10 Best Spy Apps for Android [Revised in October 2021]

People use spy apps for different reasons, and sometimes, spy apps can be very helpful. For instance, you may use a spy app to track your phone if someone steals it, and you can also track your kid’s phone. Some business owners may also use such software to track their employee’s phones. We don’t encourage our readers to use spy apps without another individual’s consent and we don’t encourage you to use these apps for illegal purposes.

Moreover, we recommend that you carefully check the laws of your country and state to make sure that you won’t break any laws by using spy software. You should use such programs responsibly, and if you want to use them, you should know what apps are the best. Here is our list of the top 10 best spy apps for Android. You may also read an article on Spy Apps Reviews. 

1. XNSPY

XNSPY offers a unique experience that other monitoring apps, including Spyera and Flexispy, fall short of. With Xnspy, you can monitor calls and web activity, track the monitored user’s GPS location, and access chats. While the basic package already offers ample functionality, the premium subscription will enable you to comprehensively monitor devices. The app for Android spying might be a good solution for businesses of parents who are willing to pay a decent price for a monitoring app. XNSPY comes in at USD 4.99 and USD 7.49 per month for the basic and premium plans respectively. But remember, that these are effective prices with the yearly plans. You will have to loosen the purse strings much more if you are only going to get XNSPY for a month.

2. mSpy

This is a powerful app that is packed with features that will help you get a lot of information about the user’s phone activity. For instance, you’ll be able to monitor the user’s location at any time thanks to advanced GPS functionality, while call monitoring features will help you learn who the user is talking to. This app also enables you to monitor the user’s social media, including Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. All you have to do is just install mSpy on the user’s phone, and you will get all the information in just a few seconds. mSpy costs $8.33 per month.

3. FlexiSPY

This is one of the most powerful phone tracking apps for Android. It features many tools that enable you to get a lot of information about the user. You can listen to the user’s surroundings through the microphone, use the camera, and monitor calls. This app also hides from the user and has a keylogging feature. The price starts at $99 per three months. FlexiSPY isn’t available on Play Store but you can download it from the official website.

4. Spyera

This is a very powerful app that’s advertised as a spy app for parents. However, the variety of features makes Spyera an overkill solution for parents and a great option for enterprise use. For example, this app can easily hide itself from everyone and run in a stealth mode, remaining completely unnoticed by the user. Spyera features also include SMS spoofing, remote control, and many other functions that can be used for different purposes. The only disadvantages of this app are that it’s extremely expensive and unavailable on Google Play so you can only get it from the official website.

5. Cerberus

This is a good phone tracking app intended for personal use. With this app, you’ll be able to quickly find your stolen smartphone or even take a photo of the thief. This app has many additional features, including phone search on a map, SMS commands, and an opportunity to wipe all of your data. This app won’t let you track other people’s phones but it will help you learn a lot about someone who stole your phone. One of Cerberus’ main advantages is its affordability: the price of a subscription starts at $5 per year.

6. Google’s Find My Device

This is a great app for those who want to find their stolen phone. This app shows your phone’s exact location on a map and enables you to wipe your data or lock your device. Unlike Cerberus, Find My Device won’t let you take a photo of the thief but it’s a simple and useful app that is also completely free.

7. Google’s Family Link

If you want to track your kids’ online activity, Family Link will help you do it from your Google account. Thanks to this simple app, you’ll be able to see what apps your kids use, manage their apps, and even offer recommendations on what apps they should install. Besides, Family Link enables you to lock your kids’ devices and set device limits. Although some users complain about issues with connection and errors, most people seem to enjoy Family Link. Besides, you can install and use it for free.

8. Prey Anti Theft

This is another app that will help you quickly find your device. It’s free but it has many useful features so if you’re looking for a reliable solution, you should definitely consider Prey Anti Theft. The standard phone tracking features include phone locking, GPS tracking, and an opportunity to send alarms. This app will also help you take pictures with the camera and identify Wi-Fi hotspots that are located nearby. This is a great set of features for a free app.

9. Find My Mobile by Samsung

Given that many people want to be able to find their phone if it gets stolen, there’s no surprise that there is also a range of phone-tracking software offered by phone manufacturers. For instance, Find My Mobile is a solution from Samsung. To find your device, you just have to log in with your Samsung account. This solution enables users to find their devices on a map, lock or unlock their phones, and perform many other actions. Find My Mobile also works in parallel with Find My Device by Google to ensure the best results.

10. T-Mobile FamilyWhere

Carriers also offer their own phone tracking solutions, and this is FamilyWhere from T-Mobile. The functionality of this app is similar to that of other solutions intended for searching for your lost phone. It will help you find the location of your phone and send alerts. If you’re using services from a different carrier, you can also look for this carrier’s phone tracking app on Play Store.

How to Detect and Remove Spy Apps

You may have already noticed that some spy apps hide from users so someone may track your device and you won’t even know about it. The bad news is that such apps are really good at hiding themselves so finding them isn’t an easy task. The good news is that you can still try to detect spy software by using the following methods.

• You may be able to detect some spy apps with antivirus software. However, this approach will only work with apps that don’t hide well enough.
• Use GlassWire to monitor your device’s data. Spy apps might be hidden but they won’t be able to hide their data usage. Thanks to GlassWire, you will see when spy apps send data to their hosts.
• You can find many uninstall guides for popular spy apps on the internet. For instance, here are uninstall guides for mSpy and FlexiSPY.
• To interrupt phone tracking temporarily, you can put your phone in airplane mode. Spy apps need to send their data back to the host so if they lose any connections, you will be safe.
• Finally, you can reset your phone to factory settings. This way, you will wipe all the data and all the apps except those pre-installed by the manufacturer.