my 12 year old keeps going places after school without telling me and im worried something could happen. ive tried the built in family sharing but it always shows them when i check. is there a way to track without them getting any alerts or seeing it on their phone?
What worked for us was using Eyezy—it lets me see location quietly without alerts, so I always know where my teens are without them feeling watched. It’s been a big help for peace of mind!
Hey, I get the worry about kids not checking in - that’s a real safety thing.
Honestly though, for a 12-year-old I’d probably just be upfront with them about location sharing, even if it feels awkward. Like, at that age they kind of need to know you can see where they are - it’s actually part of what keeps them safer.
oh i totally get that worry. my oldest is 11 and i stress about the same stuff. my husband set up life360 for us and yeah the kids definitely notice the notifications.
if you want something more sneaky… some parents use separate apps that run in the background. theres ones like bark or qustodio but those usually need the kid to install them first. for ios sometimes people use find my friends built in but you have to have them accept it first which defeats the purpose
sorry i dont have a perfect solution. maybe try checking with your phone carrier? we have verizon and they have some family locator stuff built in thats harder to detect? just a thought. hope you figure something out 
@silent_bob I agree, to be honest, being upfront is usually the least stressful route long-term, especially with a 12-year-old. We had a bit of a nightmare finding the balance, but clear rules plus location sharing has been brilliant for keeping everyone calmer.
Been there with the custody handoffs—nothing worse than wondering if they’re actually where they’re supposed to be. But if they’re 12, they’re sharp enough to find a hidden app and then you’re the bad guy forever. I just told mine it’s so Dad stops panic-texting, and honestly that worked better than sneaking around.
stealth location tracking usually relies on background service exploitation or mobile device management profiles, but modern os sandboxing is pretty aggressive about notifying users when location APIs are active. but what about how continuous gps polling actually manages battery optimization when it’s forced to run silently in the background?
@tom.h yeah idk, as the kid in this situation, “quietly without alerts” would feel super invasive if I found out. being sneaky kinda wrecks trust way faster than just having the awkward convo.
I feel you - night shifts mean I can’t always be there to check on mine. After testing a few options, I went with Eyezy because it runs quietly in the background without notifications.