The advent of the Internet has become a revolutionary invention for the world. It enabled people to access unlimited knowledge and entertainment and contributed to indulgence in all kinds of activities. How many times have you wondered if Mark Zuckerberg is secretly spying on your social media activities? Have you wondered what it would feel like to have your web browsing history presented to you like a bank statement? It is a scary thought, right?
Thanks to instant messaging apps such as Viber, Kik, LINE, Signal, and others, people are more interconnected than ever before. People can use these apps for audio and video calls, text messages, multimedia files, and more.
The risks that are a part of our daily lives have moved into the virtual space, and as such, instant messaging apps can cause a lot of drawbacks, such as:
- Children falling victim to cyber stalkers
- Employers worry about data breaches
- Spouses are anxious about getting cheated on
Spy apps are a chosen option for many to prevent such issues. Spy apps allow users to remotely observe and track the monitored users’ phone activities through their pictures and videos, the websites they visit, the messages they send and receive, the calls they make, and the places they visit.
Users can take screenshots, activate the microphone, view activities on instant messaging apps, and intercept, forward, or record phone calls. These spy apps run in the background of a phone and cannot be detected by users.
Most spyware programs work by downloading data from the target phone via Wi-Fi. The data can then be viewed through a web-based dashboard.
To assist you in choosing the best monitoring software, we have provided a list of the top 4 IM spying apps.
1. Xnspy
Spying becomes easier when you use Xnspy to track conversations on messaging apps. A robust and powerful software package, Xnspy, is an app to spy on instant messages and chats remotely.
The app is available on both iOS and Android. When using Xnspy, you do not have to go through the thousands of texts the monitored user receives. You can set alerts for specific words and contacts. Whenever those words are in correspondence, you can get notified to monitor behaviors and activities that are important to you.
Viewing text messages also becomes easier because you can choose to sort them in list view or conversation view. You can read the sent and received messages on the monitored device along with their date, time, and contact stamp.
There is more. You can monitor calls with Xnspy. If the monitored user deletes call logs or messages, you can still view them through your online dashboard. Xnspy runs in the background of the target phone without interfering with the phone’s operations, so the monitored user cannot notice anything unusual.
The Screen Record feature of Xnspy captures threads from instant messaging apps like Instagram, Viber, Snapchat, Signal, etc. It is an exclusive feature that records screen activity on the target device.
Users can take screenshots even if the monitored user removes their chat history from each messaging app. This IM screen recorder tool goes beyond end-to-end encryption as the app takes screenshots of the conversations instead of extracting the message strings.
Here are some additional Xnspy features worth mentioning:
- Track GPS location
- Surround recording
- Read emails and monitor online activities
- Remotely control the target phone
- View photos, videos, and calendar entries
- Monitor phone calls and messages
2. CocoSpy
Cocospy is a reliable text message monitoring tool for Android and iOS devices that lets you spy on social media applications such as WhatsApp, Snapchat, Facebook, and Instagram without having to jailbreak or root the phone.
To use Cocospy, you do not need to install any app on your device. You can log in to your Cocospy dashboard and spy on text messages without physically accessing the monitored users’ devices.
Cocospy ensures that your surveillance activities happen in stealth mode and that the monitored user faces no difficulties with their phone’s performance. All text messages sent and received by the user can be viewed in real-time by Cocospy.
You can see incoming and outgoing messages remotely, download media files, get timestamps for each text, and review the contact information of the message sender and receiver. Each time the monitored user receives a new message, you can access it on your Cocospy dashboard.
Additional features of Cocospy include:
- Social media surveillance
- Keyword and keystroke alert
- Data privacy
- GPS location tracking
3. Mobistealth
The excellent espionage tool MobiStealth operates secretly on the target devices. Without touching the target phone, it monitors all of its activities. It can store data about the target phone, including call logs, text messages, and instant messenger chats, such as Viber, Skype, Kik, and others.
MobiStealth is a cross-platform monitoring application for Android, iOS, and computers. You can monitor someone’s cell phone activity, including all incoming and outgoing calls and texts, online browsing history, chat messengers, social media accounts, and GPS tracking, with the MobiStealth app.
Specifically, MobiStealth allows you to view all incoming and outgoing messages and the contact information of the people involved. You can also get the exact time stamp details with the date of the call made or received and the message sent or received.
Some of MobiStealth’s features are:
- GPS location tracking
- Keylogging
- Capturing multimedia files
- Keeping track of mail services
- Monitoring call logs and instant messenger apps
- Tracing online browsing activities and applications installed
4. Hoverwatch
Hoverwatch is a free Android spy app that can monitor all types of activities on the target device without physically accessing it. The app monitors and records phone calls, SMS, browser history, WhatsApp, Facebook, Viber, and text messages.
Through Hoverwatch, users can see media files shared across social media platforms, including Instagram, WhatsApp, Viber, Kik, Snapchat, and others. Hoverwatch spies on the target device in stealth mode even if the device is unrooted, so the monitored user cannot catch on to what, if anything, is happening on their device.
This text message spy allows you to view the messages sent and received using the instant messaging apps. You can also see any images, videos, or audio that the message may have attached in addition to the text. The app is easy to install. You can enable or disable specific functions. That is totally up to your discretion.
You can view every account activity using the tracker app as if you are the phone owner yourself. Hoverwatch enables users to remotely monitor all in-app activities on Viber, Kik, Skype, etc.
For instance, if the user deletes their Viber messaging history, the logs will still be generated and sent to you. If they erase their messages, you will still have access to the exact date and time of the texts, the contacts list, and any shared attachments.
This applies to WhatsApp, LINE, Signal, Telegram, and Facebook Messenger. You can also see the tracked user’s downloads and browsing history from private or incognito mode.
Hoverwatch’s additional features comprise the following:
- View phone calls and text messages
- View browsing history
- Access to the address book and contact list
- Access to instant messenger apps and photos
- Multimedia file access
- GPS location tracking
- Tracking SIM card changes
Conclusion
When you decide on an app to spy on instant messages and chats, it is best to consider the features that are important to you. You must make sure that the app you choose is reliable and trustworthy. Other factors to consider are ease of installation, should have a clean user interface, and must offer the best value for money.
Also read: How to Track Down A Long-lost Friend Online
