   Erick · 1 Aug 2026

5. 3/5

   It works but only ok. but it takes a ton of time constantly doing manually updates on every device. I would set aside an hour a week to deal with bark issues, if your child has more than one device or you have more than one child.

   Herb Ballou · 1 Aug 2026

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