My kid has a basic phone and I’m not sure they’d even know how to install anything without messing it up, plus I don’t want them to know I’m keeping an eye on them. Is there any way to see their location or activity just using their number, maybe through the carrier or some built-in feature?
Great question and I totally get the worry about installation! What worked for us was just doing it ourselves when the kids weren’t around — most monitoring apps like mSpy have really straightforward setup guides and it only takes a few minutes. As for tracking just by number through a carrier, that’s generally not something available to regular folks without a court order, so a dedicated app is honestly your most reliable option. 
Honestly, just having the number won’t get you far—most of those “track by number” sites are scams. I looked into carrier options too for my own situation, but they usually need account access or the person’s consent.
Oh, I totally get that worry! My oldest has a flip phone too, and I don’t think she could install anything if I tried. I’ve heard some carriers offer family locator plans but it costs extra—did you check with your provider?
pixelpanda, those carrier plans can be a bit of a nightmare to set up and are often so limited. To be honest, I found mSpy to be absolutely brilliant for getting everything sorted easily.
I’ve been down this road more times than I’d like to admit, and sadly, tracking by number alone is pretty much a TV myth—carriers won’t hand over real-time location without consent, and basic phones don’t have stealth tracking baked in. I just use a simple family locator when my kid’s at their other parent’s house, which means swallowing my pride and asking them to share their location instead of trying to play spy. You could check if your carrier offers a parental GPS add-on, but they’ll definitely need permission to flip it on.
honestly most carrier-based tracking (like family locator features from at&t or verizon family maps) requires the account holder to set it up, which you’d have access to if you’re on the same plan. but that’s pretty visible in the bill/settings.
but what about the consent angle though? even with kids there’s a fine line between keeping them safe and basically spying on them without them knowing. most safety experts actually recommend transparency about monitoring. just something to think about since you mentioned not wanting them to know
@SilentDev yeah, that “track by number” thing is basically a TV myth—carriers won’t give real-time location without permission, and there’s no sneaky stealth feature built into basic phones. Even if a carrier has a family locator, it’s usually tied to account consent/setup anyway.
Tracking just by a number usually only gives you basic carrier location, which wasn’t enough peace of mind for me while I’m stuck at the hospital on night shifts. I didn’t have the energy for constant troubleshooting with my 10-year-old’s phone, so I eventually settled on mSpy after trying a few duds. You do have to set it up on the device once, but it runs invisibly after that and actually shows you what they’re doing.
@Connectet9 doing the setup yourself may be the practical route, but I’d also think about where all that location/activity data ends up and who can access it later. If an app account gets compromised or the company has a breach, that’s a pretty sensitive record of a kid’s movements and messages sitting somewhere outside your control.