Cyber Spy App for Kids Phones

If she's skipping school at 16 her phone should be the least of his concerns.
When my older daughter got into trouble in high school I simply stopped her phone service (I was able to do this online, it was like putting her account on hold, it wasn't closed, she just had no service until she got her act together.)
I found no cell phone/internet service to be by far the best consequence for a 16 year old girl's unacceptable behavior.
But like I said, if she's skipping school, this is beyond the normal teen act of rebellion/acting out, and there's no app to solve that :-(

What is he worried about? At 16 - less than two years away from being a legal adult - I think he should work on the trust that comes from love for his daughter. I'm inclined to think that 16 is not the age for which he should go heavily into phone monitoring. Most of the chips have fallen by now. He should pat himself on the back for a parenting job well done, hope for the best college/job prospects...not invest in spy techniques.

I think they need counseling. At some point she will be on to his spying and feel hugely angry and resentful. They should also be working with the school to ensure he is notified every time she skips a class/school and the counselor should be talking with her about the consequences about missing so much school. How fun is it going to be for her if she's a fifth-year senior or having to deal with summer school? She may be just slacking or maybe she's angry with her situation. It's not as simple as "just be the parent" or using an app, the relationship needs some intervention. A family counselor would be helpful for them both.

Two of my son's have iPhones. We have a locator app for all of our phones.

We don't spy on our boys. They have to give us their phones. We have Verizon and have the family plan, so if they send a message/text with a picture? We get a notification. We also get notified if they are texting "after hours".

I wouldn't do anything behind her back either, like Elena stated, that is not a way to build trust.

Our 16 year old son, almost 17, has had his phone taken away and he has to do more chores around the house if he breaks the rules. We have found with him, doing extra chores and then having him just sit and clear his mind, almost like meditation, helps him and then we discuss the situation.

I've found great advice on apps, etc (not spy apps, but other kinds) by going to my phone service provider. I have walked in to Verizon and they are always willing to help me figure out my phone (I have a smart phone and dumb brain!). Maybe he could try that.

My other suggestion is that he doesn't try to do this secretly. I think this should be revealed in the counselor's office, and that he should be up front with his daughter. She needs to learn that trust is earned and that her dad won't go behind her back, but until she acts in an accountable manner (attending school, being where she says she is, being home by curfew, not drinking, etc), she loses a certain amount of freedom. When she's established that she's reliable and trustworthy, she gets some freedom back.

So the consequences fit the actions. Not being reliable and accountable = being monitored, being driven to places and picked up by dad rather than getting rides from friends. Parental controls are put on phones (again, have him ask his service provider - one of the people on our lines has gone over data usage and our provider taught me how to limit his access; there are lots of other parental controls). The wi-fi password is encrypted and only revealed after homework is done, and turned off at an acceptable hour on school nights. Parent is knowledgeable about secret apps (destructive and inappropriate apps that masquerade as calculators, for example; again, have him look these up). If the password isn't revealed to the parent, and if history is cleared before the parent sees it, the phone gets turned in for an old-fashioned flip phone.

Yes, she's not 4, she's 16. But that's not a legal adult. There's still time to help her become a productive and responsible citizen. Sounds like he's trying his best. Glad they're getting counseling. But tell him that the counselor will be good for him, too. When we've taken our daughter to counselors, we often get some correction ourselves, as her parents. We've gotten some good advice, and some tough love for ourselves. Parenting a kid with needs, whether they're emotional, intellectual, medical, often requires that the parents accept that they may need to do things a different way. Our son (who's older than our daughter) is a healthy, well-adjusted, independent, college-graduate with nothing but ordinary stuff in his life. Regular parenting, the logical stuff, worked for him. With our daughter, we had to throw out all the proverbial books and learn a whole different way of dealing with her, due to her many, many issues. We have definitely needed help. Just make sure your friend doesn't go into counseling thinking that the counselor will steer his daughter onto the right path and he can keep doing whatever he's been doing, or be a dad the way many dads get to be, the ones who's daughters are dealing with regular teen stuff like the occasional heartbreak, forgetting a homework assignment, arguing, etc. He may have to learn from the counselor right along with his daughter.

My husband and I both have Find My iPhone apps. We got it when he was running these crazy trail races. I can see where he is and he can see where I am. It has been handy when I have left my phone somewhere too. You put the app on both phones. I think it was free but I can't remember now. There is no monthly fee. I think at this point she is 2 years from moving out. He might consider doing family therapy together with his daughter. And for him to bond with her again and to work on having trust with each other.

Well, I was a 16 year old girl. What I would do today - take away the keys, take away the phone, take away all internet access, no going out, no dates, take whatever hurts. Reduce her wardrobe to bare essentials - add chores. Implement a curfew - failure to follow = no social life at all. In the fall, no attending high school football games, take away homecoming, etc.

Oh, and if she doesn't have a job - she can get one!

If he Googles 'cyber spy app for kids phones', he'll get a lot of info.
He should be able to search for features he's looking for and check ratings against the various apps he finds.

I think the consequences would be to take the phone away, unless of course she has a job and pays for it herself.

Is there some sort of find friends app he can install? Our family all has iPhones, so if I need to know where someone is (and I don't want to call or text b/c I suspect they are driving) I can look. And for teens, it is handy to verify their story from time to time as well. They NEVER leave their phone behind if they go somewhere.

Not sure what the options all are for android.
As another fall back, does her school have an online grading/attendance app? Most schools do these days, don't they? Ours is really prompt about attendance recording. Grades are not always up to date (many teachers only update on a weekly basis, and some are behind even on that schedule), but attendance is recorded every class. If he downloads the school's app (or goes to their website and logs in) he should be able to see (and probably even get notifications) her attendance. If my kid was late, it would send me a notification on my phone via the app. (Tardy to 1st block, or whatever)

And, yeah, not messing with the rest of this situation. But as to your direct question about knowing if she is at school... (at least, that is what I gathered he was looking to track...)

Some time ago I looked a lot for that kind of app. I tried Mspy and Teensafe and they were very good. We use "Dinner time" app too to limit time to use phone (free up to one phone). I would suggest he installs some parental control app on tablet and pc too to limit and control time, apps and activities, otherwise limiting only phone would be useless. Mspy works on pc too, if the built in parental control doesn't work or is not enough (previous windows10, standard parental control was good). For me it's not just consequences about phone and pc, neither a trust issue, it's for prevention and safety. As Elena B. wrote I wouldn't do that secretly, he should inform her about it.
Let me know if he will find a very good app, I still looking for the perfect one. Thanks