---
title: "Bark - Parental Controls App"
url: https://stacklist.com/card/1ed10183-89f1-48d5-96fc-f7a172d927f7
source_url: "https://apps.apple.com/us/app/bark-parental-controls/id1477619146"
stack: https://stacklist.com/c/parenting/stack/079774f7-13b3-440b-92a5-928343573178
summary: "Bark is a comprehensive parental control app that monitors children's online activity across texts, emails, social media, and 30+ platforms while alerting parents to concerning content like cyberbullying and predatory behavior. The service includes screen time management, web filtering, and prioritizes child privacy by only alerting parents to potentially problematic activity rather than providing full phone access."
tags: "parental-controls, online-safety, content-monitoring, screen-time, web-filtering, cyberbullying-protection, family-safety"
key_entities: "Bark (technology), Bark Technologies, Inc. (organization), parental controls (concept), content monitoring (concept), cyberbullying detection (concept), screen time management (concept), web filtering (concept)"
classification: "reference"
content_hash: "sha256:d8a55530425566bb392e2aa3b36719e1454239da03620a765b1c33b7614e16f9"
acp_version: "0.2"
token_counts_approximate: 6251
visibility: public
agent_accessible: true
status: "final"
---

# Bark - Parental Controls App

Bark - Parental Controls Help protect your kids online Free · In‑App Purchases Share 35K Ratings 4.2 Age Rating 13+ In-App Controls Chart #192 Productivity Developer Bark Technologies, Inc. Language EN English Size 31.9 MB iPhone, iPad Bark provides families with all the tools they need to raise kids in the digital age. Our comprehensive service lets you monitor content, manage screen time, and filter websites so you can get peace of mind while your child is online. CONTENT MONITORING Bark monitors your child’s texts, email, YouTube, and 30+ apps and social media platforms for issues like cyberbullying, adult content, sexual predators, profanity, suicidal ideation, threats of violence, and more. Parents receive alerts only when something potentially problematic occurs online. You won’t have full access to everything on your child’s phone — just the things you might need to know about. SCREEN TIME MANAGEMENT Families can set healthy time limits and create schedules for when their children’s devices can connect to the internet (through both cell service and Wi-Fi). WEB FILTERING Our web filter lets you select which websites your child can access on their devices. You can allow or block specific sites — or even whole categories like streaming services, online gaming, sexual content, and more. BARK TESTIMONIALS • "My wife and I LOVE Bark. We've had some tough but productive conversations with our 13-year-old son. It's proving to be extremely valuable." — Josh L. • “It’s just another set of protections we as parents give our kids for the digital environment (or as my 10-year-old calls it, a “cell phone seat belt”). My oldest is a 9th grader, and while I trust her, I’ve come to realize through the alerts that some of her friends aren’t truly her friends. It’s led to some amazing conversations about choosing friends wisely and recognizing toxic people. While she wasn’t for Bark at first, she’s since said she’s grateful that I saw those messages because it reaffirmed what she was feeling but didn’t know how to verbalize without sounding sensitive.” — Bark Parent • "Bark notified me that my young daughter had unknowingly revealed her phone number to strangers on Twitter. The fact that Bark notified me was impressive and led to an informative discussion with her the same day." — Jon B. • “Since Bark alerted us to the suicidal language used in the Google doc that was being used in a chat document with a friend, we have seen both a pediatrician and a licensed counselor. We are hopeful for a positive outcome. Thanks to Bark for letting us peek into our child’s mind!” — Bark Parent • “This app is a lifesaver! It has allowed us to catch so many “red flags” in the content my kids have accessed on their devices and in their interactions with friends and other people online that I wouldn’t have ever known about otherwise. The big difference between Bark and other “Parental Control” software is that Bark allows your kids to have so much more privacy. It doesn’t show you everything they do, but sends an instant alert regarding any activity that might be concerning. Highly recommended!” — Bark Parent With Bark, you can help keep your kids safe both online and in real life. Try it out for seven days absolutely free! Our Family Online Safety Specialists are standing by to help answer any questions you may have. Email help@bark.us or visit help.bark.us to get answers and advice from the Bark Team. Terms of Use https://www.bark.us/terms more Ratings & Reviews 4.2 out of 5 35K Ratings Good app with great tech support 03/23/2022 WeihermuellerS&J 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 toassume 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 Developer Response Wow! Thank you so much for your amazing review! We certainly appreciate you taking the time to tell us about your experience, and for shouting out our awesome tech support team. We will continue to do our absolute best to help you keep your son safe as he's navigating growing up in this tech filled world. We're proud to be a part of your family's tech safety solution! Reach out anytime we can help! We're always here for you!. 💙 info.bark.us/contact Good app with great tech support 03/23/2022 WeihermuellerS&J 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 toassume 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 Developer Response 03/24/2022 Wow! Thank you so much for your amazing review! We certainly appreciate you taking the time to tell us about your experience, and for shouting out our awesome tech support team. We will continue to do our absolute best to help you keep your son safe as he's navigating growing up in this tech filled world. We're proud to be a part of your family's tech safety solution! Reach out anytime we can help! We're always here for you!. 💙 info.bark.us/contact Love this, but a few critical pieces need work 01/17/2023 Mrsjoey1 I love, love, love this app, but I do have some suggestions. I know the iPhone part is tricky, but we’ve been experiencing something new with Bark the last couple of months that hasn’t happened in the year we’ve had the app. I would’ve given five stars if not for this, because it’s causing some issues in our home. In order for Bark to run a scan, my daughter’s phone prompts her to put in her passcode saying she trusts the computer. This is a big fail, because how often will kids “allow” their phone to be scanned. Plus, that just opens a door of resentment towards their parents as they are constantly reminded they are monitored (even though we don’t hide that from her, we also don’t rub it in her face). Or if they get that alert, then they have time to go and delete things before Bark can detect them since Bark cannot see deleted things. Which not being able to see deleted things is a bummer. Another thing to work on would be somehow make it to where the phone/devices can be scanned even if not on the same WiFi. Again, unable to scan gives kids time to delete/hide things. Sometimes our kids go on trips or to friends’ houses for a few days, we need to be able to keep an eye on them. We have a very good daughter, but she is still a teen that needs guidance and will make mistakes. I used to have peace of mind with Bark, but now that we can’t consistently monitor with that whole “passcode computer trust thing” (and combined with off WiFi not monitoring), I’m losing satisfaction 🙁 Developer Response Hello there! We're always happy to hear feedback. Our support team would be more than happy to chat with you about any issues you're having with your Bark account. Please reach out at help@bark.us so we can best assist you and address any concerns you have. We're here for you and happy to help! 💚 Love this, but a few critical pieces need work 01/17/2023 Mrsjoey1 I love, love, love this app, but I do have some suggestions. I know the iPhone part is tricky, but we’ve been experiencing something new with Bark the last couple of months that hasn’t happened in the year we’ve had the app. I would’ve given five stars if not for this, because it’s causing some issues in our home. In order for Bark to run a scan, my daughter’s phone prompts her to put in her passcode saying she trusts the computer. This is a big fail, because how often will kids “allow” their phone to be scanned. Plus, that just opens a door of resentment towards their parents as they are constantly reminded they are monitored (even though we don’t hide that from her, we also don’t rub it in her face). Or if they get that alert, then they have time to go and delete things before Bark can detect them since Bark cannot see deleted things. Which not being able to see deleted things is a bummer. Another thing to work on would be somehow make it to where the phone/devices can be scanned even if not on the same WiFi. Again, unable to scan gives kids time to delete/hide things. Sometimes our kids go on trips or to friends’ houses for a few days, we need to be able to keep an eye on them. We have a very good daughter, but she is still a teen that needs guidance and will make mistakes. I used to have peace of mind with Bark, but now that we can’t consistently monitor with that whole “passcode computer trust thing” (and combined with off WiFi not monitoring), I’m losing satisfaction 🙁 Developer Response 01/19/2023 Hello there! We're always happy to hear feedback. Our support team would be more than happy to chat with you about any issues you're having with your Bark account. Please reach out at help@bark.us so we can best assist you and address any concerns you have. We're here for you and happy to help! 💚 Best Monitoring App for Kids and Parents!!! 11/06/2021 Mama 8J 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! Developer Response Hi there! We're floored by your kind words! :) We thank you so much for trusting us to help you in keeping an eye on potential concerns, so that you may address them with your daughter to help keep her safe! Our team is delighted to help you any time you need; we're here for you 7 days a week, and more than happy to chat if ever you need. We appreciate your support! :) Best Monitoring App for Kids and Parents!!! 11/06/2021 Mama 8J 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! Developer Response 11/03/2019 Hi there! We're floored by your kind words! :) We thank you so much for trusting us to help you in keeping an eye on potential concerns, so that you may address them with your daughter to help keep her safe! Our team is delighted to help you any time you need; we're here for you 7 days a week, and more than happy to chat if ever you need. We appreciate your support! :) Customer Service is not very responsive! 09/08/2023 Krbradford 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. Developer Response Hi there! Thank you for your feedback and we're glad to hear you were able to resolve the issue with one of our team members. Our support team does its best to respond to everyone as efficiently and quickly as possible. We're here for you and your family! 🧡 Customer Service is not very responsive! 09/08/2023 Krbradford 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. Developer Response 09/10/2023 Hi there! Thank you for your feedback and we're glad to hear you were able to resolve the issue with one of our team members. Our support team does its best to respond to everyone as efficiently and quickly as possible. We're here for you and your family! 🧡 What’s New Version History Bug fixes and improvements. 6.4.1 Jul 3 App improvements and fixes 6.4.0 Jul 2 System upgrades and performance improvements. 6.3.3 May 26 Minor bugfixes and performance updates 6.2.0 Apr 22 Fixes for biometric login and in app purchases 6.1.2 Feb 25 Use Face ID or Touch ID to log in to your account 5.5.1 07/02/2025 Minor Bug Fixes & Security Updates 5.4.3 03/18/2025 Minor background updates 5.4.2 03/12/2025 Updates for new UI compatibility. Adds support for Communication Notifications 5.4.1 02/20/2025 Updates for new UI compatibility. Increase minimum iOS version to 15.6. 5.4.0 01/08/2025 Fix hang when opening links from QR codes 5.3.5 10/03/2023 Additional payment options. 5.3.2 07/13/2023 Improved setup for Bark Phone devices 5.3.1 12/15/2022 General stability updates. 5.2.5 03/23/2022 App stability and privacy improvements. 5.2.4 03/11/2022 Added Time-Sensitive notifications for child location-based alerts. 5.2.0 11/25/2021 Improve Bark Home purchase experience. 5.1.1 10/26/2021 Fix blank screen when restoring from background 5.0.18 09/09/2021 We have updated the app landing page and the onboarding process. 5.0.16 08/11/2021 Fixes login issues for some devices. 5.0.10 04/14/2021 General update with bug fixes. 5.0.8 04/01/2021 We have updated push notification functionality. 5.0.7 03/29/2021 Simplified the app navigation. Fixed navigation bugs. 5.0.6 03/26/2021 Improves app stability and user experience. 4.0.28 02/05/2021 We have added a way to use native sharing. To use this new feature go to "Refer a friend" in the menu and select "share". 4.0.27 01/22/2021 Bug fixes and improvements. more Version 6.4.1 Jul 3 App Privacy App Privacy The developer, Bark Technologies, Inc. , indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. This information has not been verified by Apple. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy . To help you better understand the developer’s responses, see Privacy Definitions and Examples . Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More Data Used to Track You The following data may be used to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies: Identifiers Data Linked to You The following data, which may be collected and linked to your identity, may be used for the following purposes: Developer’s Advertising or Marketing Identifiers User ID Analytics User Content Customer Support Identifiers User ID Usage Data Product Interaction App Functionality Contact Info Email Address User Content Customer Support Identifiers User ID Data Not Linked to You The following data, which may be collected but is not linked to your identity, may be used for the following purposes: Analytics Diagnostics Crash Data Performance Data Other Diagnostic Data Product Personalization Contact Info Name App Functionality Contact Info Name Diagnostics Crash Data Performance Data Other Diagnostic Data The developer, Bark Technologies, Inc. , indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy . Data Used to Track You The following data may be used to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies: Identifiers Data Linked to You The following data may be collected and linked to your identity: Contact Info User Content Identifiers Usage Data Data Not Linked to You The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity: Contact Info Diagnostics Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More Accessibility The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More Information Seller Bark Technologies Inc Size 31.9 MB Category Productivity Compatibility Requires iOS 15.1 or later. iPhone Requires iOS 15.1 or later. iPad Requires iPadOS 15.1 or later. iPod touch Requires iOS 15.1 or later. Apple Vision Requires visionOS 1.0 or later. Languages English Age Rating 13+ 13+ This app has an age rating of 13+ with content restrictions. Some content may be rated higher, and may therefore be restricted and managed by the developer through in-app controls. Learn More In-App Controls Parental Controls Infrequent Mature or Suggestive Themes Sexual Content or Nudity Guns or Other Weapons In-App Purchases Yes Bark Monthly $14.99 Bark Annual $99.99 Bark Jr Monthly $5.99 Bark Jr Annual $49.99 Learn More Copyright © 2017-2025 Bark Technologies, Inc. Privacy Policy More by Bark Technologies, Inc. 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