There are actually a lot of SMS tracking apps/spy apps out there that are junk. And most times, if you end up purchasing one of the bad ones, you’re not going to be able to get a refund.
So read my reviews or take a look at my top picks to protect yourself from scumware.
Best phone spy apps – My Top Picks
Let’s get started with my top picks. We’re going to list the best spyware for android and ios in order of my preferences.
The best phone spy apps of this year include mSpy, FlexiSPY, and Hoverwatch , each offering advanced features tailored for different monitoring needs. mSpy is ideal for parents with its user-friendly interface and focus on social media tracking and GPS location. FlexiSPY stands out for its powerful call recording and ambient listening features, making it suitable for more advanced users.
Hoverwatch offers robust real-time tracking and compatibility with most devices. These apps combine reliability, cutting-edge technology, and ease of use, making them top choices for ethical and effective device monitoring.
And while this is just my opinion, I have pretty valid reasons for why They are ranked the way they are.
#1 FlexiSPY’s EXTREME and PREMIUM software
FlexiSPY has gotta be one of my favorite spy phone software overall…
It’s 100% undetectable (you are given the option to hide the icon during installation), it can capture Viber Chats, Facebook Chats, and Skype Chats, and it acts as an SMS Tracker.
It works as a cell phone GPS tracker, and much much more. It’s available for Android 13.
Luckily, It’s available for the majority of all smartphones. That means (up to) Android 13 devices, then for iPhone you’re good up to 16.
| Explore all the features of FlexiSPY:Â read my FlexiSPY Review) |
Alright, so what makes FlexiSPY so good?
Is it dependable, does it run secretly, and does it track all the variables you’re gonna need to track in your investigation?
Hell yeah, it is!
Let’s go over some of the main features of FlexiSPY (the ones you are actually going to be using..)
Spying on Viber Chats:
That’s right, with FlexiSPY you can monitor all the Viber chats that are going on on the phone that you are trying to monitor.
It captures all of the senders of the messages, as well as their names and usernames. Any “stickers” that were sent are also captured.
SMS Tracking:
Some people don’t use messaging apps such as Viber.
That’s not a problem with most modern spy software, in-fact I’m fairly certain that It’s easier for the developers to make SMS tracking happen than it is for them to make some of the more advanced tracking features work.
Regardless, FlexiSPY handles this very well and captures, of course, both sides of the conversation, the contact info on both sides, pictures, voice recordings, etc…
Skype Chats:
To see the big picture you’re going to need to be able to spy on their Skype conversations.
It’s the same deal as it is with every app that FlexiSPY captures, it picks up on all sides of the conversation; as much contact detail as possible, and a lot more.
Crack their phone password:
Once you install FlexiSPY onto their phone, their built-in password cracker will find out all the passwords on the phone and lay them neatly out for you in your dashboard.
This by the way, is only available with their EXTREME version.
Track their cell phone’s GPS:
Essential right?
Well, you’re in luck. FlexiSPY has some pretty unique abilities when it comes to tracking its GPS location.
Besides the basics, you can export all the GPS data into Google Maps and take a virtual tour of where they’ve been.
The records will exist in your dashboard for as long as you have a subscription with them, but otherwise, you can always just download the records for your safe, permanent keeping.
Does FlexiSPY work with Android smartphones?
Yes.
FlexiSPY officially works with – up to – Android 13.
Most Android smartphones aren’t even up to this OS version, and only a very few phones are above this version, so you shouldn’t have any bad luck installing FlexiSPY onto any Android phone.
If the phone that you want to track though isn’t “officially” supported, you can always buy the software anyways and try to use it on the phone.
If it doesn’t work, they have a 10-day refund policy, so there’s really not that much risk.
Does FlexiSPY work with iPhone and iPad?
Yep…
FlexiSPY will work on up to iOS 14.
Basically, the thing to keep in mind is that for any spying application for iPhone, you absolutely have to jailbreak the phone first in order for it to work.
So, if there isn’t a jailbreak available for the iOS version of the person’s phone that you want to track, then you’re not going to be able to install anything on it.
The most jailbreaking iOS version right now is 16, which is where FlexiSPY and the rest of the spy program software in the world are at.
- Cost:  FlexiSPY LITE version – $29.95, FlexiSPY Premium version – $79, FlexiSPY Extreme version – $119 (1-Year License)
- Developer: Flexispy, Ltd.
- Visit their website: http://www.flexispy.com
#2 Hoverwatch Phone Tracker
Monitoring of activities on a mobile phone requires comprehensive solutions. You want a service that’s invisible and capable of tracking everything, from location to SIM card changes and incoming calls.
Luckily, the supply always follows demand – in my Hoverwatch review.
I will go over all the features of one of the most popular phone tracking services and see if it’s capable of satisfying the needs of even the most demanding customers
What Is Hoverwatch and Who Is It for?
This is the best cell phone spy of 2025, allowing you to record all of your activities on an Android smartphone.
While some people might think that it’s unethical, there are a few completely legal reasons why one would need this service.
The app is especially recommended for:
- Parents, who are worried that their children might come across pornography or visit other inappropriate websites, or get contacted by strangers, either by phone or social media.
- Business owners, who would like to control the way in which their employees are using their company phones.
- All people who are afraid their phone might get stolen. It does not require any technical skills, and all it takes to get started is your Hoverwatch account and access to the device you are interested in tracking.
What Are the Most Important Features of Hoverwatch?
The service offers you all the essential features you might need. To list and review all of them, I’d have to make my Hoverwatch review at least twice as long as it is.
Not to bore you, but I will go over those I believe are critical. To learn more and see all of the features in detail (and see a demo app).
As opposed to many other apps which specialize in either call recording or social media tracking, Hoverwatch offers a full package of features.
Using this little fancy app, you can:
The service gives you access to a convenient dashboard where you can edit tracking settings and view activity log.
Explore all the features of Hoverwatch (my 2025 top pick): read my Hoverwatch Review)
- Track Phone Location and Detect SIM Card Change – perfect to protect your phone from getting stolen or see where your kids/employees spend their time.
- Track Phone Calls and Record Them – protect your children by checking who calls them.
- Track SMS, WhatsApp Calls (+ files shared), and Facebook Messages – WhatsApp & Facebook are the two most popular social media apps. Together with tracking SMS, it gives you a comprehensive view of someone’s activity.
- Track Browsing History – check whether your employees are really working, and kids stay away from adult websites
I invite you to visit their website, to learn even more about what the app can do for you. All in all, I think Hoverwatch ranks among the best spyware for Android.
#3 – mSpy
You’ve probably seen ads for mSpy everywhere, ads putting messages out there like “uncover the truth,” or “the first spy app to … blah blah blah”.
And I’ll admit, they do seem to have a lot of advertising budget… but does that mean their best spy apps are any good?
Does mSpy live up to the hype?
Do they put their money where their mouth is?
I’ll briefly review my findings with this software, so read on.
Here’s the deal:
mSpy is on shaky ground with Me lately
When mSpy first came out a few years back, they definitely did so with style.
They had a good-looking dashboard, a cool website, and a good sales pitch, while my other top picks had been working fine for me, I was still intrigued.
Then when I went to check out so that we could test their software, I was brought to their check-out page.
This next part is crazy:
mSpy, on their Check-out page, was displaying a number of really, really questionable “testimonials” from people they said were customers, As well as having badges saying “featured on CNN, BBC, etc..”
I was immediately skeptical, why?
Because mSpy has only been out for a little while and there has been absolutely no news about it yet.
Still, though, I decided to go ahead, purchase it, and install it on my Android phone.
The results were this.
mSpy did capture some of what they claimed they could.
Their software was able to hack someone’s cell phone on common social media apps, as well as SMS and photo capture.
But what they didn’t do a good enough job of (and in my opinion still don’t) is GPS tracking.
So that about sums it up for me.
mSpy is an excellent marketing company, but not the best spy phone company, but try this program yourself, it may be the best for you.
Most of their features do work, but some of the core ones like GPS tracking are just too shaky for my liking.
- Cost: mSpy comes in three Premium packages (1 MONTH, 3 MONTHS, 12 MONTHS) priced from $9 to $60 per month.
- Developer: Bitex Group LTD
I think he plays his role perfectly in the hidden spy app category.
#4 – uMobix Spy App
The mobile application uMobix is the proprietary product of a London-based company ERSTEN GROUP.
Upon its launch in 2019, critics praised its smooth performance on both Android spy apps and iOS, as well as its fast installation process.
They claim to have sold their software to over 1 million customers – this makes it (supposedly) one of the top spy apps of all time.
Their website though doesn’t do that good of a job of selling the software, or the company behind it.
While their site looks a little sketchy, sometimes after using a product, you come to a different realization than what you first thought of due to the sketchy-looking nature of the site.
So, bearing that in mind, I purchased uMobix and tested it to see whether or not they could convince us.
What type of Spy Software is uMobix?
I’d like to point out that people have different thought’s on what makes a good spying app: spying apps should be solely focused on doing one – or a few things- very very well, versus having something that has the most features possible, but, “it’s okay if they all don’t work properly.”
I’d have to say that the makers behind uMobix have gone for the latter and have made a spying app that tries to encompass all aspects of the job that might need to be done.
If you want something that only does GPS and SMS tracking, and does it REALLY well, then this is not the app for that.
There are plenty of standalone apps on the marketplace that only do this – but really, how useful is that when most people nowadays use messaging apps and so forth?
But, if you like the idea of spy software that tries its best to capture the most amount and widest range of data on your phone, doesn’t always do the best of jobs –but remains completely invisible 100% of the time- then uMobix is definitely a safe bet.
- Cost: priced from $29.99 per month
- Developer: uMobix
Summing it up
I’ve tested many many SMS tracking apps, free cell phone spy apps, and the whole lot, and I can really recommend the three apps I listed above the most.
If you were trying to look for how to spy on someone, and came across any of these apps, then the internet has done you justice, because yes, they really do work.
Even still, I HIGHLY recommend that you read my more in-depth reviews on each one of these apps before you make your final decision.
The best phone spy app this year is without a doubt uMobix. It’s an easy-to-use app that helps you to track the GPS location of your children or employees, and it also provides a host of other features such as call logs, text messages, and web browsing history. Plus, it’s one of the most affordable options on the market!
No successful smartphone hacking tools and methods have been released and there is no way to determine which methods work. Remain vigilant and keep tabs on your spouse, take screenshots of their text messages and time stamps. The best you can do is take pictures or videos of them in the act.