Cell phones are the vital need for every individual of today’s generation. And like previous times it’s not just a device that helps to communicate with the people through calls and text messages but is so much more than this. Especially with the availability of the internet which makes the ‘simple phones’ a ‘smartphone’ has its own pros and cons. One can now pay their bills online, access the internet banking, shop through e-commerce websites, stay connected with their near and dear ones on the social platforms and can anytime chat with them on WhatsApp, facebook, line, viber etc..

Now along with these benefits this small device at the same time can be be loaded with a powerful mechanism of spy software that can monitor you 24/7. And this is one of the fearful factors that majorly everybody wants to discover! Does my smartphone has a spy software? Am I under surveillance through my own mobile device? All these questions makes a person worried especially because of his/her stored personal details that might get mishandled by an unknown person.

However the cell phone monitoring software works in the hidden mode and hence it is difficult to discover that whether the phone is equipped with the monitoring software or not. Therefore, In this article I will be outlining the details and signs with which you can check if your phone is installed with a cell phone monitoring software or not. If yes, then you can keep on reading to learn How to remove the spy software and also How to Secure your cell phone.

Either Android or iPhone these following tips will work for both the platforms. As many of the information and data is shared via our mobile devices only hence it’s crucial to know that a bug called cell phone monitoring software is not planted onto your phone and the information mustn’t get a hold on by any stranger.

Is Your Mobile Phone Being Monitored?

It’s been long that I’m connecting with the cell phone monitoring software. And it always leave me flabbergasted with the new features that all the big companies keep adding with a very reasonable subscription packages. It’s always a good idea to first get familiar with the product that you’re opposing because knowing it will better comprehend you the ways with which it can be avoided. Therefore, you should check out the following reviews – mSpy review, FlexiSpy review, Mobistealth, Highster Mobile.

I understand that finding a spy software onto your smartphone can be annoying and the fear of losing your confidential data is another big issue that every business person is afraid of. Infact people in general keep saving so many private stuff like pictures, videos, chats and text messages which they do not wish to be shared with anyone or revealed by any means. Hence to keep it all safe there are certain ways with which you can spot the spy app into your Android or iPhone.

Detecting Cell Phone Spy Software

The below listed are the 6 basic signs that would let you discover if your smartphone is stationed with a cell phone monitoring software or not. Although these indications could relate with other mobile problems as well but you will have to closely monitor the transformations held in your mobile phone.

There are spy applications that work flawlessly and only the experts or tech savvy users can catch it. But if you can relate with many of the mentioned points then perhaps it’s a cause for your concern.

1. Anomalous Phone Behavior – If you notice any unusual behaviour in your mobile phone such as – home screen light suddenly lits up even when not in use or it makes some strange noise every time you take a phone call or abruptly gets switched off.Although all these indications can occur if the signal is weak or the phone’s battery is weak but if it is frequently happening then it might be possible that your phone is installed with some clandestine or hidden software.

2. Drained Battery – There are fair chances that some of the installed applications like games etc. can use much of your phone’s battery. One way out is to analyse the usage of your phone. If using a particular game app is what is draining the battery then you must uninstall that application to avoid it. Besides uninstalling the app if you observe the same problem then your suspicions may prove to be correct. The good quality spy software vendors make a point that the battery usage is minimal and thus it’s hard to locate it but there are cheap software that uses it to the maximum. Please note that over a period of time the phone’s battery life gets decreased so no need to worry in that case.

3. Phone Close down – If your smartphone is fully charged and even then it gets halt or shutdown then presume that your phone has some bug or the spy software that is planted in your phone has some major glitch.

4. Constant Background Noise – This is one of the most common signs of a weak signal but if you’ve been experiencing it on regular basis then it could be just another sign to be considered.The sound can be a beep or a click or multiple voices in the background. There are spy software that renders the call listening and recording feature. Some of them provide the call conferencing feature which more likely to cause all these noises.

5. Getting Abnormal Texts – Text messages that consists of the characters, symbols or numbers are constantly popping up especially at regular intervals then it might be possible that the text messages alert is being used to command the features like block the app, phone number or contact. Mark the restricted area on the maps to get an alert if you visit the red marked area. All these aspects are remotely controlled via the spy software’s control panel. Another probable reason can be that the monitoring app is having some glitch that causes to abruptly send such messages.

6. Increased Mobile Data Usage – If the normal range of the data is getting increased then it could be another convinced clue of having the monitoring application onto your phone. It is because the spy software server uses the mobile data or WiFi to get the required information and data uploaded onto their server first and thereafter it can be available for the user to view it on their online spy account. To check the data usage you can use the My Data Manager app for Android and Data Usage for iPhone.

Like I explained previously that the good and genuine spy products will make it harder for you to quickly spot the monitoring app with these mentioned signals. Yet there are poor quality software that will definitely show these signs and will let you uncover about the existence of the bug on your smartphone. The second-rate and imperfect spy software solutions are cheap and hence majority of people try with the low rated apps to check its credibility. Hence there are bright chances that you can locate these spy apps onto your phone, if any.

Although there are few users who select the good, top-notch and genuine spy apps to actually monitor their children and employees. The worried and anxious parents, employers utmostly use the monitoring software to get benefitted in their business by increasing its productivity and safeguarding their children’s future.

How to Check for Spy Software on an iPhone?

You’ll be glad to know that it’s easy to spot the spy app on an iPhone. As the installation of any third party application be it games or the spy app requires a jailbreak. If you’ve not done it yourself then it’s a clear sign that someone has clutched your iPhone and jailbreaked it to install the spy app onto it. To discover this you should look for the Installer app icon on your homescreen. There are other apps called Cydia and Icy that can be looked for in the phone to get assured that the iPhone is jailbroken.

Although the developers of the spy software has made it tough to locate the signs for these apps. But one can try harder to track down these applications. Another conventional method to follow is to keep an eye on the apps that aren’t available in the app store yet installed onto your phone confirms of the jailbreak.

Unlike Android it’s not that easy to run through the iPhone directories to remove the spy software. Therefore the easiest way to recover it is to simply update an iPhone with the latest software version [upgrade OS]. Done via the iTunes will help remove the spy app and automatically restore the factory settings which means that the jailbreak will be removed too. But before upgrading the phone make sure that you take the backup of the important data.

iPhone Spying – Without Jailbreaking

This is another way to get assured that your iPhone is carrying a spy software. As there are many spy software vendors that do not have a non jailbreak solution for the iPhone users. Hence to install the spy app onto the target’s iPhone the initial step is to jailbreak it. This is a mandatory process to be carried out. Without jailbreak this third party application called spy app cannot be installed. Please note that the Jailbreak is not a software, it’s a process that is carried out to set an iPhone free from the imposed limitations set by Apple.

However there are companies like mSpy, FlexiSpy that provide a solution for the iPhone monitoring without jailbreak. This process gathers the information from the iCloud backup. But in comparison to the jailbreak process the non jailbreak version cannot get hold on to much information. Yet one must keep the strong iCloud passwords and make a habit of not sharing it with anyone else.

Advanced Steps – Check Your Phone’s Directories

This section is useful for the users who don’t feel they’re technically challenged. For all the ones who can handle the things technically can try out the following methods to stay informed about your smartphones status. The phone’s directory files will give you the best and clear clues for any kind of tweaks made onto your smartphone. All you have to do is to look deeply into the folders and files and spot the document named with spy or stealth.

It’s plausible that the installer app is not deleted and hence can be found somewhere in these folders. The experts foremostly select this way to get known about the presence of spy app onto the smartphone. Unfortunately not every person is good with their technical skills and thereby uncomfortable with this method.

As far as I have observed that nobody randomly starts finding this app onto their phones unless they’re suspicious about their phones behaviour. And thereafter majority of people try the above mentioned methods and get through their way. Infact there are so many people who haven’t heard about such applications ever. They can never think of getting monitored by someone that too through a cell phone monitoring software. And this is the plain reason that none of them tries to get into technicalities.

So, if you have any doubt that your phone does have a spy app planted on it then you can follow the next article on How to Remove Spy Software from your Phone followed by the How to Secure your Cell Phone.

Have Knowledge Of The Spy Apps!

Lastly I hope that the above piece of article is helpful for you to get your hands on the spy software. But I would like to mention that the cell phone monitoring software is rapidly improving on its security and quality measures thus making it difficult for a layman to get hit on the spot. So, one has to be pro while looking for the monitoring software onto their smartphones.

Keep practicing the above mentioned steps to stay safe and secure your smartphone from any dangers. Knowing about such wondrous technology solutions can be a good start to let yourself get aware. Reading more about it will certainly help you to know the measures of keeping it on the bay. You can also check out more articles such as [Ref. Article Name]. Although it consists of a story by a worried parent who’s trying to keep tabs on his teenager through a child monitoring mobile software.

Preventing your smartphone from getting equipped with any kind of monitoring software can easily be done, provided you follow the simple steps to keep your smartphone secured. The following article is a part of my previously written article – How to check for Spy Software followed by an another piece of article > How to Remove Spy Software from Your Cell Phone. So let’s learn the ways with which you can prevent and protect your smartphone from the cell phone monitoring software.

Who Needs to Secure their Cell Phone?

Majorly, the ones who have recently faced any kind of privacy breach on their smartphone would keenly wants to keep their cell phone protected. And preventing it from the spy software is their utmost need. Because a cell phone monitoring software can very easily divulge all the text messages, phone call records, saved notes, phonebook contacts, private photos and videos, web history, instant messaging chats such as WhatsApp, Snapchat, Viber, WeChat, Facebook, BBM and many more.

Despite knowing the fact that saving or storing the confidential information like bank account details etc. is unsafe, majority of people save their bank details into their smartphones because it’s easily accessible in comparison to reaching out the Debit/Credit card. Hence these crucial details can be leaked in fraction of a time if a spy application is planted onto your smartphone.

The popular spy programs like FlexiSpy, MobiStealth, mSpy and Highster Mobile lets you reach out to the information in a clandestine way. Although these programs are a great help for all the anxious parents for monitoring their children and also for all the employers who wish to monitor their employees activities during the working hours but on the other hand this application can be used to track the crucial information out of the target’s smartphone.

However there are certain rules that needs to be followed before using a spy software but there are some young offenders who fail to follow and thus create a ruckus for themselves as well as for the monitored person. So let’s now take a brief look for the steps that can be used to protect and prevent the mobile phone from installing such monitoring software.

Easy Steps to Protect Your Cell Phone

Protecting a cell phone is absolutely in one’s own hands. No matter how much careful we are for our mobile phones but we easily handover our cell phones to our friends and family. And not to forget they’re the ones who would always be curious to know about your cell phone activities. Therefore the first very step is to let your mobile phone be under your control. Never let anyone use your smartphone unnecessarily. “I’m just playing a game on your phone is the most common excuse that one makes to clutch your phone for at least 5-10 minutes. This amount of time is sufficient for downloading and installing a spy app onto the target’s smartphone.

Password Protect Your Phone and Lock It

Many of us will keep our smartphone’s password protected but amazingly the password is known to all the ones who are special [family and friends]. Hence keeping a password and making it known to all is of no use. DO NOT disclose your password and even if you did under some circumstances then make sure that you change the password immediately. Try not to keep the predictable passwords or passcodes. Such as DOB, House number, car number, or some patterned digits [0003, 0606 etc.].

Some of them do not put a password at all on their smartphones. All the smartphones allow you to secure your phone and its data by keeping either a pattern lock or passcode lock. This is one of the easiest mechanism to let your phone be prevented from any kind of fiddling by a stranger or closed ones. It is also advisable to keep changing your passwords and set an unconventional passwords.

Lock Your Phone with Apps

Allow your mobile phone to get locked within 15-30 seconds, the options are within the phone. Especially if it’s unlocked and unoperated let it have a timer set that will automatically lock it. One can check the apps on Android’s Play store or iPhone’s App store for the applications that can completely lock the phone as well as the installed applications.

Some of them are Screen off and lock, Lock screen widget, Mind wallet and mSecure password manager. Always remember that when you’re choosing such applications then download the ones which has a higher number of downloads along with good user rating stars.

My Favorite Security Step

App Notifier for Android users is a best application to withhold your mobile phone from installing any tracking software. An email notification will be sent to you if any software is downloaded on the smartphone. Hence you can always be informed what’s going on in your smartphone. The best part is that this application is available for free. For iPhone user’s Secret Safe Vault locker is a good application to safeguard the crucial information saved in the mobile phone.

How to Secure an iPhone Against Spying Software

However the above mentioned steps are no different for an iPhone user. Abiding these steps will certainly help you keep your smartphone safe. Anyway apart from these measures you can simply check if your iPhone is jailbroken or not. It is because any spy app will only get installed onto an iPhone if it’s first set free from the manufacturer’s imposed limitations. This process is called jailbreak.

So if you find your iPhone is jailbroken and it’s not done by you then you must check your smartphone for a spy app. In case you cannot spot the spy software then simply update the operating system of the smartphone. Updating an iPhone will automatically uninstall the monitoring software and also restore it to the factory settings.

Be Smart!

Use the passwords that are strong, never leave your phone unattended. Do not share the passwords set on your phone. Ensure you frequently change your passwords and notice for the abnormal behaviour like quick battery drainage, windows getting crashed abruptly, or phone getting switched off despite full battery. For all such observance simply update your smartphone by keeping the backup of your crucial data. Updating the OS will help uninstall the spy application.

Search for the application locker apps as well. Most importantly secure your smartphone with a password that is known only to you. These simple steps will help you stay away from becoming a victim of the spy applications. If you have any other preventive measure or question then do share with us in the below mentioned comment section.

So now you already know how to spot a spy software in your smartphone. Now, there are people who install this software for a specific purpose and once the purpose of monitoring is achieved then they feel like removing it.

The other category involves the people who have spot the spy software onto their smartphone and therefore doesn’t want to get monitored. Hence, whichever the case if you want to remove it then you must follow the below mentioned steps that will help you to easily get rid of it.

Let’s first discuss about the category who deliberately install a spy app onto the monitored user’s smartphone and after knowing the truth perhaps wants to uninstall it.

When You Have Installed The Software

Now, if you have yourself planted the spy software then you must be aware of the control panel. However all the great companies have the detailed information for installing as well as uninstalling the software on their websites. The mSpy and FlexiSpy are the two companies that provide the feature to remotely uninstall the software.

As you have the access to the programs in the control panel hence you can simply send the coded text message onto the target’s smartphone which will immediately uninstall the application. These coded text messages are different for every software vendor which can be located in the control panel > program members. This solution is only applicable to the users who have themselves installed the software onto the red marked user’s smartphone [Android/iPhone].

When You Have NOT Installed The Software

Now this is the other aforementioned category. If you spot any monitoring/tracking/spy software on your smartphone and doesn’t have the access to the software or its control panel then you needn’t get worried. You can still remove the software from your special possession[Mobile phone]. It involves little technical details that you may need to carry out to do away with it.

In case you’re afraid of trifling with your mobile phone then you can simply take the handset to the nearest mobile repair center and ask them to restore the smartphone to its factory settings. This task can be done for free or perhaps a little amount be charged from you to first backup the data like contacts, text messages, multimedia and mails etc. and thereafter set it to its factory settings. The same can be done over a phone call as well if you carefully follow the instructions of your service provider.

What Is Factory Reset?

Factory reset will set your phone’s software to its original system or manufacturing settings. While restoring the particular electronic device, it will remove or erase the entire data that is saved on the device. One can do it themselves as it only requires to follow a few set of instructions.

Although the process is varied for every smartphone but there is a detailed information provided on the phone maker’s support website. Another best and simple solution is to google your phone models factory reset steps. In general you can go to the Settings > Privacy > Restore Factory Settings.

It’s advisable NOT to restore the apps automatically as it could just reinstall the software. You must manually install the required applications again. However the contacts and the emails can be restored from the backup that you’ve done before factory reset. It is a very simple and uncomplicated process that assures you to get away with a spy software in a couple of minutes.

Update the Operating System [OS] To Remove Spy Software

Like the above mentioned step of restoring the phone to its factory setting to uproot the monitoring software, there is one other best possible way to plainly update the operating system of the mobile phone. Upgrading the firmware has the similar results to the previous mentioned method. Please remember before upgrading the OS it’s mandatory to take the backup of your important applications, mails, texts, chats, photos etc.. If the mobile tracking software is spotted right after the smartphone is recently updated to the newer version then you will require to first roll back it to the old version and then upgrade it again to help liberate your smartphone from any kind of tracking application.

Manually Remove Spy App From The Smartphone

If you’re technically good then you can use another method that will certainly expel the monitoring software from the mobile phone. Just tap on the phone’s file system and then delete the software program files. However it’s recommended that if you’ve unsure of your technical skills then DO NOT fiddle with these settings.

Because deleting the wrong files will mess up the phone’s firmware settings. Also there is a possibility that you might not completely delete the application as there can be some files that are still lying in your mobile’s file system. Hence I always ask my readers to opt for the factory reset or update the OS to toss out the app.

How to Remove Spy Software From An iPhone?

For all the idevices to install the third party application it is mandatory to first jailbreak it. In case of apple devices if you remove the jailbreak then the spy software that is installed onto the smartphone will automatically get removed. Just by updating the OS, the jailbreak will be removed. Backup the data and then upgrade the firmware via the iTunes.

If you were using any application apart from the apple store then you can again jailbreak the phone and then install the software onto it. As now you know that your phone is not carrying any monitoring software.

Prevention is Better than Cure

1. There are few simple steps to avoid getting your phone tinkered by anyone.

2. DO NOT share the smartphone’s password.

3. DO NOT leave the phone unattended.

Keep checking your smartphone and if you observe any odd behaviour then plainly practice any of the mentioned steps to keep your smartphone safe from these spy apps.

So, all the mentioned techniques are the best and easiest way to brush off these monitoring applications. Keep in mind that the initial step is to backup your crucial information and then select any of the methods.

Everybody loves to own the things that are freely available. However at times we fail to realise the downsides of getting the things free of cost. There are many parameters that are put under risk when you buy a free spy software. Especially the spy software vendors who claim to provide the software for free are merely bluffing you.

To help avoid getting into this mousetrap, just keep scrolling and learn more about the true-blue aspects catered by the mobile monitoring software. Also know the ways to prevent the pilferage of your important data and information.

Drawbacks Of Buying Free Phone Spy Software!

Following are the part and parcel that must be considered before buying any kind of mobile monitoring software. Below mentioned are the primary problems that are faced when you posses a free software and hence these are the reasons you shouldn’t single out the free software for supervising your target user.

• Security In Question;
• Barely Possess Any Technical Support;
• Few Features Work Which Leads To The Performance Issues;
• Imperfect Service Framework.

The endeavor and diligence which is put forward by the paid spy software companies is incredible. The same efforts and determination is not offered by these free spy applications. The non paid software are just an eyewash for the public. Keep scrolling to know more about it.

1. Security In Question

In order to obtain the market research data and know every bit of the market population these free spyware companies indirectly work for the big advertising firms. They easily get the funding from the famous broadcasting companies. The accumulation of the data for research organisations is often gathered by embedding the multiple viruses like trojan horse, malware and adware with the aid of the free software installation. They try all the unethical ways to get the required data and cater their respective huge vendors. Hence, there is no meaning to get the application for free that has the risk of your data security.

2. Barely Possess Any Technical Support

If you confront any kind of technical problem then the creators of the non paid application has no solution to rectify the technical challenge. They do not have an efficient development team and enough money to sustain the quality service. The software is just a mockup of the original software and hence they don’t have any provision to redress the problem.

3. Imperfect Service Framework

The free of cost spy apps are not compatible with all the operating systems. This is one of the biggest constraint that comes along with these unpaid apps. The mechanism of these spy apps is two-way. An application is primarily installed on the target’s smartphone and thereafter the entire information gets uploaded onto the spy vendors servers.

On the other hand the free software do not have any form indexing that can store the history of the target’s mobile actions. Also they do not get any revenue from their clients hence they cannot bear the expenses of the expensive servers. They store the data on the computer systems which eventually is unable to store the high bandwidth data thus providing with insufficient and insignificant spy reports.

Few Features Work Which Leads To The Performance Issues

The paid application certainly proffers the quality in their features. All the aspects are workable where the unpaid apps do not have the features working efficiently. The core development and maintenance of these apps is expensive and the standards are constantly enhanced and upgraded by foreseeing the future sales and prospects.

However the non paid applications do not put in any extra effort to sustain the standards of the software nor they’ve the resources that can provide the storage and multiple functionalities. Due to lack of resources and software testing it fails to accomplish the rightful monitoring tasks. Also there is no assurance that the software will work once it’s installed on the monitored person’s smartphone.

Getting The Phone Spy Software is Economical!

Buying a spy software is not a very expensive affair. There are many subscription packages that are offered by the popular and reliable cell phone monitoring companies. You can avail the software subscription as per your requirement. The available packages are divided under monthly, quarterly, semi annual and annual subscription packs which starts from $29.99 and goes upto $199.99.

Check below the other preeminent facets that comes along with the paid spy software.

• Round-the-clock [24/7] customer support;
• Get the potent, sturdy and creditworthy spy application;
• Paid monitoring software will completely be stealth and compatible with all the major smartphones and tabs.
• Generate spy reports that are stored on the spy vendor’s dashboard;
• Broad bandwidth enables the premium servers to accumulate the data of several devices at once.

If you are still uncertain of the spy apps competence then initially you can use the 1-month subscription pack which is gettable at a nominal price. After purchasing the one month package, you can entirely monitor the target’s smartphone. However the monitoring reports depend upon the package you choose. Once you’re satisfied with the working of the spy software then you can simply extend the service as required.

Who Needs Cell Phone Spy Software?

The wondrous cell phone monitoring software is most needed by the parent of teens who wish to watchdog their children’s smartphone activities and by the employers who are anxious for their confidential business data and information getting infiltrate. Also the significant other make the most of this spouse monitoring application especially when they feel their spouse is cheating on them.

Invest In The Rightful And Authentic Monitoring App!

Hence opt for the good, reliable and renowned mobile monitoring software that must cater you with perpetual customer care service and flawless spy reports. A good paid software will truly fulfill the need to monitor your target user at anytime and from anywhere. All you require is a good internet connectivity and compatible software version.

So, do not perturb yourself by choosing a free software instead of a genuine spy software.