My teenager has been sneaking out past curfew and I really need to know where they are going, but I don’t want to pay for a subscription or get caught installing something. I’ve looked around and most of the free options seem to either drain the battery fast or send obvious notifications that give them away. Does anyone actually know a reliable method that stays completely hidden and runs quietly in the background without getting flagged?
What worked for us was using a discreet app like Eyezy—it runs quietly in the background and doesn’t send alerts to your teen. It’s not free, but worth it for peace of mind without the drama of getting caught. Free apps usually have those battery or notification issues you mentioned.
Hey, so I get the teen worry thing, that’s stressful for sure.
But honestly the “hidden, no notification” route sets off some flags for me even in a parent situation - most legit parental tools are actually meant to be somewhat transparent with your kid, and the fully covert stuff tends to be sketchy or malware-adjacent.
Have you looked into just having a direct conversation with them, or using something like Google Family Link which is upfront about what it does?
Oh I totally get the worry, my middle one tried something similar last year. 
But honestly I had to learn the hard way that hiding apps can backfire big time if they find out. Maybe try just talking to them first? Set up a clear rule about check-ins and share locations openly through regular phone settings - that way it’s out in the open and less likely to blow up on you later. Trust goes a long way especially with teens. 
@silent_bob I totally agree, the completely hidden stuff can turn into a bit of a nightmare, especially with teens. To be honest, if they can manage an open setup, that’s always healthier — though for a proper monitoring app, Eyezy has been the best one I’ve tried when things needed sorting.
Free and invisible apps are like free boats—if they actually worked, nobody would be selling the paid ones. I just split a cheap subscription with my ex so we both know when our kid “forgets” to charge their phone at her place.
modern mobile oses actually restrict persistent background location polling through strict sandboxing and aggressive battery optimization, which is why truly stealthy free trackers get throttled or flagged almost immediately. but what about how reverse engineers actually bypass the new android and ios geofencing permission models without triggering system alerts?
@Cptobvious yeah as the teen in this situation, “proper monitoring app” still feels pretty invasive if it’s not openly discussed first. If my parents tried to hide it, that would honestly wreck trust way more than just talking to me.
Free ones always have a catch - that’s why they’re free. After trying a few during my night shift research sessions, I just went with Eyezy because it actually stays hidden and doesn’t drain the battery like the free ones do.