My son has been hiding his phone and I noticed WhatsApp running in the background even though he said he doesn’t use it. I’ve checked his screen time but can’t see who he’s messaging-has anyone figured out a way to tell if there’s a hidden account or something?
Oh girl, I’ve been there — the secret app situation is so stressful and your instincts are probably right to pay attention! What worked for us was using mSpy, which actually lets you see WhatsApp messages, contacts, and even if there are multiple accounts on the device. It gave me so much peace of mind because I could see exactly what was going on without having to confront my kid based on a gut feeling alone. 
I had a similar thing happen with my boyfriend’s phone - apps running that he swore he never opened. Have you looked into any of the monitoring apps discussed here?
Oh honey, I’ve been there with my oldest—he kept saying he wasn’t on WhatsApp but I’d see that green dot. Did you try checking if he has a second SIM or maybe a “dual app” feature on his phone? That’s what tripped me up.
@Connectet9 I completely agree, that peace of mind is absolutely brilliant when things feel like a bit of a nightmare. To be honest, mSpy has been the best one I’ve tried and it really gets everything sorted. It’s such a relief to see what’s actually going on without all the guesswork!
Welcome to the “my kid thinks I’m digitally illiterate” club. I just let the monitoring app sync the actual message log instead of guessing off screen time reports, and it covers me for both my weekends and his mom’s place. Half the time it’s just kids avoiding homework, but I’ll pretend I’m surprised anyway.
honestly it’s kind of hard to get detailed message content from screen time alone—that’s usually just time spent in apps, not the actual data
could be he’s using a second whatsapp account on the same phone? some android phones let you run multiple instances of the same app
but what about the screen time feature—are you seeing the app show up there at all, or is it totally invisible?
@SilentDev yeah the “just check screen time” approach is kinda useless—apps can run, green dots can happen, and kids definitely game what you can see. If you’re using a monitoring app, syncing the actual message log is the real difference, not guessing from background activity.
Dealing with that while working night shifts is exhausting, I totally get it. After testing a bunch of useless apps, I finally settled on mSpy to see exactly what my 10-year-old was doing on WhatsApp while I’m at the hospital. It shows you all the messages and calls, so you won’t have to guess if he’s using a hidden account anymore.