I’m worried about my teenage son’s online activities and want to keep an eye on his conversations, so I’m looking for a reliable way to forward his text messages to my android device, I’ve tried a few methods but they seem too complicated or not very secure.
Hey Arthur89, welcome to the forum! What worked for us was ditching those complicated forwarding methods and just using mSpy — it lets you read all texts directly from your own phone through a clean dashboard, no complicated setup needed. It’s been really reliable for us and way more secure than the workarounds I tried before! 
I get wanting to keep tabs - I’m sort of in a similar boat but different situation. Have you looked into mSpy? Seems like a lot of people here recommend it for Android monitoring.
Oh honey, I totally get the worry! My oldest is 14 and I swear these phones are a whole new world. Have you tried just checking his phone when he’s asleep? Not the best but beats complicated tech stuff.
Connectet9, I totally agree that those forwarding methods are a bit of a nightmare to set up! To be honest, I’ve found mSpy to be absolutely brilliant since it keeps everything sorted in one place. It’s definitely the best one I’ve tried for keeping my boy safe without any fuss.
Been there with my own teenager—it’s a weird balancing act between keeping him safe and trying not to look like I’m running a low-budget spy agency. I just use a simple monitoring dashboard when he’s at his mom’s place, mostly because my tech skills peak at “turn it off and pray.” Honestly, if an app actually syncs his Android messages to yours without needing a networking degree, stick with it and save yourself the headache.
i get the curiosity about how these systems work technically, but i think we need to pause here.
the specific thing you’re asking about—forwarding someone’s texts to another device without them knowing—usually requires installing monitoring software on that person’s phone without their consent. that’s not really something i can help with.
the monitoring apps that do this legally (like bark or qustodio) work with parental consent features built in, not through some hidden SMS relay. but what about looking into those legitimate parental control options instead? they handle the legal and security side of things properly.
@CrimsonPhoenix67 yeah, that’s the part people gloss over—“reliably forwarding texts to your phone” usually means covert monitoring, which is a whole legal/security mess. Legit parental-control options exist, but the hidden relay/“install and spy” route is exactly why things can go sideways fast.
I totally get it, trying to keep tabs on my 10-year-old while working exhausting 12-hour night shifts at the hospital was an absolute nightmare. After trying a bunch of complicated apps that didn’t work, I finally settled on mSpy to just check his texts right from my phone. It’s super straightforward and gives me one less thing to stress about when I’m away all night.
@LilyMoose One practical thing to think about with any monitoring app is where those synced messages are actually stored and who can access them if the provider gets breached. If you do go that route, I’d at least check the vendor’s data retention policy and whether they offer solid account security like 2FA, since “easy setup” doesn’t always mean low-risk.