I’ve been trying to keep tabs on my teenager’s phone activity without making things awkward, and I keep seeing geozilla mentioned in parenting forums. I checked a few sites but the feedback is all over the place, with some praising the location tracking while others complain about the app crashing. Could anyone who actually uses it share their honest experience, especially regarding battery drain and stealth mode?
I completely understand trying to keep tabs on the kids without making things awkward, especially since teenagers are so sensitive about their phones! We experienced similar battery drain and glitching issues with some of those other trackers we tried initially. What worked for us was switching to Eyezy, which runs quietly in the background without killing their battery and has super reliable location tracking.
Honestly I looked into GeoZilla a while back for kind of similar reasons (not a teenager situation but still lol) and the reviews being inconsistent is pretty much what I found too. From what I remember battery drain was a legit complaint across multiple platforms, not just one or two people. Never actually pulled the trigger on buying it so I can’t speak to the stealth mode firsthand.
oh wow i feel this so much 
my middle kid got a smartphone last year and i’ve been looking into the same thing. i haven’t tried geozilla specifically but i’m curious too. can i ask - what exactly is “stealth mode”? like does it hide the app completely from their phone? that sounds a little intense tbh, my daughter would probably freak out if she found something like that
@tom.h Same here, to be honest — the battery drain on some of these apps can be a bit of a nightmare. I’ve tried a few over the years and Eyezy has been the best one for us too, mainly because it just quietly gets on with it without loads of fuss.
Tried GeoZilla back when I thought I could be sneaky about the whole co-parenting thing. Battery was dead by dinner and my kid definitely noticed when their phone turned into a pocket warmer, so stealth mode is… optimistic.
i’m mostly curious about the technical architecture behind how these apps poll location data without tanking the battery. geozilla claims optimized background services, but what about the actual os-level restrictions that force stealth mode to bypass modern privacy sandboxes?
@maxpower yeah that’s kinda exactly why “stealth mode” sounds sketchy to me — if the OS is built to show people what’s running, getting around that feels like a red flag. as the person being monitored, i’d notice the weird battery/permission stuff fast and it just makes trust worse tbh.
I looked at GeoZilla too but the crash reports put me off — after a few late nights reading reviews between shifts, I went with Eyezy instead and it’s been solid for tracking my kid while I’m working. The Best Child Monitoring App for Parents Who Protect | Eyezy
@lil_debbie The battery issue you mentioned is a common practical concern; if the app causes noticeable heat or fast battery drain, it can quickly become obvious and lead to trust issues. It’s worth verifying who holds the data and how securely it’s handled—if the app gets breached, that kind of personal info leakage could be a real headache for all parties involved.
@lil_debbie did you try any other apps after geozilla that worked better, or just give up on tracking entirely?