An iPhone that is being monitored by Bark and a laptop logged into a dashboard

Monitoring iPhones, iPads, and iPod touch with Bark

These instructions will walk you through it so you can get alerts from your kids' photos and text messages.

Download For Mac

Why Are iPhones, iPads, And iPods Different?

Connecting takes a few more steps than connecting an app like Instagram or Twitter.

Animation of an apple blocking an iPhone

Apple doesn't let apps access the data on your child's device.

Bark CAN monitor it if you connect their phone to your home computer to make backups.

You’ll need to plug in your kid’s phone to your computer to get it all set up.

Once it’s set up, backups will then automatically occur over Wi-Fi.

What You'll Need

illustration of an iPhone, iPad, and iPod

Your kid’s iPhone,
iPad, or iPod

an illustration of a charging cable

Their charging cable

an illustration of a laptop computer

Your home computer

How It Works

1. Download

To get started, download the Bark Desktop App onto a computer to upload backups for analysis of potential issues like cyberbullying, sexual content, suicidal ideation, and more. These backups take snapshots of everything on the device (those previously mentioned texts and photos, for example) at the time so that they can be monitored by Bark.

After the first-time setup, activities will be automatically backed up wirelessly over Wi-Fi whenever your child and their devices are home.

Download For Mac
An illustrated download button

2. Install

  • Click the Download button above to save it to your computer
  • Double click the downloaded Bark file to begin installation
  • Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation
  • Note: If your computer is running in S mode, that feature will need to be disabled before downloading the Bark Desktop App
Animation showing a Windows PC program being opened.
  • Click the Download button above to save it to your computer
  • Double click the downloaded file to open the installation window (shown on right)
  • Within the opened window, drag the Bark icon (the dog) onto the Applications folder to the right
Animation showing a OSX Mac program being installed.

3. Connect

  • Open the Bark application by double clicking the Bark icon
  • Log in using your Bark parent email and password when prompted
  • Connect your child's iOS device to the computer with a USB cable
  • Click the Check For Devices buttons to find the iOS device
  • Click "Trust this computer" on your child’s iOS device when prompted
  • Associate your child to the newly connected iOS device by selecting their name from the dropdown
  • That's it! You can follow the onscreen progress as the monitoring begins.
Screenshot of the Bark Desktop App being used


Need help or have questions? Let us know.

Detailed instructions and videos are also available.

Update Existing Desktop App

The latest version of the Bark Desktop App should update automatically. If you're running an older version these guides will help you get up to date.