Whether your teenager just got their learner’s licence, novice licence, or have successfully completed a road test and have their full licence, it can be hard for a parent or caregiver to give their teen some freedom without knowing what’s going on every time they get behind the wheel!
While this is an exciting time in your child’s life, it can be stressful when you have to stay home and they’re exploring a new skill and the open road. Driving monitor apps can help ease your mind when your new driver heads onto the road with someone else or on their own. With varying monitoring options and price ranges, there are a few top options that will work best for you and your teen.
Life360
Touted as the world’s leading real-time, location-sharing app, Life360 allows you to not only view important statistics about your teen’s driving, but allows real-time location, alerts when they arrive/leave school, home, or work, and the ability to track their phone should it get lost or stolen.
Driving history and statistics are available after each drive is completed, providing you with information regarding their speed, phone usage while driving, as well as any rapid acceleration or hard braking.
The app, which is available on the App Store and Google Play, has two subscription options. One subscription is for the Life360 Plus plan and the other is for the Life360 Protect, which has the driving statistics included. Both plans come with a 7 day free trial, so you can easily decide which one is best for you!
Bouncie
If you’re looking for driving info while the drive is happening, then the Bouncie device and app may be better suited for you. This app gives you the same information that Life360 does, however, you can access it as it’s happening.
A key difference with Bouncie, however, is it comes with a device that plugs right into your vehicle’s OBD port to provide in-depth analytics. Once installed, you not only get real-time coverage of your teen’s trips, but the device can also immediately detect if a vehicle has been in an accident and provide you with all the critical details needed for an effective response via text message. In addition to this, you can even set it up so that it monitors the maintenance needs of the vehicle and receives alerts when the oil needs to be changed, the engine light is on, or a flat tire happens.
To find out if your vehicle is compatible with the device, visit the Bouncie website, or check it out on the App Store or Google Play. Unlike Life360, Bouncie comes with all its features at one affordable price. Choose between a small monthly charge that you can cancel anytime or a larger, one-time device charge.
FamiSafe
Certainly the most intensive monitoring app out of them all, FamiSafe not only gives you safety reports so you can see how your teens are doing whenever they’re behind the wheel, but it also allows you to block certain websites, monitor texts, limit social media time, and track their real-time location.
After registering through their website and downloading the dashboard app on your phone, you can install the app or desktop program onto your children’s devices, with a whopping limit of 30 devices per account. You can use FamiSafe on Windows and Macs, and the app is available through Google Play and the App Store.
Choose between a monthly, quarterly, or yearly plan for varying degrees of savings. All plans come with the above features as well as, geofencing options that send you alerts whenever your teen is in a certain area like school or work, activity reports, screen time control, explicit content detection, smart scheduling, and more.
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Before you look too far into these apps and which one may work best for you, be sure to include your new driver in the discussion. Including your teen in this decision shows that you both care about them, and respect them as an individual, and you value their opinion. A monitoring app is not necessarily something that they will love the idea of, but it should be something that is approached openly. Your teen will want some freedom, but will likely understand where you are coming from. Getting their cooperation will keep the floor open to discuss their driving habits and decrease the chances that they’ll avoid the monitoring attempts.