Children and teenagers are curious and giving them online access will glue them to their screens for hours, which can impact their social life, academics, and even speech. As a parent, this may, out of curiosity, make you want to read your child’s texts before they delete them, given their vulnerability to inappropriate content. While this is a good way to monitor your child, this option may create mistrust, affecting your relationship with your child.
SO, can I prevent my child from deleting text messages on an iPhone? You cannot inhibit or stop your child from deleting messages on an iPhone since Apple does not have such a provision. However, if the iPhone has a backup, you can restore the information. However, this process is a disadvantage as the device will go back to the time and date settings at purchase, losing every other update.
Keeping your child safe online remains a priority just like you do physically, and you can achieve this through proper monitoring. With the modern world featuring digital threats and dangers, keeping your child safe while online is necessary. As a parent, you should set clear rules for your child on technology use and explain online risks.
You should also monitor their activities regularly to ensure they do not fall victim. If you doubt that your child could be communicating with online predators and deleting the messages, read on to know whether it is possible to prevent this on an iPhone.
It is impossible to stop your child from deleting text messages on an iPhone, but you can retrieve deleted messages if you backup their iPhone on iCloud or iTunes. Unfortunately, your device will factory reset with the iCloud and iTunes options. Hence, you can consider forwarding your child’s message to your phone.
Forwarding your child’s messages to yourself gives you access to the messages they send or receive. You will navigate to the Settings app on your child’s iPhone, then tap Messages. Go to the Send and Receive option, and you will see a list of the phone numbers you can access.
While here, tap Use your Apple ID for iMessage, and a pop-up will ask you to use your default Apple ID email for iMessage. Tap Use Other Apple ID, then sign in with your child’s credentials.
Afterward, return to Settings, tap iMessage, and enable Text Message Forwarding. You can select the device you want to forward the messages to, and all your child’s messages will go there. To confirm your device, enter the verification code sent to it.
While forwarding your child’s texts to your device works well, it may not be ideal if you do not want their messages filling up your device. In this case, you can monitor your child’s texting via iCloud as long as you know their Apple ID and password.
This feature works for IOS 12 and recent versions and enabling iCloud message syncing will give you access to your child’s text messages. To use the iCloud message sync, navigate Settings, search your child’s iPhone, and tap iCloud.
Move the Messages slider and wait for syncing to complete. You should note that your child will know that you are monitoring their iPhone as your messages appear on their device since you will be sharing the iCloud credentials. Hence, consider other alternatives to maintain trust.
Lastly, you can monitor your child’s messaging through third-party iPhone monitoring apps like KidsGuard Pro. With this app, you can check your child’s text messages, iMessage, and other messages from social apps. To use this app, tap on the Monitor Now tab to sign up to your KidsGuard Pro account and enter your email address.
Next, select the operating system and buy a premium plan. You will then access the PC your child uses frequently, where you can install the KidsGuard Pro app. Log into your account and continue.
Equally, get your child’s iPhone and connect it to this PC for some vital settings, after which you can track their messages. You will see your child’s messages as long as they connect their iPhone to the PC with the app since KidsGuard will operate in the background, recording all the data from the target iPhone when you connect.
Can You Prevent Texts from Being Deleted on an iPhone?
Some messages you receive are worth keeping as a reminder for important tasks or just good memories with your loved ones. While you may want to keep such messages for years on, Apple’s iPhone may not allow this, and you can lose important messages in the long run. Read on to know whether you can prevent texts from being deleted on an iPhone and how to go about this.
Luckily, you can prevent texts from being deleted on your iPhone by jailbreaking your iPhone and installing a third-party app. Most of these apps are not Apple-approved, but you can use them to replace messages with an alternative that will allow you to lock your messages and prevent their deletion. The process of preventing the automatic deletion of messages from your iPhone starts by preparing your device.
Since you will be jailbreaking your phone, you will need to back it up as there is no guarantee that the process will be smooth. To do this, connect your iPhone to a PC with iTunes installed. iTunes will launch and prompt you to sync your iPhone with the app or back up. iTunes will back up your SMS messages, emails, contacts, and stored files during syncing. Since jailbreaking will erase your phone data, you should never skip this process.
Jailbreaking became legal in the United States in 2010 but using this app may void your Apple warranty. Through jailbreaking, you can access your iPhone’s Operating System and force it to allow you to install settings and programs that the basic IOS does not support.
To Jailbreak your iPhone, download the RedSnow latest version from the Dev-Team Blog website. Next, connect your iPhone to your PC and follow the developer’s instructions to remove Apple’s IOS and jailbreak with the new firmware. Afterward, you can install third-party apps.
After jailbreaking, you can navigate to Cydia for third-party apps. Cydia works like Apple Store or Google Store, only that it hosts apps for jailbroken devices. You can download apps such as Handcent SMS, iRealSMS, or biteSMS. Hence, on Cydia, search for Handcent, click the download link, and follow the onscreen prompt to the end to install it on your iPhone.
Handcent SMS, for instance, will give you bigger control over text settings than the original Messaging app in iOS. With this app, you can customize your Messaging screens and other settings. The biggest advantage of Handcent SMS in this context is the ability to turn off automatic message deletion on iPhone.
After installing Handcent SMS, you can proceed to change the settings and stop automatic message deletion. Open Handcent SMS and tap the toolbar at the bottom of your screen to display the preference menu.
Next, tap the Settings icon and navigate to the Message settings. Scroll to the Message Expiration option and change it to Keep Forever. This way, your iPhone will not delete older text messages.
While jailbreaking is an ideal way to prevent message deletion on your iPhone, you can forward your texts to email if you do not want to do this. Alternatively, use third-party apps like Skype, textPlus, or Google Voice for texting, as they have an automatic online backup. However, these options require you to alert your contacts to use these apps’ alternative contact.
How Can I See My Child Deleted Texts on Their iPhone?
When a child uses their iPhone to send and receive messages, it can be challenging for a parent to monitor the kind of conversations they are having with the other party. Some parents ask their children for their iPhones and scroll through their chats, which may affect the trust between the parent and child in the future.
It is no wonder these children delete their messages before handing their iPhones to their parents, making this kind of monitoring ineffective. Read on to know whether you can see your child’s deleted texts on their iPhones in the section below.
No setting or App on your iPhone can help you see deleted texts on your child’s iPhone. However, if you have a backup for your child’s iPhone, you will see the messages on their device when you restore it. Also, you can contact your service provider and request access depending on whether the messages are overwritten, but this is not always guaranteed.
The iPhone backup should be your first attempt to recover deleted messages. You can use iTunes and iCloud backups in this case. Connect your iPhone to Wi-Fi, launch your Settings app, and tap your name for this method to work. From the options that populate, select your name and turn on the Message toggle. Equally, tap iCloud backup to turn it on if it was not on previously, tap the Backup Now option.
During the recovery of deleted messages, you should note that the last backup date is vital in deciding whether restoring the backup will impact. For instance, you will not get your messages if you back up after deleting your messages.
With this in mind, navigate to the Settings app, tap your name, then iCloud. Next, tap Manage Storage, and while on this window, tap Backups, then select a backup you suspect contains the messages you want to retrieve. Some information about your backup will populate, including the last date you created it.
According to the details, if there is a possibility of getting your messages, you can go to the Settings screen, tap General then scroll to the Transfer or Reset iPhone option at the bottom of your screen.
This process requires you to clear data from your iPhone by tapping Erase All Content and Settings. Your iPhone will then shut down and restart, after which you should navigate the setup process and Restore from iCloud Backup by selecting the backup you identified earlier.
If you back up your child’s iPhone on a computer, you can retrieve their messages using iTunes on PC or Finder on Mac. Connect your iPhone to your PC via USB and select your device. You will get a prompt to back up with the details on the computer, and you should click Backup Now to initiate the process.
When the above fails in your recovery of deleted messages, it may be time to try third-party software. This option may require you to part with a few dollars, in which case, you should weigh whether it is essential.
For the third-party recovery tools to work, you should ensure you do not overwrite your data. The app will scan your child’s iPhone to locate the deleted messages. While using a third party, exercise care since this option can easily void your Apple warranty.
Still, if the above methods fail you, you can resort to your service provider for access. If lucky, your service provider may avail backup that is not overwritten. This option may not be ideal, but it can serve you where you want to know what your child has been up to you.
You should also note that this request is not a usual occurrence, and your customer service may be reluctant to avail of what you are asking for. Either way, you should remain polite even when they decide not to give what you are requesting.
Wrap Up
Technological advancements threaten the younger generation, given their vulnerability to cyber-attacks and bullying. This sparks curiosity among parents, and most end up micro monitoring their children’s online activities to keep them safe. One of the parents’ concerns is whether they can prevent their children from deleting text messages.
Generally, no Apple app can stop your child from deleting their chats. However, you can access your child’s conversations if you back up their iPhone via iTunes on PC. Alternatively, you can forward these messages to your iPhone.
While forwarding works well, you will end up receiving too many messages on your phone, in which case, you can jailbreak and install apps that prevent deletion. Either way, you should endeavor to build meaningful relationships with your child, grounded on trust to ensure they feel safe with you.
